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{
    "id": 1157938,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1157938/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 318,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kathiani, WDM-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Robert Mbui",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1750,
        "legal_name": "Robert Mbui",
        "slug": "robert-mbui"
    },
    "content": "I support the IEBC in trying to ensure that they get it right this time, but I want to caution the Commission. We have witnessed problems with the election laws that we enact. There is a clear timetable of elections, but there are people who start campaigning immediately after an election. That is clearly against the law. If there is an election timetable that has been put out by the IEBC, anyone campaigning outside the timetable should be stopped. I am saying this because the IEBC continues to be in office for five years. They are not there to just conduct one election. They are there to ensure that they guide the processes and manage elections and everything that is concerned with elections. We have seen people going around and bribing the voters for the last three to four years. It is only towards the tail-end, when elections are around the corner, that IEBC starts calling out people who engage in early campaigns. You see when they started to bite, they were told by the court that they do not have jurisdiction. They needed to have done this immediately after the previous elections so that they could know what they can do and what they cannot. The IEBC has tried to improve the processes by making sure that voter identification is done in a proper manner. It is indicated in the Bill that other than an ID card, a voter may use a passport - but it has to be valid. That is important. The Bill is also aligned to the recently passed Political Parties (Amendment) Act. The Bill tries to clarify what nomination and registration of candidates mean. It redefines the role of the IEBC versus the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP). That is something that is proper. Let us not forget that the ORPP is involved in party nomination rules and party membership lists. The IEBC now requires the lists to be submitted to them from ORPP. On the issue of presidential election, first and foremost, we must address the matter of how the media get the results. That has been one of the major bones of contention. We have seen situations where the media pick results from some centres and circulate the same quickly and people start celebrating too early. In a presidential election, we are talking about 1,450 wards and polling stations. It takes a long time before you make a decision on who has won. When the media start transmitting results too early, it creates anxiety. It ends up being a problem when those results are overturned. I am happy that the Bill tries to deal with the issues that were raised by the Supreme Court in the last election disputes. The Bill indicates how presiding officers will handle transmission of results. They will forward the results electronically and directly to the national tallying centre and deliver physical copies to the constituency tallying centre. The constituency returning officers will, again, forward the tallied results to the national tallying centre and deliver the physical copies as well. The Bill also indicates that results will be announced after tallying and after ensuring that results from all polling stations or most of the polling stations have been delivered. The national tallying centre will rely on polling station returns to announce results. That is critical. People must know that results announced at polling stations are final. Those are the results that will determine the winner and the losers—at the ward, constituency, county and national levels. I have a concern on the proposal by the IEBC that the decision of the High Court on a dispute on election of MCA is final. I do not know whether it is constitutional. I do not know whether that provision could be challenged in court. I do not know whether we can make a law limiting the rights of candidates for MCA positions. If it were possible, and if it is not unconstitutional, obviously it helps to free the superior courts so that they can handle other cases from other levels. There are many people who require the attention of the courts during election disputes. If it is not unconstitutional, it is a good idea because it will free the court to be able to handle other matters. Otherwise, let us improve our electoral laws. Let us do so up to the last day. 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."
}