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"id": 1065754,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1065754/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, DP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Gitonga",
"speaker": {
"id": 13491,
"legal_name": "George Gitonga Murugara",
"slug": "george-gitonga-murugara"
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"content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we want to say that this Bill raises several issues that require consideration in law, including the errors that are apparent in the Bill. We concluded that they were typographical errors, including the errors contained in 34 Bills that were sent to county assemblies and as usual, they were not able to detect those errors. We also dealt with the issue of Judiciary ombudsman which raises several questions in the legal perspective, including whether it interferes with the independence of the Judiciary. In my estimation, it does so. We talked about the functions of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) which are being extended. In my view, the extension of those functions is clawing and fettering into the independence of the Judiciary and these clauses might be undesirable. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we went on to discuss the change of Government, bringing the Executive into Parliament and creating the Office of the Official Opposition Leader in Parliament. Most Kenyans have not realised that the positions of the Official Opposition Leader and the Prime Minister, a new creation of this constitutional amendment, are protected. However, no one is asking what will happen if the largest party made a coalition with the second largest party. In this case, you will actually end up with the Official Opposition Leader without any party to protect him here. These are the issues that this Bill is raising, including the bloating of Parliament that Kenyans are not quite happy with. We are moving from 290 constituencies to 360 constitutionally, with the option of nominating especially the other gender so that we top up to achieve the two-thirds gender rule. The net effect is that we are staring at the National Assembly bloating to not less than 600 Members. Is this desirable? Kenyans must ask themselves. As we used to say, upon the advent of multi-partysm led by one Kenneth Njindo Matiba, let the people decide. Kenyans will decide on this. As a representative of the people of Tharaka, I must feverishly speak for them. They are not satisfied with the provisions of this Constitution (Amendment) Bill, especially when it comes to the creation of the 70 extra constituencies. The Constitution is clear. It is only this House that can alter Article 89(1) of the Constitution and create additional constituencies. Therefore, the BBI Bill is correct, and we have noted that in our report, to propose that we create additional 70 constituencies. What does not satisfy me and the people of Tharaka is the fact that the Bill has gone ahead to distribute the additional constituencies to the counties. This is not consistent with what the people of Tharaka advanced when they made their public participation representations. We said that based on the expansiveness of the constituency, Tharaka is entitled to an extra constituency. Under Article 89(5) of the Constitution, there are other considerations than population which IEBC, which is the only mandated entity under the Constitution to delimit and adjust boundaries of constituencies, has to work with. Had we gone to IEBC, I am 100 per cent sure I would have made our case and out of the 70 constituencies, one would have been allocated to Tharaka. That has not happened and, therefore, the people of Tharaka are not satisfied with the Bill as it is. Another issue I need to tackle is shared prosperity. This Bill has a provision on shared prosperity, but it does not emphasise equality and equity when it comes to this. While there would be little problem with one man-one vote-one shilling, we must admit that in this country, there are marginalised areas - areas that were left behind by the colonialists and that have remained behind since Independence. Tharaka is one of them. I would have loved to see a lot more regarding this BBI Bill to do with marginalisation, electricity supply, roads, water, good schools and every other aspect that improves the lives of marginalised people, including my people of Tharaka. That is not captured in the Bill. That is why I will advise my people of Tharaka to decide as they wish when this Bill is put to a vote at the referendum. But, today, I actually oppose this Bill. 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."
}