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{
"id": 1618712,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1618712/?format=api",
"text_counter": 139,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Hon. Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion: THAT, taking into consideration the findings of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs in its report on the vetting of nominees for appointment as chairperson and members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 3rd June 2025, and pursuant to the provisions of Article 25(2)(b) of the Constitution, this House approves the appointment of the following persons to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission: 1. Mr Erastus Edung Ethekon - Chairperson 2. Ms Anne Njeri Nderitu"
},
{
"id": 1618713,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1618713/?format=api",
"text_counter": 140,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
"speaker": null,
"content": "- Member 3. Mr Moses Alutalala Mukhwana - Member 4. Ms Mary Karen Sorobit"
},
{
"id": 1618714,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1618714/?format=api",
"text_counter": 141,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
"speaker": null,
"content": "- Member 5. Mr Hassan Noor Hassan"
},
{
"id": 1618715,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1618715/?format=api",
"text_counter": 142,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
"speaker": null,
"content": "- Member 6. Mr Francis Odhiambo Aduol - Member 7. Ms Fahima Arafat Abdalla - Member Hon. Speaker and Members, the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs held approval hearings for nominees to be appointed to the IEBC on Saturday, 31st May 2025, a weekend. This was due to the fact that there was an urgency in the matter due to the timelines. The delay had been caused by a court order that barred vetting of the nominees the previous 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": 1618716,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1618716/?format=api",
"text_counter": 143,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Monday. As a result, the Committee had to burn the midnight oil and spent the entire day evaluating the report of the Selection Panel and conducting hearings physically. All the seven nominees appeared before the Committee and were vetted. Allow me, Hon. Speaker, to thank Members of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, all of them singularly and collectively, including the Vice-Chair, Hon. Mwengi Mutuse and Senior Counsel Otiende Amollo, who are here. I saw Hon. Daudi Mohammed of Wajir East, Hon. John Makali of Kanduyi, Hon. Stephen Mogaka of West Mugirango and the rest. All of them, named in the Report, played a key role in vetting the nominees and making the elaborate Report that was tendered to this House yesterday. It is a bit long, but I hope every Member has had a chance to read it and to acquaint themselves with it so as to know the reasons why the Committee recommended that we approve the seven nominees. The Report begins with the foreword by the Chairpersons, in which observations are made, including compliance with the Constitution, reasons why vetting was done on a Saturday and the position the Committee took regarding the court order that stopped vetting which had been scheduled for 26th May 2025. It appeared, on the face of it, that the courts were injuncting Parliament from carrying its duty. We took exception to that and pointed out that Parliament, and Speakers have previously ruled, cannot be injuncted from discharging its constitutional mandate. Be that as it may, this is a House of laws. We obeyed the law as it was. Before we could evaluate the court order, we had to obey it first. Fortunately, the judge realised the mistake he made and on Thursday, and he varied the order to what it is today. Chapter one, which is the preface on the establishment of the Committee, is self- speaking. Chapter two, which is on the background information of the Committee and the nominees, is also self-speaking. I will not go into the details for purposes of saving time. Chapter three is on the memoranda received from the public on the suitability of the nominees. We need to speak on this because various issues were raised by several members of the public. We did not capture supporting memoranda. We received quite a huge amount of paperwork in the form of supporting affidavits. However, since we are not required to consider them, we did not capture them. Under the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act, we are only required to consider objections. The House can see what was said about each nominee. I will be commenting on the objections shortly. Chapter four is on approval hearings. We have tried to capture the hearings almost verbatim. We have captured what each nominee presented to us, right from their opening statements. They gave a history of themselves. We also looked at their academic backgrounds, experience in various fields and suitability, which are a requirement of the law. We looked at all these and it is captured in Chapter Four of the Report. Chapter Four is quite lengthy because I repeat, it captures almost verbatim what the nominees had to say including their responses to the objections. Chapter Five which is very important is on our observations regarding the nominees. Committee observations on the nominees, we have observed whatever it is we took of interest and importance, and we have set it in Chapter Five on each of these nominees. Chapter Six is actually on our recommendations. Having evaluated these nominees, we did not hesitate to recommend that each of them be approved."
