Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1384889,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1384889/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 855,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mandera South, UDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Abdul Haro",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I will start with the protected constituencies. I support the proposed constitutional amendment by Hon. Alice. It is timely and most welcome. Under no circumstances should those protected constituencies be lost. In fact, looking at the way this country's population is growing, we should consider increasing representation through more constituencies so that more Kenyans are represented. We should not lose the already protected constituencies. With regard to the constitutional amendment by Hon. Major (Rtd) Bashir, I come from Mandera County, and I know the consequences of a constituency staying for one whole year without representation. We have been grappling with what to do with the constituents of Banissa Constituency since we lost Hon. Kullow Hassan in March last year. We are now in March 2024, one year down the road. Every time we distribute bursaries to students in our constituencies, students from that constituency keep coming to ask to be accommodated. The constituents of Banissa want development. They want classrooms to be constructed and their NG-CDF to be put to use so that they can also enjoy development like other constituencies. However, this has not been possible for the last year because of the lack of a vision carrier, who is usually a Member of Parliament. The Banissa Constituency seat became vacant effective 29th March 2023, when it was declared so in a Kenya Gazette Notice of 20th April 2023. One year down the road, the people of Banissa are still waiting to elect their Member of Parliament despite the fact that the law states that when such a situation occurs, a by-election should be conducted in 90 days. Those 90 days lapsed in July 2023. The reason why we have not had these elections is because we do not have commissioners, just as everybody here has mentioned. We had not envisioned such a situation as a country. Article 99 of the Constitution provides for 290 constituencies, where a Member is elected under Article 97(1)(a) of the Constitution. These provisions of the Constitution have undoubtedly been violated for the last year because Banissa Constituency has remained without a representative for that period. We all know that there is no judicial determination on whether the IEBC Secretariat can conduct a by-election. This is why the constitutional amendment by Hon. Major (Rtd) Bashir is very important so that it can cure this problem. He proposes that when we find ourselves in the situation that we are currently in, the Secretary to the Commission, who is the CEO of the Commission, can conduct a by-election. This speaks to the arguments that we heard in the Supreme Court during the Presidential Election Petition. One issue that arose is whether the Commission is made up of the commissioners alone or it also includes the staff of the IEBC. This amendment will partly resolve that matter which came up in the Supreme Court during the Presidential Election Petition. One may wonder why the secretariat cannot conduct by-elections in the first place. Every year, we keep providing a budget for IEBC, and we have not stopped because there are no commissioners. They are spending and this means whatever we are budgeting for them has no value for money. This is because they have folded their hands and are saying they cannot conduct a by-election because there are no commissioners. This amendment by Major Bashir is timely and most welcome. If it goes through and I hope Members will fully support it, the CEO can conduct an election because elections are conducted by Returning Officers. We do not have vacancies in the Returning Officers positions. They are there together with the staff of the Commission. It is only a matter of having a law to allow the CEO or the Secretary to the Commission, gazette those contesting and conduct an election. In the circumstances where the commissioners are fully in-house, the secretary can revert to his or her original role without having any problems. The question about this amendment should only apply in circumstances, like where we are in today with no commissioners in office for whatever reasons. I hope this will be expedited to alleviate the 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"
}