Kenyas Parliament a shadow of Burkina Fasos

In the recent times Burkina Faso has made headlines for all the right reasons, at least for me. One would think that this is country is out of Africa and so it happenings have been unfamiliar breaking news in Africa and here in Kenya.

August 5^th 1960, was the date they gained their independence from the French, only three years and 129 days earlier than Kenya a period so short that even an elephant wouldn’t have given birth twice.

First it was marked by the unanimous protest by its citizens to remove their long serving president Blaise Compaore who seized power in a 1987 coup that saw the assassination of Africa’s undying spirited leader Thomas Sankara. This was successful as now there is a transition government lead by Lt-Col Isaac Zida, an epitome that people power is greater than any individual/cartel/dictatorial power.

Second and most resent was the halving of the member of parliaments salary. This is laughable in a Kenyan situation as their Burkina counterpart were said to be earning no more than $3,000 (Kes 273,000). I know this can only be less or equivalent to our MCA. The thought of this is like a tickle under your feet without the sound of a joke yet you laugh your heart and any other organ out.

With our bloated number of politicians and their high salaries, one can only wonder why our police, doctors & teacher are usually dissatisfied yet these monies circulate among few individuals, whereas in Burkina Faso MPs half their pay with a reason that it will build confidence in democracy and promote better governance.

Democracy and better governance to a Kenyan politician are mostly equated to hate speech, undermining authority, terror sympathy and or violent against our leaders. 

The closest our leaders can come to taking a pay cut is if they ask for twice as much as they currently earn and with a lot of public outcry they resolve not to take or to pass their income increment. These politicians will again come out unembarrassed by their actions and intention, horny for not having their increment and in need of Kenyans romance to give them an orgasm trying to push us into further poverty.

I dream for a country where money will not be the hook that catches our votes and fattens us during elections only for us to grow thin and suffer malnutrition for five years till the next election. Burkina Faso’s parliament has set precedence for Kenya’s

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We are our own Enemy

I have no shame to say that most of my greatest friends are not from my tribe, yet with this I seem not to talk tribe or touch about their tribal king when am around them; reason being am playing it safe not to upset, as matters politics is never an agenda with us. If I have to talk and argue about politics and the state of our nation I only do this at the discretion of a few who are open-minded and mostly with people that are inclined to my opinion.

This is the norm with most people around me, not I alone, even my friend or people who are privy to my tribe tend to shy off when they want to objectively disagree with the person am inclined politically. This has been the genesis of our failure as citizens that we so enjoy in our countries political environment. This on the other hand has benefited the political elites as they marshal tribe before development, community before agendas, regions before the country etc.

Our failure to communicate as a nation and as a people who should have a voice over their leaders has made it possible for us to always come in the umbrella we are one only in tragedy and when the nation is nearly to its knees, remember we ought to be always one.

Moving from the Moi era was celebrated and seen to be the beginning of a new start to the nation which has seen citizens enjoy some fundamental bills of right (Chapter IV of the constitution) and the promulgation of the new constitution.

Political sycophancy and my tribe my time to eat analogy has made it possible for things to stay the same as they change. This has been reflected by the rising number of people in social media that spew hatred against other communities without the sense that we ought to be a one people nation, this they do to echo their political inclinations fault such as tribal appointments, selective justice, selective developments and failures in overall performance both in government and in the opposition.

These sycophants make sure that they benefit from cheap publicity while dividing the nation far apart with the blessings of their masters and wouldn’t allow a critique even from their own tribe to say anything contrary to what the “majority” of the tribe wants lest they be seen as the moles or against the whole tribe. This impedes free thinking people and only waits to echo and support only what the tribal Kings want.

Our free thinking is only limited to out of politics environment but with a silent disgust in our other environments knowing that the person next to you doesn’t approve of our political inclination. Politics affects all other environments. We can pretend not to want it but we can’t live without it. 

We are our own enemy as in all our struggles we can only look at the next person to help; same applies to the tribal kings, in need the always come together and help each other not caring that the last second “their people” were in war against each other. We need to learn from our leaders to be sarcastic in their eyes, have free and respectful communication, vote wisely and to our own personal advantage and always be truly one; only this will beat them in their own game.

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USALAMA INAANZA NA MIMI, GIVE ME A GUN

Today (Mashujaa day) being October 20, 2014. A day formerly Kenyatta day, celebrating the heroes of this great nation Kenya, who helped secure our independence through the self-less efforts of groups and individuals who fought to liberate the country (if we have really found this liberation, it’s still a matter in contention). Most of this individuals and people have long been forgotten and if we do remember them, we do so selectively depending on our leaders of today.

