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{
    "id": 1411442,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411442/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 190,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Emuhaya, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this chance to comment on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.10 of 2024). First, let me thank the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs for their good job of bringing this Bill to the Floor of the House. Many Kenyans have been waiting for the passage of this Bill, especially those aspiring for electoral positions that arose from the death of their Members of Parliament or Members of County Assembly. Those electoral units have not had a chance to hold elections because the IEBC has not had commissioners to oversee the elections. I want to, again, express confidence in this Parliament. As the immediate previous speaker said, we should continue reviewing our electoral laws and processes after every election. The growth of any democracy and democratic space in the world has been through amendment of the election laws. In the United States of America (USA), which is considered one of the most democratic places in the world, growth of electoral laws began with the founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and James Madison. The current electoral process in the USA is completely different from what it was. It went through all those processes, including the great debate of Lincoln versus Douglas, a one-on-one debate that became the template for presidential debates today. They were borrowed from the Douglas-Lincoln debate in the USA. Therefore, these processes grow. Each time we get a chance to amend our election laws, we should count ourselves privileged and do the very best we can to ensure that the next election is better managed than the previous one. We should fill any gaps that were experienced in the previous election. The Deputy Speaker, who spoke before me gave many examples. I will pick only one example in the Kenyan electoral situation. When we had election challenges during the Moi era in 1992, we had the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group ( IPPG ) initiative – political negotiations which resulted in major changes in our country’s election laws – to make sure that all those who wanted to participate in subsequent elections were included so that they could take ownership of the process. That in itself was growth. I do not know if the Members in this House remember the mlolongo elections that were conducted in 1988. I do not know if Members remember how flawed they were. Voters were required to queue behind the agents of the candidates they were voting for. However, candidates with the longest queues of supporters ended up not being announced winners of the elections because of what was going on with our politics then. Therefore, a continuous change of our electoral laws is paramount. It must take place, so that we get a better election process. Let me now speak about only three issues contained in this Bill beginning with the fact that it brings to bear the recommendations of the National Dialogue Committee Report. I appeared before the NADCO to represent the Kenya Kwanza Coalition. It was a very important process because it brought calmness to this country. Everybody believed that with the NADCO process, all the political players would come to the table and agree on the way forward. That is why we have calmness in the country today. We must vividly remember as Parliament that the"
}