},
{
"id": 1618717,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1618717/?format=api",
"text_counter": 144,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Applause)"
},
{
"id": 1618718,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1618718/?format=api",
"text_counter": 145,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Who are we approving as the nominees? For the Chairperson of the IEBC, we have Mr Erastus Edung Ethekon who hails from Turkana. Number one, he was one of the two persons who were forwarded to H.E. the President for nomination, and he was picked from those two. In regards to the process of nominating him, we were satisfied that the process followed 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": 1618719,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1618719/?format=api",
"text_counter": 146,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Constitution and the Public (Parliamentary Approval) Act. Mr Ethekon demonstrated knowledge in his area of speciality, law and that he satisfies to be a Judge of the Supreme Court, which is the requirement for his appointment. He has more than 15 years of practice and a lot of experience in other matters including conflict management which we think is very important, and especially because of the disputes that arise after elections. There was an objection to Mr Ethekon’s appointment on the basis that he is closely related to the former Governor of Turkana, Mr Josphat Nanok. This was in a sworn statement and, therefore, we had to deal with it. On interrogation, Mr Ethekon confirmed that he has no relationship whatsoever with Mr Josphat Nanok apart from work related relationship. That at one time, he was appointed as the County Attorney of Turkana and he worked with Mr Josphat Nanok. Even after Mr Josphat Nanok left office, he continued working with the Governor who is presently in that office. Therefore, work related relationship cannot be a bar to his becoming the chairperson. Otherwise, he demonstrated knowledge on electoral matters, he demonstrated knowledge of law, and he actually confirmed that he has the spine to deal with elections in the Republic which are ordinarily very emotive. With those remarks, we were convinced that he suits to be the chairperson of the IEBC. The second person was Ms Ann Njeri Nderitu, who is currently the Registrar of Political Parties. She has worked for over 10 years with the IEBC where she rose to become a director. Therefore, in our view, we termed her as an insider, a person who knows how IEBC works. There was an objection to her nomination on the basis that she is a State officer. The person who objected stated that the appointment was contrary to the law because she is a State officer. Unfortunately, the law is clear which is that you cannot be appointed when you are a State officer. The word used is appointment and not nomination. She was able to clarify to our satisfaction that she has not been appointed, she has only been nominated. The third person is Mr Moses Alutalala Mukhwana, who is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya with over 11 years’ experience. On top of that, he has been a teacher for a long time amongst the many other things he has done. What struck the Committee with satisfaction was his ability to communicate. Mr Mukhwana is a good communicator, especially when he started giving us his journey through life in Kiswahili, eventually he answered our questions in English. He is able to speak both languages in a manner that he will be able to relay matters of the IEBC to the country when the time comes. So, to him the gem he takes to the IEBC is that of communication, and I hope he will make use of it because one reason Kenyans have a problem with the IEBC is trust. This is purely because communication is not as good as it should. We want to hear what is happening at every step of everything including awarding of contracts, so that nobody feels they are being short-changed or somebody is trying to do things under the table with a view to delivering elections that are not credible, fair and justifiable. Mr Mukwhana will fit that shoe very well. The fourth candidate was Ms Mary Karen Sorobit, another Advocate of the High Court of Kenya who came in with experience from many institutions of the Government including the Advocates Complaints Commission, vetting of judges and many other areas that she has served in for the last almost 20 years as an Advocate. Mary Karen suits the position and we thought that as a lady, she also gets into the gender equality which is very important and as a person from South Rift, then again, regional balance is achieved. The fifth person was Mr Hassan Noor Hassan. Mr Hassan has worked in the Public Service for over 40 years although today he is not working with the Public Service. He has great knowledge in matters public, dispute and conflict resolution as he demonstrated. In fact, due to his age, we said the rest of them are young and we require somebody of his age to guide the Commission when the time comes. Therefore, inspite of objections raised to him and they were many, including that he had been in the Rift Valley when there the post-election clashes, he was able to show that even when he was there during the clashes, he was able to quell them, 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": 1618720,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1618720/?format=api",
"text_counter": 147,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
"speaker": null,
"content": "he was able to re-settle the persons and peace was restored. There was an objection to his relationship with a Member of Parliament, but we will not discuss that much apart from that he is a brother-in law to the Member of Parliament. Anything else was not material in the objection because as we have said, he is a senior citizen. In fact, his response was that he was where he is even before that Member of Parliament was born, so it is coincidental that one of them is married to the sister of the other, which does not affect anything. It does not impair his way of delivering results when it comes to working for the IEBC. With those reasons, we were convinced that his relationship to the Member of Parliament was not material to the way he was going to discharge his duties. Number six was Mr Francis Odhiambo Aduol, a gentleman who has worked in the universities ever since time immemorial with an advanced age which we also felt was extremely useful for the Commission. Number one, he has great experience in quantity surveying, Geospatial Engineering and many other matters he brought before us. He struck the nation, because they were listening to him, as a person who is highly knowledgeable in matters relating to the earth and the way you can sub-divide the earth. All of you are looking forward to having constituencies delimited and here is one person who can match the size of the constituency with the number of persons, so that we can arrive at a fair and just decision. Therefore, Mr Francis Aduol is suitable to be a member when it comes to what Kenyans expect, which is fair representation based on constituencies. We did not hesitate to approve Mr Francis Odhiambo Aduol to become a member of the IEBC. Finally, there was a young lady who came from a place called Shela in Lamu. She is young, 32 years old, and the first impression she created was that of a youth. Therefore, the youths who have been extremely agitated, anxious, and have been complaining that they do not get involved in such important matters like electoral matters, the IEBC and many more, now have one of their own in this particular Commission. Ms Fahima represents the youth. Thank you."
},
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"id": 1618721,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1618721/?format=api",
"text_counter": 148,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": null,
"content": " On a point of order, Hon. Speaker."
}
]
}