This day we are to appreciate how far Kenya has come since independence, a long journey that leaders of today choose to appreciate where it stands today and maybe what the future holds of this nation.

In the wake of this day I got a call from my mother, rather early than usual. A missed call at 0459 that I didn’t hear the phone ring then a second call at 0630 which I picked, knowing my mother I thought she must have wanted to wish me a good day or rather a good week being a Monday and holiday to top it up.

Her voice was rather low and from that I thought she maybe sick given her long fight being diabetic plus the high blood pressure that don’t mix well, this is a deadly combination. She said “Duka imeibiwa, M-Pesa imeenda yote.” (“the shop has been robbed the M-Pesa also.” I calmly asked what exactly has been stolen she says 5Kgs of sugar, Credit cards purchased the previous evening worth Kes 7,000 and now an estimated cash Kes 40,000 plus the M-Pesa phone which had deposits estimated at Kes 50,000 (this one I think is recoverable through Safaricom), all this because she didn’t pick this cash last evening as she is ailing.

The saddest thing is that her shop is located inside a police station, thinking this is the safest place to be in Kenya or rather in any part of the world for burglary to happen. The same place she is has recorded her statement. The thief came in the nights broke carefully the glass window of the door entered swiftly without the shop attendant who sleeps in the next room hearing and took off with the above and carefully placed the glasses in a dustbin. This is classic.

Seriously we did not liberate our country for this kind of happenings, we are not yet Uhuru I think, we are not safe, and surely I couldn’t agree with the President more, Ulinzi unaanza na mimi a reason I need a gun to make sure this is so, it’s not the MCAs alone who are in need of this weapon, when my security and that of my loved one is messed up with then why not have a gun. Maybe the guns at the moment are given to the wrong people (given that the burglary has happened in a police station) and that we have entrusted our safety to this very people whose security is also a problem. Yes Mr. President I need a gun, I trust myself more.

Today I wouldn’t be gnashing my teeth with rage given the helpless situation and the miles of liability bundled to my mother, the thief might have been sending a message that hii pesa si ya mama yako (this money is not my mother’s) a phrase that has become common with our leaders. If I had a gun I would have shot myself a thief, at least at the leg or maybe the buttock to make him immobile so that as we celebrate Mashujaa I’d be a hero to my ailing mother.

They already have a suspect in mind but how fast is our police and justice system, once caught he will plead innocence. No one saw him but then his monetary status has seriously changed to the fact that he is buying alcohol to everyone and has unlimited credit cards, I doubt if has a phone for himself, but simple as this case may be it depicts a serious lacking in our security systems.

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President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Speech during the Special Sitting of Parliament, Parliament Buildings, Nairobi

SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H.,PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA DURING THE SPECIAL SITTING  OF PARLIAMENT, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, NAIROBI, 6^th OCTOBER, 2014

The Speaker of the National Assembly, 

 The Speaker of the Senate,

Honorable Members of both Houses of Parliament,

Fellow Kenyans,

Article 132 of the constitution provides for the President of the republic of Kenya to address a special sitting of Parliament at any one time. Under the first article of the constitution, “all sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya”

In this respect, I am here to address you as representatives of the people on an important national matter regarding our sovereignty.

Last Tuesday, as I touched down at Jomo Kenyatta international Airport on my return from the E9^th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, i received notice to attend a status conference at The Hague

Since then, the notice and its implied consequences for our sovereignty have raised confusion and anxiety. These concerns extend to our immediate region, and other friends of Kenya.

My Fellow Kenyans,

This is not a time for anxiety. It is a time to be proud of the democracy we have built, and the law-abiding country we have become. it is also a time to deliberate together, as members of the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary, and indeed as citizens, on how to collectively realize the great destiny that beckons.

Nurturing a young democracy in a treacherous world of despotism, terrorism and extremism was never going to be easy. Neither was the building of a strong and diverse economy that could realize the dreams of more than forty million Kenyans, and anchor a prosperous region.

Indeed, our quest for greater development demands a clearer picture of the true state of our economy. While we have much further to go, our nation reached a significant milestone last week. We officially became a middle-income country, and took our rightful place as one of the ten largest economies in Africa. This milestone, among many others we have achieved over the past fifty years, reminds us that we are travelling in the right direction. It should be celebrated, for it gives us the fortitude to sustain our development efforts.

