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{
    "id": 716399,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/716399/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 231,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "In the first instance, if we are left with Section 44 as currently existing, there will absolutely be no--- I hope I have 15 minutes and not 10 because everybody was getting 15 minutes. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in Section 44, the word “complementary” is a word that gives discretion not to Parliament or anybody else but to the electoral commission which is an independent body. The IEBC is an independent body. Unlike what Sen. Orengo said, Section 44 gives the commission the power to make regulations but in consultation with relevant agencies. Why can the IEBC not make regulations under Section 44(a) in consultation with all other agencies including committees of Parliament which comprise of the National Assembly and the Senate; to make regulations that are acceptable to all of us? Mr. Speaker, Sir, one governor came here and tried to ridicule people who may not be identifiable. Statistics show that if only 10 per cent of Kenyans do not vote because of a failure of any system, 2.5 million Kenyans will lose the right to vote and 2.5 million Kenyans will make a lot of difference in elections of this nation. If only 1 per cent does not vote because of a failure, 250,000 Kenyans will not vote. These are the issues that we must take into account. That is why we must accept in good faith that we need to have a system other than total electronic or total technology. Nobody here except computer experts can disapprove. Nobody said that we do not need a backup and that backup is what we need to work on in good faith. All of us need to work together so that we have regulations that are watertight and which will ensure the integrity of a voting system that is acceptable to all of us in this country. The case of Ghana has been quoted very many times. I want to remind everybody that what controlled the elections in Ghana is contained in the regulations and not in the substantive law. We went through those regulations word for word in the joint committee and saw that it is possible to make regulations under Section 44(a) which will make our elections have such integrity that they will not be questioned. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, the only other thing I would like to say is that what we need to be looking for is how to create a system that will make our elections have integrity. Like one or two other people said before me, we must work in such a way that we who have the power to legislate must appreciate – whether you call numbers or what you want to call it – that the only way for the Senate, the National Assembly or a legislative body to make a decision is by having a debate like the one we are having and then, if need be, have a vote. If a vote shows that the majority of the people voting after the debate need to have backup that is acceptable to everybody – the underlining word is “acceptable” – after serious scrutiny, then that must be the way to go and all of us must work towards this because at the end of the day, all of us are Kenyans. We only have one country and we must protect it from the mistrust that is being created, most of which is artificial, trying to make Kenyans believe that there will be a problem going forward when indeed we have not had a problem even when we did not have any electronic voting at all. When we had a problem in 2007/2008, it had nothing to do with electronic voting. By the same argument, we did not have any problem in that regard in the elections of 2013. That is the position and argument that all of us must push forward; that it is not electronic voting or otherwise that can give us problems. That is the attitude of The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}