Thursday 3 January 2013

PM Raila Odinga Pays Tribute to Speaker and MPs in Terminal Speech to Tenth Parliament


STATEMENT OF RT. HON RAILA ODINGA PRIME MINISTER DURING PMQ TIME ON ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE GRAND COALITION GOVERNMENT/TENTH PARLIAMENT

The Prime Minister (Mr. Raila): Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me begin by wishing all hon. Members a very happy and prosperous year, 2013.

On January15, 2008, we gathered here to elect the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker and to swear in our then new Members of Parliament.

Many Kenyan watchers predicted that there would be serious legislative problems for the Government if what transpired in this House on that day, and the fighting that was going on across the country were anything to go by. Some predicted the prospect of a deadlock in Parliament and difficulties in passing essential Bills.

Since that time, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. A lot of positive things have gone on in the country and in this House these last five years. Today, I want to take a moment to pay tribute to the Tenth Parliament, the Government and the PRIME MINISTER’S TIME ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE GRAND COALITION GOVERNMENT/TENTH PARLIAMENT

The Prime Minister (Mr. Raila): Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me begin by wishing all hon. Members a very happy and prosperous year, 2013.

On January15, 2008, we gathered here to elect the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker and to swear in our then new Members of Parliament.

Many Kenyan watchers predicted that there would be serious legislative problems for the Government if what transpired in this House on that day, and the fighting that was going on across the country were anything to go by. Some predicted the prospect of a deadlock in Parliament and difficulties in passing essential Bills.

Since that time, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. A lot of positive things have gone on in the country and in this House these last five years. Today, I want to take a moment to pay tribute to the Tenth Parliament, the Government and the people of Kenya for the undying spirit and the resilience that has made us recover our breath and come this far. If this were a gathering of men and women of religion, we would all proclaim Ebenezer. I think that as a nation that believes in God, we can all say Ebenezer today. This far the Lord has brought us.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me continue by expressing sincere gratitude to all Members of this house and colleagues whom I have come to know as friends.

It has been quite an honor to interact, to serve and to exchange views with you, sometimes bitterly, but all, I believe, in our joint quest to make Kenya a better nation and to represent the feelings of our constituents.

There is reason for the Members of the Tenth Parliament to go out holding their heads high. Out of the bitter divides of the 2008, the Grand Coalition Government, the critical input of the Tenth Parliament has presided over:-

(i) the Promulgation and implementation of a new Constitution;

(ii) the Restoration of peace, including resettlement of most of the Internally Displaced Persons;
(iii) restoration of economic growth; and,
(iv) institutional working Government that, more than any other Government in recent times has achieved what many thought would be impossible even the best of times. 

Working closely with the Executive, the Tenth Parliament has overseen:-

(1) The biggest ever investment in the infrastructure development, with growth in roads, mobile telephony, energy and ICT standing out.
(2) Investment in food security through irrigated agriculture in ones neglected places like Turkana.
(3) Expansion of energy sources by investing in clean energy like geothermal, wind, solar and clean coal.
(4) Poverty reduction measures targeting vulnerable groups, including cash transfers to the poor and elderly currently piloting in various parts of the country.
(5) Expansion of free education to secondary schools and extending its benefits by providing sanitary towels to girls.
(6) Liberation of Somalia from Al Shabaab as part of our obligation to ourselves and to the global community to name but just a few.

The evolution of projects like the LAPSET, the Konza City and, above all, the promulgation of the new Constitution have been so grand that they could only have come from the era of big dreams that the Tenth Parliament and the Grand Coalition Government have come to represent. 

It is my hope that when the history of this country is written years later, with the benefit of hindsight, soberness and wisdom that comes with time, it will be more kind and gentle on the Grand Coalition and the Tenth Parliament than day to day reviews have been.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, each of us is hitting the campaign trail soon, except for a tiny minority that has opted out of elective politics. I want to wish each of you well as you seek to recapture your current seats or new ones. I hope you too will wish me success and victory.

(Applause)


I am sure that the violence of 2007/2008 is still fresh in the minds of each of us. I want to appeal to everyone that as we hit the campaign trail, let us not underestimate the impact we could make by getting involved in matters of peace, stability and national security.