In New York, i addressed the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, giving a full account of our role in regional peace and security, our stand on the front lines of building robust democracies, of fighting global terrorism, of dealing with the threat of climate change, and of building strong institutions that can weather crises such as Ebola in parts of West Africa.

I saw at the General Assembly the high esteem in which Kenya is held across the world, for its leadership in matters of development, in the struggle for global peace and security, as a safe haven for millions of refugees from neighbouring countries, and as a stable hub for regional trade and investment.

The world sees and applauds, as we do, our young men and women in uniform, who, under my command, are bravely fighting Al-Shabaab.s terrorists at home and abroad. Our diplomats are crucial actors in a troubled region, working to end the conflicts, and fill the vacuums in governance, that allow such terrorist groups room to operate.

The world knows that as a democracy on the frontier against terrorism, our people have been brutally murdered by the same terrorist networks that have sparked mayhem worldwide.

We face these trials with fortitude, knowing that our work to banish insecurity, poverty, and division is our generation.s historic task. It is how our children.s children will remember us.

By our effort and vision, new roads and railways, schools and hospitals, are being built, bringing with them jobs, wealth and new friends from all over the world. My Government daily improves service provision to its citizens. The world.s businesses look to our educated and industrious people as amongst the most promising to invest their wealth in.

All these developments are anchored in the rule of law, which is a living expression of our collective will. Even at our lowest ebb, in our darkest days, the aspiration to be bound and protected by the law has shaped our character as a people and a nation.

After more than two decades of consultations, and sometimes ugly confrontation, we made history. In peace time, we negotiated a new constitution and re-organized our entire society and its governance structures. Today, we have a constitution that we are immensely proud of.

There are few others globally that equal its protection of the rights of the individual, its balancing of executive, judicial and legislative power, and its demand for fulsome public participation and integrity in service.

In the last year alone, we have transitioned from a unicameral to a bicameral legislature; from a parliamentary to a presidential system of government. We have moved in unprecedented fashion from a centralized system of government where the winner takes all, to a devolved system, which gives power to the people to choose their leaders, and to choose how they will be governed at the local level. And we have established an independent judiciary, and oversight bodies able to stand up for the public interest.

We strive to fully realize this new constitution, even in the face of the global threat of terrorism whose perpetrators and agents manipulate our expanded democratic space to radicalize and recruit their foot soldiers.

Internationally, our diplomacy has been driven by the desire for a level playing field, on which all nations and their peoples are equal in respect of their sovereignty. This is why Kenya played a crucial leadership role in the negotiations that led to the creation of the ICC through the Rome Statute, as well as in mobilizing African states to sign up to it.

Given our experience with the Court, many have since asked why we acted with such enthusiasm. It was because we believed then, as we do now, that in an unequal world, only a common set of rules governing international conduct could keep anarchy at bay.

My Fellow Kenyans,

After the brief but painful conflict that followed the 2007 election, communities and their leaders, at the grassroots, undertook immense efforts at reconciliation. Thousands of meetings were convened; Kenyans across the country deliberated together on what had brought discord to our nation, and what we needed to do to heal.

Five years later, the Deputy President, William Ruto, and I went to every corner of our country asking you for the honour of your vote. Our electoral ticket was forged from a national desire for peace, reconciliation, and national cohesion.

When I took up the mantle of leadership in April 2013, I focused attention on the rehabilitation and restoration of Kenyans affected by the 2007-8 post-election violence. My Government resettled all the remaining registered households that were still in camps.

This in addition to those previously resettled under the RudiNyumbani and integrated IDPs initiative where land was availed for resettlement, houses built, counselling offered, cash transfers made, and free medical attention in government facilities provided.

That was the least we could do to relieve their suffering, and ease the resumption of their normal lives. i am committed to ensuring that Kenyans never again have to endure such tribulations.

My Fellow Kenyans,

Four years ago, on the fifteenth day of December 2010, i watched in disbelief as i was named, with five others, as one of those suspected of bearing the greatest responsibility for the 2007-8 post-election violence.

This was the beginning of my long and arduous journey to defend my name in the face of these serious allegations. I wish to reiterate here for all that my conscience is clear, has been clear, and will remain forever clear that I am innocent of all the accusations that have been leveled against me.

After all this, the Prosecutor of the ICC has since last December, and as recently as last month, admitted to the judges that “the available evidence is insufficient to prove ... alleged criminal responsibility beyond reasonable doubt.”

This came as no surprise, a judge at the ICC had previously found the “prosecution failed to properly investigate the case ... in accordance with its statutory obligations.”

