HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, POST, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"count": 1608389,
"next": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=api&page=139504",
"previous": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=api&page=139502",
"results": [
{
"id": 1411441,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411441/?format=api",
"text_counter": 189,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Farah Maalim",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 16,
"legal_name": "Farah Maalim Mohamed",
"slug": "farah-maalim"
},
"content": " Hon. Milemba. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor"
},
{
"id": 1411442,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411442/?format=api",
"text_counter": 190,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Emuhaya, ANC",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this chance to comment on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.10 of 2024). First, let me thank the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs for their good job of bringing this Bill to the Floor of the House. Many Kenyans have been waiting for the passage of this Bill, especially those aspiring for electoral positions that arose from the death of their Members of Parliament or Members of County Assembly. Those electoral units have not had a chance to hold elections because the IEBC has not had commissioners to oversee the elections. I want to, again, express confidence in this Parliament. As the immediate previous speaker said, we should continue reviewing our electoral laws and processes after every election. The growth of any democracy and democratic space in the world has been through amendment of the election laws. In the United States of America (USA), which is considered one of the most democratic places in the world, growth of electoral laws began with the founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and James Madison. The current electoral process in the USA is completely different from what it was. It went through all those processes, including the great debate of Lincoln versus Douglas, a one-on-one debate that became the template for presidential debates today. They were borrowed from the Douglas-Lincoln debate in the USA. Therefore, these processes grow. Each time we get a chance to amend our election laws, we should count ourselves privileged and do the very best we can to ensure that the next election is better managed than the previous one. We should fill any gaps that were experienced in the previous election. The Deputy Speaker, who spoke before me gave many examples. I will pick only one example in the Kenyan electoral situation. When we had election challenges during the Moi era in 1992, we had the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group ( IPPG ) initiative – political negotiations which resulted in major changes in our country’s election laws – to make sure that all those who wanted to participate in subsequent elections were included so that they could take ownership of the process. That in itself was growth. I do not know if the Members in this House remember the mlolongo elections that were conducted in 1988. I do not know if Members remember how flawed they were. Voters were required to queue behind the agents of the candidates they were voting for. However, candidates with the longest queues of supporters ended up not being announced winners of the elections because of what was going on with our politics then. Therefore, a continuous change of our electoral laws is paramount. It must take place, so that we get a better election process. Let me now speak about only three issues contained in this Bill beginning with the fact that it brings to bear the recommendations of the National Dialogue Committee Report. I appeared before the NADCO to represent the Kenya Kwanza Coalition. It was a very important process because it brought calmness to this country. Everybody believed that with the NADCO process, all the political players would come to the table and agree on the way forward. That is why we have calmness in the country today. We must vividly remember as Parliament that the"
},
{
"id": 1411443,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411443/?format=api",
"text_counter": 191,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "maandamano"
},
{
"id": 1411444,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411444/?format=api",
"text_counter": 192,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Emuhaya, ANC",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
"speaker": null,
"content": "that were going on at that time ceased. Therefore, the views that were given by the public and other stakeholders during the NADCO proceedings cannot be left out of this process. The best thing to do is to assemble them in the form of a Bill so that they are accommodated in the laws of the country. Therefore, as we make these changes, I want to hail the Bill for accommodating the NADCO Report and the proposals by Kenyans. We are representatives of the people and everything we do is born out of the supremacy of the people as per Article 1 of the Constitution because they hold the sovereign power. Secondly, I want to hail this Bill for bringing to bear a process that will put in place the IEBC commissioners fast enough. However, away from that, I also hail it for ensuring that we avoid the constitutional crisis we almost had whereby we were supposed to delimit the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor"
},
{
"id": 1411445,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411445/?format=api",
"text_counter": 193,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Emuhaya, ANC",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
"speaker": null,