As we campaign, let us not forget to remind Kenyans of the tasks ahead for the next Government. These include:-
 
(i) A faithful and full implementation of the Constitution.
(ii) Pursuit and implementation of Vision 2030 goals.
(iii) Attaining the 10 per cent plus growth as part of the Medium Term Plan goals of Vision 2030.
(iv) Security within our borders
(v) Deepening infrastructure development and in particular full implementation of LAPSET projects.
(vi) The creation of an ICT hub of the region; especially the development of Konza Techno City.
(vii) Reducing the cost of energy particularly through investment in green energysources.
(viii) Full integration of the EAC.
(ix) Ensuring a Peaceful Somalia and South Sudan.
(x) Ensuring food security for the country.
We are leaving this House at a moment in our history when Kenya faces daunting challenges. Some of our problems seem greater than our Government’s ability to solve them.

Poverty, massive youth unemployment, insecurity and tribalism stand out among the challenges. But I remain deeply optimistic about our country’s future. It is my view that all those challenges are surmountable. I am optimistic largely because of what I have experienced and witnessed in the last five years. I am especially encouraged by what we have been able to achieve after beginning so low five years ago.

With hindsight and experience under the Grand Coalition Government, I can state without fear that the greatest obstacle that stands between us and the brighter Kenyan future that we all want is right here among us. It is the polarization of our politics along tribal and party lines. This is what is preventing us from making the principled compromises this country desires and deserves.

In a democracy, moving forward depends on making compromises. We need a bipartisan understanding in our politics if we are to unleash all the potential of the Kenyan people. And so, I want to respectfully appeal to you, my colleagues, as you go out there to embark on campaigns. I know how hard each of us is going to work to get elected to the various seats that we are seeking. It is so engrossing that we may be tempted to forget that it is not about us; it is about Kenya.

As we campaign out there and as we return to this House next year, for those who will be successful, let us be prepared to reach across the party, tribal and regional divide.

Let us be prepared that for the sake of Kenya, when we gather in this House this year, each of us will reach across the aisle and party divide. Let us strive to and find partners from the opposite party. Let us put the interests of the country and constituents ahead of the dictates of party ideology.
I was not here a few days ago when His Excellency the President addressed this House for the last time. I want to join Members in thanking President Kibaki for his service to our nation. I also want to record my full appreciation for his co-operation within the Grand Coalition Government which has made it possible for us to reach this far. It has not always been easy. There has been all the time partisan pressure on both sides of the divide, that is, on President Kibaki and also on myself. However, through the spirit of compromise and tolerance, we have been able to make this Government move this far. I, therefore, want to wish him well as he prepares to retire and hope that the remaining days, until he hands over to whoever is going to be elected, are going to be smooth so that we do not experience what we saw in 2008. I thank you very much, hon. Members of Parliament.

Mr. Speaker: Right Honourable Prime Minister, so that you also know and it goes on record, on the same day that His Excellency the President addressed this House, the Kenya National Assembly hosted a dinner for him at the Inter-Continental Hotel to which all Members of Parliament were invited. His Excellency the President put it on record that he appreciated your support to him to manage the Coalition Government. So, please, note that he really acknowledged your efforts in the Coalition Government.

Hon. Members, following earnest requests by most of you, we will treat this Statement by the Prime Minister slightly differently. Those of you who may have clarifications will seek them, but we want to accord as many of you as we can some two minutes or so given the uniqueness of the title to the Prime Minister’s Statement this afternoon which is: Tribute to the Tenth Parliament.

So, you might as well want to acknowledge and appreciate yourselves. But those
of you who have had questions for the Prime Minister will be at liberty also to raise those
issues. So, we will do that for 30 minutes and the Prime Minister will have three minutes
to respond. Then we will close the matter. We want to begin with the Member for Gichugu.

Ms. Karua: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I want to join the Prime Minister in
paying tribute to ourselves as the Tenth Parliament. However, unlike him, I will say that,
yes, we did well in bringing forth legislation that helped this country stand up after the ashes that followed the disputed elections. We did well in passing the Constitution. We did well in passing the laws pursuant to the Constitution. But we know that we failed when passing some of those laws because of self-interest. We even deviated from the spirit of the Constitution. We need to acknowledge that on record.

I want to agree that the Grand Coalition Government has done very well in infrastructure, but they have done dismally in the fight against corruption and impunity.

However good the programmes and policies are of any government, without fighting corruption and impunity, the benefits can never reach the people and many of those programmes can never be implemented.

