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Skimming the document more closely, it is a discussion of a new draft constitution for Kenya: Below are snips from James Orengo’s speech (See last paragraph for relevant Obama section.):
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Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, before we started debate on this Motion, the Speaker pointed out a very important matter in relation to the constitution-making process. I may be excused with respect to refer to one of the parts of the constitution that many of us would not referring to because we are more concerned with the body of the constitution rather than the preamble.

In the preamble, I found these words which are very important. In fact there are two parts of the preamble that I consider very important in this constitution-making process.

The first preamble says:-

“Honouring those who heroically struggled to bring freedom and justice to our land. Exercising our sovereign and inalienable right to determine the form of governance of our country and having participated fully in the making of this Constitution.”

So, if I begin with the last part of this preamble; it states in very clear terms that at the end of this process, the product that will go for publication as the Constitution of Kenya and become part of the basic law and the supreme law of the land, will be a document which has been made by the people of Kenya. This is quite different from the current Constitution, which was not a product, of neither this House nor the people of Kenya.

(snip)

So, I want to say that this document in its entirety – I am not saying that it is perfect – but it is better than anything that we have had before, and I commend it to this Parliament and the nation. But in saying that, without leadership, however good the document is, we need men and women who will be guided by the values contained in this document. If we do not live by the values and principles contained in this Constitution, all that is contained in this Constitution will be of no significance. This is because the unmaking of Kenya began by disregard and non-compliance of the law. We ended up in a dictatorship that we had to fight for so many years.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have noticed that other than what my learned friend, hon. Kajwang, referred to in his contribution, about the sovereign power of the people, you will notice in the chapter dealing with the Executive, that unlike the present Constitution, the Executive authority of the President and Cabinet Secretary is derived from the people, which is quite unlike the current situation. If I can compare it with what was happening about ten to 15 years ago because the law has not changed significantly, there was a time that we were told that even to imagine or encompass the death of a President was treason.

I know that many Members of Parliament who are my colleagues here were taken away and detained on the basis that they encompassed and imagined the death of the “sovereign”. So, we have gone through great times and this is, therefore, a historical moment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to end this contribution by saying that the most important chapter in this Constitution is about devolution. Without devolution, I can tell you, we are back to square one, because this is a presidential system. I want to be corrected in another 20 or 30 years that if we do not have devolution, the Presidency we have created is even more powerful than the current President. This is because the current President sits in the Cabinet with elected Members of Parliament. He derives membership of his Cabinet from this Parliament. He sits in Cabinet with people who relate to the people directly. This is a President who is not a Member of the Legislature. So, the only way that we can check this Presidency is through devolution.

Any system – even monarchical systems – where there is a diffusion and de-concentration of power, be it in Old Germany or the Anglo Saxons, where there was devolution, you could see that not only the promises of liberty but also development could be achieved. I assure you that what we are even trying to do through the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) by devolving funds is not re-inventing the wheel.

There was mechanism and systems for taking funds to the districts in various programmes but there was no legal and lawful framework for accountability and representation at the lowest level. So, the CDF has made a little bit more progress than the District Commissioners (DCs) who were managing large funds but had no accountability or there was no system for interrogating them.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we are creating regions or counties on the basis of ethnicity, you have missed the point about devolution. If we want to live in ethnic cocoons, devolution will not resolve our problems. Even a Member of Parliament said yesterday that Kenya is still a tribal country even as we say that we are a unitary State. Devolution is giving the promises of better governance because you are taking the administration, accountability and resources to the people.

If you look at Nairobi today, the Maasai or Kikuyus can claim Nairobi today, but times have changed. Nairobi now is a metropolitan City. In another ten years, Mandera also will be a metropolitan city. So, the way to look at devolution is about governance. If at all we take this Constitution without looking at the elements of devolution properly, then I am afraid we have missed the boat.

We should be very courageous and brave because in 1963, resources were going to the regions. It was not by changing the Constitution that the regions went but by starving the regions of funds and even the power to tax the regions. That is how the regions were killed. But when the regions were working, even hon. Ngala was feeling better and safer as the president of the Coast region rather than being a Member of Parliament here.

The other thing that we are addressing through devolution is exclusion. What has made us suffer as a nation is exclusion. Once people feel excluded, even when you want to employ a policeman or constable or you want to build a dispensary, it must come from the centre. In the colonial days, these things were being done on the ground and they could give bursaries and build roads. I commend devolution. Those who fear devolution are living in the past. They are being guided by their ethnic consideration and objectives. They are living in the past.

If America was living in a situation where they feared ethnicity and did not see itself as a multiparty state or nation, how could a young man born here in Kenya, who is not even a native American, become the President of America? It is because they did away with exclusion. What has killed us here is exclusion; that once Mr. Orengo is President, I know of no other place than Ugenya. That is why we were fighting against these many Presidencies in the past. I hope that Kenya will come of age. This country must come of age. People want freedom and nations want liberation, but countries want independence.

I beg to support.

(his speech ends here)