When the prosecutor admitted that there was insufficient evidence against me, I expected that the matter would be dropped for lack of evidence. Instead, the prosecutor requested an indefinite postponement of the case and shifted the focus to the Government of Kenya to provide the evidence.

It was made clear that I was to be excluded from dealings between the prosecutor and the relevant organs of the Government of Kenya in this new focus. Accordingly, my legal representatives were excluded from this exercise.

In compliance with this order, I have not interfered with the protocol set by the prosecutor in her dealings with the government. This means that in this new line being followed, I was kept in suspense, while the prosecutor engaged with the relevant organs of the government.

Whenever the organs of the Government of Kenya required my consent in relation to these investigations, I gave that consent. I have cooperated with the prosecutor to assist in establishing the truth at all material times.

Unfortunately, unfounded and unproven accusations are the order of the day. My accusers, both domestic and foreign, have painted a nefarious image of most African leaders as embodiments of corruption and impunity. This image depends on an internalized assumption that social and political upheavals in Africa are inherently perverse, and the result of leadership failure, that always warrants a charge of crimes against Humanity.

Within the Assembly of State Parties, a number of members observed that the Rome Statute, which is ultimately derived from the equality of states as espoused in the U.N. Charter, is weakened by partiality.

The Africa of Nkrumah, Nyerere, Ben Bella, Nasser, Chief Albert Luthuli, and our founding father Jomo Kenyatta, raised concerns about the risks of undermining the sovereign equality of states. These concerns remain valid to this day.

The African Union, in its wisdom, resolved in October last year that “to safeguard the constitutional order, stability and, integrity of Member States, no charges shall be commenced or continued before any International Court or Tribunal against any serving AU Head of State or Government or anybody acting or entitled to act in such capacity during their term of office.”

It also resolved that my trial and that of Deputy President William Ruto, as the current serving leaders of the Republic of Kenya, should be suspended until we complete our terms of office.

As the single largest constituency in the Assembly of State Parties, and keeping in mind the gravity of their demand, African states expected positive consideration.

To this end, they sent five ministers to New York City to confer with the United Nations Security Council and seek a deferral of the Kenya situation in light of the dire challenges to peace and security on this continent that it is my duty to address. They were disappointed.

The push to defend sovereignty is not unique to Kenya or Africa. Recently, the prime minister of the United Kingdom committed to reasserting the sovereign primacy of his parliament over the decisions of the European Human Rights Court. He even threatened to quit the court.

I remain grateful for Africa’s support. Our century of struggle against domination and exploitation continues. Our independence and sovereignty deepen every passing year, as our prosperity grows and we stand firm together. Kenya will remain at the front of this common cause, which is both our opportunity as a nation and our obligation as a people. I am grateful for the support our brothers and sisters have lent Kenya. We stand with them as we look to our immensely promising future.

My Fellow Kenyans,

My Government has begun the implementation of our constitution with great favour and enthusiasm. We have focused on locating young Kenyans at the heart of economic growth as no other administration has done in our history, and indeed the fight against terror and insecurity remains high on our national agenda.

It should be clear, therefore, that this government has enough on its hands fighting poverty, securing the peace and building regional integration to be focused on any other matter. It is a government founded on the rule of law, with a profound conviction that justice is our shield and defender.

Mr. Speaker,

Fellow Kenyans,

I am deeply optimistic about the future of Kenya. We will succeed by putting the nation’s interests first and foremost. It is for this reason that I choose not to put the sovereignty of more than forty million Kenyans on trial, since their democratic will should never be subject to another jurisdiction.

Therefore, let it not be said that I am attending the Status conference as the President of the Republic of Kenya. Nothing in my position or my deeds as President warrants my being in court.

So, to all those who are concerned that my personal attendance of the Status Conference compromises the sovereignty of our people, or sets a precedent for the attendance of presidents before the court -be reassured, this is not the case.

To protect the sovereignty of the Republic of Kenya, I now take the extraordinary and unprecedented step of invoking Article 147(3) of the Constitution. I will shortly issue the legal instrument necessary to appoint Hon. William Ruto, the Deputy President, as Acting President while I attend the status conference at The Hague, in the Netherlands.

Finally, I urge my fellow citizens to accept and understand my decision. I also urge our African brothers and sisters to stand with Kenya, and all people of good will, and friends of Kenya, to stand with us in this difficult time.

Thank you and God bless you

Source

https://www.scribd.com/doc/2x2073129/President-Uhuru-Kenyatta-s-Speech-during-the-Special-Sitting-of-Parliament-Parliament-Buildings-Nairobi                  

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