It is on record that up to now, we do not have a functional anti-corruption body because of the manipulations in the manner of appointments. We have not fulfilled the one-third gender rule. That, again, I will say it is Parliament because the President and the Prime Minister in this dispensation are Members of this Parliament. To me, that is a great shame.

I would say thank you to Kenyans and the people of Gichugu for allowing me to serve them for 20 years. Thank you to them because without them, I would not have been given the other responsibilities. I now seek from Kenyans the mandate to steer Kenya after President Kibaki; to fight corruption and impunity; to build and do better than the Grand Coalition Government that has ended up being the Grand Corruption Government.

I would say that where the Grand Coalition Government has reached, they are not capable of going beyond that in the fight against corruption and impunity. As I wish us well, I am unable to wish my fellow and worthy competitors luck because that luck should be to me solely, so that I take over from President Kibaki.

I want to thank the Prime Minister for initiating this appreciation and to appreciate Mr. Speaker. It is not that we may have agreed--- I may have agreed with the Speaker 100 per cent that he has done very well in a very difficult time. The President and the Prime Minister have steered a very difficult marriage which we expected to break any time. So, congratulations for steering a difficult marriage, but I now ask Kenyans to turn a new leaf in electing none other than myself to steer the country. I thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

(Applause)


Mr. Imanyara: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I, too, join the Prime Minister in expressing appreciation to the Tenth Parliament. When I say the Tenth Parliament, I start with you, Mr. Speaker and your leadership of this House. That is because you have been a worthy captain of the House. As the Prime Minister speaks to us as the Tenth Parliament, I recall, indeed, that the last time a Prime Minister stood before this House, he proceeded to become the President of the Republic of Kenya.

(Applause)

I am one of those who wish him well. I will support him to become the President of the Republic of Kenya, but I will be doing so with a word of caution that he be informed by events of the last five years.

The fight for the new Constitution has been a long struggle and we appreciate where we have come. However, the bigger challenge is in implementing that Constitution.

The challenges that we face are from the same sources that fought so hard to prevent passage of that Constitution.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, you will recall that we went late into the night in this House and, sometimes, forced to vote with our feet in order to save that Constitution. I see the
challenge ahead is from the same forces that will work day and night to prevent the realization of the full fruits of Independence under a new Constitution. So, Prime Minister, drawing from the parallels, be careful. I ask you to leave the Office of the Prime Minister as your predecessor did. The office is going to be abolished under the new Constitution. We are seeking a new dispensation under your leadership. My optimism for the future is informed by---

Mr. Speaker: Your time is up!

Mr. Imanyara: Please allow me 20 seconds.

Mr. Speaker: You want 20 seconds? Okay, that is granted.

Mr. Imanyara: Mr. Speaker, Sir, my optimism is informed by what I saw at Uhuru Park when the Vice-President and the Prime Minister launched a coalition that is
guaranteed to bring real change in this country and I wish them well.

The Minister for Forestry and Wildlife (Dr. Wekesa): Mr. Speaker, Sir, just like the Prime Minister, I was not able to be in the House when the President gave his Speech but I want to join him in congratulating the President for that wonderful speech and also for a good job that the President of this country has done in consultation and cooperation
with the Prime Minister. I remember the day that Kofi Annan came to this country to sort out our problems. I was one of the speakers in that meeting who said that we needed a grand coalition. I did that against opposition from many people in that
Chamber. I believed in a coalition at that time and I do believe in it even now and even in future. The days of one party system are much behind us. I do not think we will see Kenya come out with one party that produces a chief executive of this country.

Therefore, I am here to state very clearly that I appreciate the speech by the Prime
Minister. The Prime Minister and the President have been good examples of what a
coalition should be. If you remember, coalitions have been in Italy, India and so on. This coalition has stood the test of time in its five years. I do congratulate the Prime Minister and the President for steering us up to this time.

I know the Prime Minister, I know him very well. I remember when our President was in hospital and we were campaigning, then I joined the Prime Minister and we toured
this country. He campaigned for President Mwai Kibaki as if the post was going to be his and he is the one who said “Kibaki Tosha”. It looks to me now that some people have forgotten but I have not. Here, we have the next President.

Mr. Speaker: Order, hon. Member for Kwanza. Your time has been up a minute ago.