"content": "constituency boundaries within a period of eight to 12 years. We could not do that because we did not have the IEBC commissioners. That will now be solved. That will be a reprieve for many Kenyans, and more so those constituencies that are suffering under the fear that they were possibly protected and are likely to lose their places if this process is not undertaken. That is why I support this Bill. This is a very good process which will deal with the matter of delimitation of boundaries and constituencies. There is the issue of the Chairperson of the Commission, which this Bill has been very particular on. I support the Bill in totality because the drama we saw during the last election should never be repeated in this country. The Bill is adopting the High Court ruling in the case of Katiba Institute & 3 others v Attorney General & 2 others (2018). There was a law which described the Chairperson of the IEBC to include the vice-chairperson and any other commissioner who may appear in the event that the chairperson is not present. That was very dangerous for any election process. It exposed this country and the election process to a situation whereby one can even kidnap the chairperson and bring in another person who can then announce what he or she wants as the results of that election. Furthermore, it also showed that we could even remove the vice-chairperson and any other commissioner could then appear and announce the results. This Bill has hailed that ruling and properly defined the chairperson as being the chairperson and not any other person, including the vice-chairperson. No one can take the place of the chairperson, including the vice-chairperson or any other commissioner who purports that he or she can also be the chairperson. Kenyans chose one person as the chairperson of the Commission for a reason. The trust, rigorous interviews and aspects of training that were required of the chairperson were not the same as those that were required of the vice-chairperson. This will bring an end to the drama we saw in this country during the last election with Commissioner Cherera and the rest. This is a good Bill. That is why I keep saying that the election process must continuously be changed and reviewed so that it gets better with the hope of attaining the infinity of perfection. Hon. Temporary Speaker, there is also the issue of additional members of the IEBC. The Bill proposes two additional commissioners so that we move from seven to nine commissioners. This is also very good because it increases the space and leverage of operation of the Commission. It also brings to bear more minds and technical people who can assist. The Bill has gone ahead to indicate the specific areas that require more assistance. These are ICT and accounting. How often do we hear that electoral materials have not been procured because of one reason or another? We saw the gaps we had in the ICT section which remain one of the most disturbing issues in the election processes. Hon. Temporary Speaker, as I conclude, I thank you for giving me this chance to contribute. Given that my time is over, I support the Bill."
},
{
"id": 1411446,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411446/?format=api",
"text_counter": 194,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Farah Maalim",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 16,
"legal_name": "Farah Maalim Mohamed",
"slug": "farah-maalim"
},
"content": " Hon. Caroli Omondi."
},
{
"id": 1411447,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411447/?format=api",
"text_counter": 195,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Caroli Omondi",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I have a problem with my card. I was among the first Members to step into the House. Unfortunately, my card could not indicate on the dashboard. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute. I have looked at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill and I am a little underwhelmed. Even if it is a National Dialogue Committee product, there are some serious issues."
},
{
"id": 1411448,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411448/?format=api",
"text_counter": 196,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Hon. Owen Baya consulted several Members along the gangway)"
},
{
"id": 1411449,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411449/?format=api",
"text_counter": 197,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Farah Maalim",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 16,
"legal_name": "Farah Maalim Mohamed",
"slug": "farah-maalim"
},
"content": " Hon. Owen Baya and Hon. Members, consult in low tones. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor"
},
{
"id": 1411450,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411450/?format=api",
"text_counter": 198,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Caroli Omondi",
"speaker": null,
"content": " We should have the spirit that amendments need to be introduced to this particular draft Bill. India, which is the largest democracy in the world, is conducting elections in which 960 million people will vote. The electoral commission of India was formed in 1950. It has only three commissioners. It had one commissioner for 39 years. It was not until 1989 that they added two commissioners. These three commissioners are actually appointed by the President of India, but on the recommendation of a selection panel of three people: The Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and a neutral representative of Parliament. If you look at what we are trying to create here, we are compounding our problems. After the last election and the problems we experienced there are four things that these amendments should have addressed. Firstly, we should have timely review and delimitation of new electoral boundaries. It is a shame that we cannot keep constitutional timelines. We have not had the first major review and delimitation of electoral boundaries under the Constitution of Kenya 2010. That is such a national shame. Secondly, we should have timely by-elections. Banissa Constituency has not had a Member of Parliament for close to a year, which is a national shame. When you read this particular draft Bill, you will appreciate that it does not provide solutions to ensure we have timely by-elections. Thirdly, we should have a timely reconstitution of the IEBC when some of its members retire. Again, that is not addressed in this particular Bill. Fourthly, we should have a timely reconstitution of the selection panel. We are not even debating the question of whether the selection panel should be a standing committee or an adhoc committee as it is currently proposed, and its merits and demerits. All these serious issues are not addressed properly here. Most fundamentally, even though this Bill is a NADCO product, it will create more problems."
}
]
}