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{
    "id": 1094858,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1094858/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 388,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kimilili, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Didmus Barasa",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1885,
        "legal_name": "Didmus Wekesa Barasa Mutua",
        "slug": "didmus-wekesa-barasa-mutua"
    },
    "content": "In Kenya as a country, you cannot tell me that it can be short of people who are intelligent enough and will make good contributions. That can only be made possible after general elections, Hon. Speaker. We live in a country where for you to come to this House, Kenyans must bring you here. This is a House of representatives; we represent the people; we represent Kenyans. Even those who are nominated represent special interest groups. If the people of Kimilili Constituency would decide that I am not a good representative and they replace me with somebody else, there is no problem. If I am still resourceful, the government can accommodate me elsewhere; either as a Cabinet Secretary or a Principal Secretary, if I qualify. I oppose these amendments. These amendments are not drafted in the interest of the general public. It seems that it will provide a landing for certain individuals in the name of party leaders. The reason as to why the drafters of the Constitution said that the list should be forwarded to IEBC before general elections is to stamp out jokers. If you know you cannot win an election as a president, then do not try. You will find another route to come to this House. We should leave running for the presidency for serious people. If you are not a serious presidential candidate, you can run for MCA or MP. Your heart cannot be to occupy State House and then you also covet coming to this House through nomination. The law makes the process of coming up with a list to be forwarded to the IEBC a bit competitive in a good way and in a manner that will add value. Competition breeds value. This is because you will have time to sit down and internalise the potential people that you will put in the party list. After the general elections, the competition will not be healthy. It will be for the ruling class within a particular party because we will have a number of Members of Parliament who will have lost, and we may have senior members of that party who will have lost an election and they will want to put themselves on that nomination list. For us to cure that element of conflict of interest or that element of taking advantage of the position held in the party to decide who makes it to the list of nomination, we have to ensure that this proposed amendment does not see light of the day. I really want to thank Hon. Florence Mutua and challenge other Members of Parliament who are here that you do not have to spend too much money in the name of BBI to change rafts of laws. We can simply better this existing Constitution by piecemeal constitutional amendments like this one. Laws are made for posterity, not for individuals. If you look at the intentions of the drafters of the Constitution, especially on this Article 90 and Section 35, they had very good intentions. They actually cured so many problems, which this proposed amendment would water down. This proposed amendment will open another complex issue. You will see a situation where after general elections a few individuals will not have time, they will sit somewhere, they will try to cook and come up with a list that will not be well thought out with a view of actually providing a soft landing for those who will have lost in the general elections. The argument of some Members that we have very good people whom after general elections become number two and there is away we prefer them to be here does not hold any water. Like I said, why I began opposing this Bill, is that the power and responsibility of forwarding the names to IEBC lie in the hands of a party and that party has an opportunity to do so after their party primaries. A party that wins an election has got no business with how the second-best party finds that kind of person. We should, therefore, maintain the law the way it is now. Let us come out in large numbers during voting to shoot down this Amendment Bill. If not, let us abscond to deny them Quorum. We will do so because this Constitutional Amendment is not guided by the common good of the whole country but, maybe, by certain parties that feel that their party leaders are out of this House and a way must be found for them to come here. However, because of their own poor 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."
}