The Minister for Forestry and Wildlife (Dr. Wekesa): Please, allow me 20 seconds.

Mr. Speaker: Okay, 20 seconds, please conclude.

The Minister for Forestry and Wildlife (Dr. Wekesa): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I have always said that I know who the next president is going to be. I have told Kenyans and I never vote for losers. Raila Amollo Odinga is your next President.

Mr. Koech: Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity to sincerely thank the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister for giving us that Statement on tributes to the Tenth Parliament. Many a times when you listen to what goes on outside there you wonder whether anybody really recognizes and appreciates what this honourable House has done. Sometimes I even think that the Executive does not consider and look at how much this Parliament has done. This year alone, if my recollection is correct, we have been able to pass over 100 Bills as compared to only 17 Bills in---

Mr. Speaker: Hon. Member for Mosop, was it last year or this year?

Mr. Koech: Last year, Mr. Speaker, Sir. That is 2012. I did not say “happy new year” and that is why.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, when you hear this Parliament being bashed left right and
centre, you wonder whether the other quarter of this Government is actually seeing. The latest is when we passed the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment) Bill that was
generated and originated from the Government for purposes of ensuring the passage of critical Bills before the end of this Parliament but the Executive has not even issued a
single statement to say how important it is.

Again last year, His Excellency the President, I believe in concurrence with the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, honored many Kenyans. But looking at them, I was surprised that in this House, they recognized Ministers only apart from only one passenger, Mr. Yusuf Chanzu. I want to thank the Executive for recognizing him but looking back again, you will discover that he was once an Assistant Minister in this Government.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like the Prime Minister to tell us---

Mr. Speaker: I am afraid your time is up. We must now get back to the rules. If we keep on spilling over, we may not have as many Members but you may get 20 seconds.

Mr. Koech: Mr. Speaker, Sir, how does the Prime Minister intend to honour Members of this honourable House beyond the accolades on the Floor of the House?

Mr. C. Kilonzo: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish to thank the Prime Minister for allowing us to blow our own trumpets. There is no better opportunity than now. This Parliament has played a crucial role in fighting corruption despite the lack of cooperation from the Government. This is a Parliament which saw Ministers step aside from their offices because of the work done by this House. The Tenth Parliament is where the role of Committee has really improved and the general public has come to appreciate what the Committee of Parliament can do and what Parliament can actually do to serve their interests.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, although we started on a very shaky ground, I wish to thank my own party leader, the Prime Minister and the President for having kept this Government
moving. I do remember one time when I visited the Prime Minister’s office - I have to
mention this case because he might not be aware of a Kenyan lecturer who was stuck in a university in South Africa with a bill of Kshs18 million – after the Government’s
intervention, that lecturer was flown all the way from South African to Nairobi Hospital.
He has now recovered and has gone ahead to apply for a job in the National Land Commission. That shows that my party is where to go.

To conclude, there have been failures by all of us especially when it comes to addressing salaries of civil servants. These include the policemen, the nurses and the lecturers. I wish we could have done slightly better. It is my prayer that when we take over this Government that the first agenda---

Mr. Speaker: Your time is up!

The Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Onyancha): Mr. Speaker, Sir, first of all, I would like to state that at a personal level, it has been wonderful having been a first time Member of Parliament and having worked very closely with the Prime Minister and the Vice-President who were in the House and, indeed, with the Speaker himself. It has been a learning experience. The truth is that the Tenth Parliament has done wonderfully well. We tried to learn as fast as we could. I think we went through the learning processes very quickly and I think we did our job quite well.

For me, it was a very fortunate experience and the fact that the Prime Minister
participated in having me being appointed an Assistant Minister where I participated fully in making sure that I did well during the transitional period for South Sudanese
Government. I am also very proud to be associated with the Prime Minister and the President who made sure that Somalia finally becomes a stable and solidified African
country that hopefully will have success in future.

Lastly, I would like to say that it is important for this House to be cautious and clear that the public out there expects more. I believe we can do better with our Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) money and make sure that the implementation of the Constitution is successful. We should also work and make sure that corruption in this country is reduced to the minimal. At the same time, I wanted to say that I thank all
Members of this House for having made some of us really enjoy working here.

Finally, I hope that we have a very peaceful and successful election and I hope we will behave as gentlemen and ladies to get the best person to become the President of Kenya, and I hope it will be the Prime Minister, Raila Amollo Odinga.

