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{
    "id": 1164106,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1164106/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 33,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Murkomen",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 440,
        "legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
        "slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
    },
    "content": "(1) A person is eligible for nomination as a candidate for an election under this Act if that person - (a) is qualified to be elected to that office under the Constitution and this Act; and (b) holds a certificate, diploma or other post-secondary school qualification acquired after undergoing a period of at least three months of study in a recognised institution and in such manner as may be prescribed by the Commission; or (c) has served as a member of Parliament or a member of a county assembly under the Constitution of Kenya or as a councillor under the repealed Local Government Act. Madam Temporary Chairperson, a brief explanation of this is that if you look at the original amendment that was in place, it was to the effect that I propose that to be elected to be a Member of Parliament (MP) or Member County Assembly (MCA), you should have the ability to read and write. However, after the debate in the Chamber and consultation with the Committee and Members of this House, it was proposed generally that basic education is important. Someone should at least have a form four certificate unlike before where in law the degree requirement was proposed. If you look at the people who have basic education in Kenya, it is a reasonable number. It is over half of the population. Therefore, one can be accommodated in my proposal unlike the situation where you say a degree qualification and yet only 3.5 per cent of the population has it. For that reason and in consonance with what the Members proposed in the House, I propose that the qualification be basic education. This is a form four or secondary education certificate if it was in the old system and then you must have a certificate on top of it that is acquired at least after undergoing a study of three months in a recognised institution. Another thing to be captured is if you look at that qualification of post-secondary with a three months certificate, it is also important to capture that. If a person has been an MP for five years, that qualification is automatically achieved. The relevant experienced that has been captured in this law, is experience of having served at least for five years as an MP or MCA or as a councillor in the local authority in the previous Act. That gives you the leeway in lieu of the other education requirements. This becomes a necessary and relevant experience to be able to give you the gate pass to qualify to run. What many people do not appreciate is that this is not an appointive office. There is no way you can say automatically; because you have the basic qualification you are automatically going to be a MP or a MCA. You still have to go through rigorous campaign processes that will ensure that you are elected. This is at least the minimum we can give to our people in the beginning. One thing that Sen. Sakaja captured as a Member of the Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Resource Rights Committee is that, in their study, they did not find a country where academic qualification was necessary, except in Uganda, where it is necessary to have at least O level education. For the rest of the countries in the world, nobody thought about academic qualifications as a necessary requirement. One of the reasons why people came up with these academic qualifications was not actually because of the professional knowledge. No, it was about the ability to speak The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}