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{
    "id": 1411997,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1411997/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 389,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Leader of the Minority Party, Hon. Opiyo Wandayi, the Report was tabled. So, you will get a copy. You need to read it because it has certain proposals which may be of interest to you and the entire House. As you said earlier, nobody else in this country can make anything that has force of law, apart from Parliament. Therefore, what was brought here by the NADCO is only a proposal. The real law will be made by this House. I confirm that we sat with the Senate’s Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights. I emphasise that we did public participation together. When this Bill goes to the Senate, it will not have a second public participation. We also hope that there will be no undue delay with further amendments. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I wish to speak to the proposed amendments. When the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs sat, we were convinced that in spite of this being a negotiated document, there were certain areas which needed to be made even better than they are. This is because the law being proposed here is for posterity. It is for the future of the country, but not for any negotiation or anything else. We are making a law that will serve this country and the future generations in the best way possible. Very quickly, I confirm that we looked at Clause 5 that proposes a three-year renewable term. We agonised over this. Beginning with where we are today, if for any reason we are to get a secretary today, that secretary will serve a term of three years. If the secretary is not good, then the contract will not be renewed after the three years. We will be having a new secretary as we go to the elections of 2027. What is the effect of this? In spite of the fact that some unparliamentary language is being used about it, we questioned why commissioners are given a non-renewable six-year term. The reason is so that they are able to go through an election cycle. We found it prudent that a secretary must also go through an election cycle. If you appoint a secretary during the first year after an election, he or she will not do an election. The next secretary may have less than two years to do an election. This does not guarantee properly prepared elections. This Committee will propose an amendment for the secretary to have a non-renewable six-year term. We will combine the fears of the three-year term that they had with the renewable three-year term to get a six-year fixed term. That does not mean that the person has to serve the three years. We have provisions on how a secretary can leave office. He or she can leave office if he breaches any of that. The appointment is going to be that one serves a non- renewable six-year term. We have also made it clear that the current secretary has accrued rights and legitimate expectation. In the amendments, we will preserve the term “unexpired” on the contract that he has. From his contract, which may be of six years, he has one-and-a- half or two years to go. We have preserved that because we do not wish to face lawsuits because of legitimate expectations. We have also made a few more recommendations, including on Clause 7. It proposes to amend Section 36 of the Act. Having looked at it carefully, we have rearranged Section 36 so that it becomes New Section 24B. That is where we are going to anchor Schedule Five, which is actually in respect of delimitation. The country is yearning for that very important exercise. Regarding the dissolution of the selection panel, we have left it as it is. However, we have to introduce a clause that kicks in the President’s action to declare vacancies. As per this 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"
}