Mr. Ochieng: Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to join my colleagues in congratulating the Prime Minister for the splendid speech that he gave especially in paying tribute to this House and to my fellow colleagues who have done very well since we came here in 2008.

At times, it was very hard just as it has been said by my colleagues that we felt that the
Government was going to collapse but, finally, we are here. I want to actually just repeat what my colleague, hon. Koech, has said that hon. Members deserve to be given medals just like their colleagues in the Cabinet because we have done very well. That is the only way we will also be appreciated by the Government. I want to believe that as we approach elections, we do so with sober and peaceful minds and because Kenya is one nation, I hope that this time round the elections will be very peaceful and let us have the Prime Minister being the president of this country. Thank you very much.

Mr. M’Mithiaru: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to congratulate the Prime Minister for the Statement and the tributes he has made to the
Tenth Parliament and also as we carried our business in the Tenth Parliament, we noted
the role you had played. In fact, you have been a cross cutting thread to ensure that the coalition was properly knit and everything went on quite well.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we really knew this was a very loose coalition but the Prime Minister and the President brought us home because they actually went beyond their expectations. We have had instances where they talked about half a loaf of bread and consultations not being there but with all that, the Government remained one and we have actually seen the success that has been made through the developmental programmes that have been put in place.

Mine now is to wish all of us well as we go to the next elections and also to ensure that in the event of any other coalitions, we now have some experience and let us
ensure that we put Kenya first. Thank you so much.

Mr. Mbau: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir for giving me a chance to also thank the Prime Minister for initiating debate in paying tribute to ourselves as hon. Members of this Tenth Parliament simply because even though hon. Members of this House have been applauded by the President himself for having done and achieved a record passage of Bills, the public sometimes chooses not to appreciate what Members of
Parliament do.

The other day, we passed the Omnibus Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment) Bill and even though the Bill had meant a lot for what work is set for this House, some segments of the public chose not to see that one simple amendment which was aimed to ensure that instead of us not being Members of Parliament by January, they chose to see that hon. Members only wanted to hold onto to their party membership or rather to have more time to remain hon. Members instead of seeing that committees have a lot of unfinished business, which if that law was not amended, we would collapse and become irrelevant or redundant and not be able to transact business anymore. I think it is high time that we also told the public that there is a lot more that we do as committees beyond what they think.

Mr. Duale: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to thank you for the role that you have
played in making sure that Parliament finishes its mandate and for the Prime Minister, I want to say categorically that that I am a very good student of his politically. We were
together in 2007. We might not be together in 2013 but having said that, I want to thank him for chairing and bringing together the coalition that had ups and downs. I want to thank the Prime Minister for playing his role for the period that he was the Prime Minister of Kenya. I wish him luck.

I want to tell him that if he wins in the elections, we will work with him and if we win the elections, we want him and his colleagues in the Coalition for Restoration of Democracy (CORD) and the Vice-President, who is my neighbor, to also work with the Jubilee Coalition. This is a Jubilee Coalition and this is a jubilee year and we expect to
win the elections. We are telling everybody to make the political competition a peaceful one and a transition that will make Kenya a better place to live. Mr. Prime Minister, we wish you well and a long life.

The Minister for Public Works (Mr. Obure): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. First, I want to associate myself with the sentiments expressed here in congratulating the Prime
Minister for a good statement. This Parliament has been very successful led by you – a
very impartial, fair and very firm Speaker. You will be remembered for the landmark
rulings you made while presiding over the affairs of this House. This House will be
remembered for its role in passing a new Constitution. It will be remembered for the large number of pieces of legislation which were passed and the large number of Motions which were passed in this Parliament.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we know that the Constitution has its own challenges of implementing it but I am appealing to hon. Members to play their role to ensure that the Constitution which Kenyans fought for so hard is realized and actualized. If you go around the country today in various constituencies, you will see projects initiated by hon.

Members of this House. In fact, projects related to health, schools, water and all the rest have been done under the supervision of these hon. Members of Parliament and they have demonstrated that the little resources that have been made available through the devolved arrangement can actually work. So, I want to congratulate the various hon. Members for supervising the use of the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) effectively for the benefit of the people.

I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Coalition Government. This Coalition Government will be remembered for the massive infrastructure projects
initiated.

The Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology (Mr. Kamama): Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this chance to thank the Prime Minister for the good expose on what this House has achieved since its inception or since this Parliament began. I also want to thank him for being the sober politician that he has been since he became the Prime Minister of this Republic. Of course, he is going to be the last Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya because our Constitution does not recognize this position again. I want to thank you for your landmark ruling, namely, the Solomonic wisdom that you have given in this House on several matters, Bills and contentious issues. You have been one of our best Speakers if not the best Speaker. I want to shower accolades to all the Members of Parliament for doing very well on the ground in their constituencies and in this House. Our Members have burnt the midnight oil to ensure that several Bills are legislated and enacted in this House. I want to thank the Members for also playing a great role in the promulgation of the new Constitution. I also want to thank our friends in the Jubilee Coalition for preparing themselves to take over the next Government and give Kenyans the best leadership that they have never seen in this country.

Mr. Ngugi: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to join my colleagues in thanking the Prime Minister for paying tribute to the Members. I wish to pay tribute to the Members. I also
want to pay tribute to all Kenyans who elected the Members of the Tenth Parliament.
They did a wonderful job. This has been a House that will be remembered for a long time to come.

On 20th December, 2012, the President paid tribute, particularly to two Committees of this House, namely, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Public Investments Committee (PIC), for the very diligent work they had have done in keeping the Government on its toes. I want to say, on behalf of the PAC, which I am a Member, that no Minister should take personal grudge on the Members of the PAC or the PIC for having done their work. We did our work to serve Kenyans and even if we were to be elected again, we would do the same work.

I want to end by thanking the Prime Minister. He has been a good example. He has worked very closely with the President. He has been a good example to all of us who are first timers. To you, Mr. Speaker, you have steered this House very well and we wish you the best for the future. For those of us who are going to be governors will emulate what you, the Prime Minister and the President have done.

The Minister of State for Public Service (Mr. Otieno): Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I just want to make one statement. As a Minister, during the last session, responsible for monitoring and evaluating performance, totally, it was an excellent score for the National Assembly in this Session. Without belabouring the point, you gave benchmark rulings in the Assembly. The Assembly, as a whole, has had record performance in legislation. Initially, when we had the leadership of this Government, namely, the President, the Prime Minister and the Vice-President, it appeared as if it was not workable, but they have demonstrated to Kenyans that all is possible if the leaders are willing to do so.

Finally, I wish to commend the performance of the lady Members of the Tenth
Parliament. I regret that we did not legislate on the gender rule and we may have fewer female Members or less active, but from the record of the Tenth Parliament, it is highly commendable that Ms. Karua did an excellent job. Hon. Shebesh did a perfect job. Hon. Laboso is an excellent Chair at the same time. Hon. Kamar has great happiness in performance. My brother here tells me if I made a mistake of mentioning names, hon. Odhiambo-Mabona should be mentioned ten times and hon. Kilimo should be mentioned six times. It was a great pleasure working with them.

Mr. Speaker: Your time is up, hon. Otieno. I have just three minutes and I have two persons that have been persistent and they are almost neighbors. So, I want them to share those three minutes; one and a half minute each, hon. Munya and then we will finish with your neighbor, who I will identify in a moment.

The Assistant Minister for East African Community (Mr. Munya): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I take this opportunity to congratulate the Prime Minister for work well done when steering this Government together with the President. But may I also give a word of caution to the two grand coalitions that are poised on trying to take over the Government in the coming elections. When they take over, they should follow the practice of the two Coalition partners, not to exclude Kenyans who are not in the coalitions. If they practice politics of exclusion, they are not likely to go very far in running the Government because the Constitution is very clear on how resources should be shared in the country. Every Kenyan is entitled to a share of the national cake. When you do coalitions that divide the country and share the national cake amongst the coalition partners, you give the impression that you intend to exclude those who are not members or supporters of those collations. It does not augur well for the welfare and the development of the country.

Therefore, when you take over the Government, make sure that you take care of all the Kenyans, whether they are members of your coalitions or not. Otherwise, you will find a very rough time in attempting to run the Government or that mandate that you will be given.

The Minister for Energy (Mr. Murungi): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to join my colleagues in thanking the Prime Minister for leading us in paying tribute to the Tenth Parliament. We have been in this Parliament for some time now, but I think this is the most vibrant Parliament that we have been in. I am one of those who did not vote for you when you were being elected Speaker, but I want to assure you that if we were to vote again tomorrow, count on my vote. I am going to vote for you!

