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{
    "id": 1046920,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1046920/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 84,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Rarieda, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Otiende Amollo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13465,
        "legal_name": "Paul Otiende Amollo",
        "slug": "paul-otiende-amollo"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I beg to move that the Referendum (No.2) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.14 of 2020) be now read a Second Time. This Bill, sponsored by the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs and as previously constituted, has a long history as captured. The Bill was published on 29th May 2020 and introduced in the National Assembly for the First Reading on 18th June 2020 and subsequently committed to the Departmental Committee for consideration and facilitation of public participation and reporting to the House. Public participation - and that is captured in the Report - was undertaken through an in- depth engagement with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the Council of Governors (CoG), the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), the Christian Professional Association (CPA), among others. All this is captured on pages 11 to 29 of the Report that was tabled in the House on 15th October 2020. The principal object of the Bill is two-fold. First, is to consolidate the law relating to conduct of referenda and, secondly, to provide for a transparent and fair process of ascertaining the will of the people in a referendum. The current law relating to referenda is captured in Part IV of the Elections Act but, during all these consultations, it was agreed that the current legal provisions were inadequate and there was need to enact a comprehensive stand-alone legislation that deals with referenda. The Referendum (No.2) Bill, therefore, is a product of a consultative process between the IEBC, JLAC and other players. Also more importantly, and this was at the Speaker’s prompting, JLAC did meet the CIOC Committee between 19th and 21st November 2020 in a special retreat held in Mombasa, where both Committees appointed five Members to harmonise the two drafts. Hon. Speaker, even though it was not ultimately agreed which Bill takes priority, the effect of the amendment was agreed on. There is a Report to that effect. Hon. Speaker, turning to a brief synopsis of the Bill, clauses 1 to 3 talks about a referendum to be treated as if it were an election. It is the recognition that a referendum is an election and an invocation of appropriate laws and procedures to fill any gaps that may arise. Clause 4 of the Bill talks about amendment by parliamentary initiative and seeks to introduce timelines for the President for efficiency. These timelines had not been there and 14 days is now prescribed under Clause 4. Clause 5 speaks to referendum by popular initiative and addresses a number of issues. First, it talks about the process of verification of the 1 million registered voters. Secondly, it speaks to the need to make the list public so that anyone can know the 1 million persons sponsoring the amendment. Thirdly, it speaks to the Commission ensuring that the requirements of Article 257 of the Constitution are complied with especially when it comes to the issues of framing. Fourthly, if the requirements of Article 257 are not met, the Bill gives the discretion to the Commission to declare that initiative as having failed and that will be the end of that matter."
}