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{
    "id": 1203201,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1203201/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 118,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Members of the National Assembly to be a parliamentary political party. The Azimio One Kenya Alliance Coalition Party has no single Member of Parliament. Indeed, in a case that was filed by Thuranira and Four Others versus the Attorney-General and Two Others; including the Registrar of Political Parties and Three Others as interested parties, the High Court allowed the constituent parties in Azimio One Kenya Alliance to field individual party candidates and that is what they did. That is why we have 26 parties represented in this House, including ODM, Jubilee, Wiper, UDA, ANC, FORD-K and all other the parties. Hon. Speaker, vide Gazette Notice that was published on the 1st July 2022, this is the schedule that published all the people who were nominated to run for either President or parliamentary seats. I will be tabling this Gazette Notice. There was only one candidate who ran for the Office of the President of Kenya, Hon. Raila Odinga and Ms. Karua Martha Wangari, who ran as Azimio la Umoja Coalition Party candidate with the emblem and symbol of Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Political Party. That Party has no representation in this House. We, therefore, need to ask ourselves: If Azimio One Kenya Alliance Political Party is not represented in this House, and the leader of that Alliance is not in this House either! Therefore, it is only natural that the Coalition with the largest number of Members in this House – being the Kenya Kwanza Alliance – the Leader of the Majority Party then is the Leader of the Majority Party that leads that Coalition, and that is yours faithfully. We must also ask ourselves - and because I have seen it in the media and without quoting - you are being asked to rule on issues that touch on individual and corporate political rights. That is because parties belong to the people. They are managed by people and they harbour them. People in those parties and corporate entities enjoy political rights in line with Article 38 of our Constitution. Hon. Speaker, you know that Article 36 of our Constitution guarantees us certain rights that cannot be taken away. We must ask ourselves, because the contention relates to a few of us, especially those Members who belong to UDM who are sitting here, and Members who belong to MDG like my brother David Ochieng’ who is sitting here; members who belong to Maendeleo Chap Chap and PAA, and are in this House. The following is the fundamental question that we want to ask you to make a determination on as the Speaker. Can you ignore their fundamental rights to freedom to association to be able to associate or coalesce with anybody that they want to coalesce with as individuals and as political parties? Can that right be taken away by Clause 22 of the Azimio Agreement? I dare challenge my brothers in the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party. I have tabled coalition agreements between parties that assented to the Kenya Kwanza Alliance. I dare you to table the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance Party Agreements that are signed by any of these political parties. It is also in contention as to how those agreements were procured. We have heard of harrowing stories of how people were coerced under the last regime to sign blank pieces of paper with just your political party’s name on a dotted line on one piece of paper and not knowing what you were signing for. Hon. Speaker, I know you have been a senior member of the legal profession, and I do not want to pretend to be one but, at least, I studied a little bit of the law of contracts as I studied for my CPA with Hon. John Mbadi, although I was slightly ahead of him."
}