The Grand Coalition has done extremely well given the difficult circumstances we were in. It has brought peace and security. It has laid down firm foundations for prosperity for this country. The Prime Minister is a great nationalist. He has great ideas for this country. We have been opposing him and we are also going to oppose him again, but I must say that I have enjoyed working in the Grand Coalition Government. It is not a bad idea. We could not have enacted the new Constitution without this Grand Coalition Government. I want to encourage the Prime Minister to start some discussions with his Deputy, Mr. Kenyatta, so that we can have another grand coalition between CORD and the Jubilee Alliance, so that we can lead this country in peace and prosperity for another five years until 2017. If we do not do that, this country will be split and taken to the political struggles that were there between Jomo Kenyatta and the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in the 1960s. We are likely to split the country.

Mr. Speaker: Hon. Murungi, your time is up. Hon. Prime Minister, you may now want to respond.

The Prime Minister (Mr. Raila): Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me thank all the Members
who have contributed to this discussion. There is not much for me to respond to because no specific issues were raised. The Members basically also took the opportunity to thank themselves.

However, one or two issues stand out here. Hon. Karua was particularly concerned about corruption. The Member has been a Member of the Front Bench for a long time. In the last Parliament, she was on the Front Bench for five years and even in this Parliament, she was very much part of it and she knows the issues about corruption. I believe very strongly that we, as a country, must address the issue of corruption more effectively. It is a pity that the compromises you have in a coalition also make it difficult to deal with the issue of corruption because sometimes culprits take solace and refuge in the divisions that come with the coalition. If they are being targeted, they go and say: “Oh, I am being targeted because I belong to this side of the coalition”.

In my view, that has made the fight against corruption much more difficult in this coalition era. The Members know that names were brought to this House for approval as members of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

It is a pity that so far, we have not been able to set up an effective anti-corruption commission. The reasons are well known to the Members of the House. Equally, I strongly regret the fact that we have not passed legislation to effect the one-third gender rule, which is in the Constitution. It is a pity. However, there is a way out because the courts have ruled that this must be rectified by the year 2015. I hope that in the course of the life of the next Parliament, we are going to come up with legislation which will enable us to satisfy the provisions of the gender rule. We can use the results of these coming elections and the votes which would be obtained by the various political parties as the basis for allocating seats on the gender basis within that period. In other words, it does not have to last beyond the life of the next Parliament. I am determined to ensure that, that happens.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I need to congratulate you, specifically, for the role you have played as captain of this House. You have steered the debates and discussions in this House in a very civilized manner. You have managed to depolarize politics within this House. Sometimes you have been called upon to resolve differences within the Executive itself. Issues which, even as you said, were not within your own purview or responsibility, have come before you and you have helped us in making the Grand Coalition Government function smoothly. For example, when we disagreed on the issue of the appointments of the Chief Justice, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Attorney-General and the Controller of Budget, you assisted us despite the fact that there were very strong and passionate feelings among other Members.

All that I was doing was just to ensure that no Presidency is created which will enable the Executive to abuse the provisions of the Constitution. With that intervention, we now have a Chief Justice who everybody agrees is equal to the enormous task of judicial reforms.

Finally, at times, it has not been very easy to handle this position as a Prime Minister. I have now the honor to be the last Prime Minister because this position is going to be extinct in the new constitutional dispensation. It is not an easy position particularly when you are the Prime Minister in a Grand Coalition Government, when you share power with the President on a 50-50 basis.

Sometimes partisan issues come into play which undermine the effectiveness of the position of a Prime Minister. But we have managed to tolerate and move forward. The President has sometimes come under a lot of partisan pressure. I know when the President is acting as himself and when he is acting under partisan pressure. I have equally also come under a lot of partisan pressure.

Sometimes you are being told that: “Oh, you are being subservient to your coalition partner. They are getting the better of you and you are not being treated as an equal partner”. But we have looked at the bigger good of the country and tried to resist the pressures which would have resulted in the collapse of the Coalition Government.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are happy that we have reached this far. We have been two
equal partners in the Grand Coalition Government. One coalition partner is now retiring and I know that hon. Members will agree with me that the other coalition partner, who has the experience, should continue so that there is continuity in the Government.