A number of Parliamentarians, while taking their oaths of office on Thursday encountered a stumbling block in one of the most unlikely places: a word in the prescribed oath.
The word conscientiously, pronounced as [kon-shee-en-shuh-s-ly] had many legislators saying “consciously”, which has a totally different meaning.
Part of the oath read as follows "....I do swear that I will obey, respect, uphold, preserve, protect and defend this Constitution of the Republic of Kenya and that I would faithfully and conscientiously discharge the duties of the Member of Parliament, so help me God.”
The word conscientiously, according to Oxford Dictionary, means to be in a “thorough and responsible way, or in a way that is motivated by one’s moral sense of right and wrong.
On the other hand, the word “consciously” means in a deliberate and intentional way or in a way that is directly perceptible to and under the control of the person concerned.
Here is the video of how the legislators pronounced it courtesy of NTV:
[video:]
Here is a video with the right pronunciation of the word conscientiously:
[video:]
Kenyans were lit up by the pronunciation with many people making fun of their legislators.
Here are some reactions:
instead of saying conscientiously jaguar as opted for konshens haha not even conscience #MpsSwear #12parliament
— Polycarpodiedo (@Polycarpodiedo) August 31, 2017
The word conscientiously is too hard for the mps. " And I will faithfully and covfefely" #MPsSwear
— Mickaël Enoely (@MickaelEnoel) August 31, 2017
This word 'conscientiously' may make MPs boycott swearing in #MPsSwear
— Eugene Onyango (@eugeneonyango2) August 31, 2017
WHICH IS WHICH: The word CONSCIENTIOUSLY is pronounced "konshi'enshasli", not "konshiasli", "kon'sisesli", etc. @KTNKenya @KTNNews
— Willice Ochieng (@WilliceOchieng1) August 31, 2017
