Mwingi North Member of Parliament Paul Nzengu says he intends to sponsor a Bill in the National Assembly that will stop leaders from pushing the allocation of funds based on population.
Speaking in Kirinyaga County, the lawmaker said the Bill will ensure the national population census will not mention people’s tribes but identify them as people of Kenya.
“We want to look at Kenya as a nation but not as a tribe just like Tanzania and Rwanda,” Nzengu said.
The Mwingi North lawmaker also said he wants details in the national identity cards changed.
“This will help us reduce friction between various tribes. We should not wait until we have a genocide, we actually start now, one way is to change details that appear in the national identity cards,” said the MP.
The lawmaker rubbished the one man, one vote, and one shilling campaign propagated by a section of Mt.Kenya leaders led by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. He argued that some tribes will suffer.
Gachagua has been advocating for the adoption of the one man one shilling formula to ensure equity and fairness in the allocation of funds to the county.
Mwingi North MP was speaking after select committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity visited Mwea Constituency in Kirinyaga. The House committee led by Nyeri MP Dancan Mathenge collected views from the residents over a bill sponsored by MP Adan Haji Yusuf, which seeks to provide a framework for the promotion of national cohesion, unity and peace building.
The bill wants to give the National Cohesion and Integration Commission power to prosecute.
Currently NCIC has no powers to prosecute hate propagators.
Mwea MP Mary Maingi, who is also a member of the select committee, said parliament also wants to put an end to discrimination in employment opportunities.
“We want to end discrimination in employment because if we follow the 2010 constitution only big tribes will be employed,” she said.
The bill also makes provision for ethnic discrimination -it gives instances when a person is considered to discriminate against another, whether directly or indirectly.
