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{
    "id": 1426689,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1426689/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 391,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Abass",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13587,
        "legal_name": "Abass Sheikh Mohamed",
        "slug": "abass-sheikh"
    },
    "content": "In every election cycle, this country experiences a lot of problem, especially the time of announcing the results. There is a lot of discontent and many Kenyans have lost their lives as a result of wrong judgment and information. At the same time, we have had boundary issues. Therefore, this amendment is timely. One thing you should know is that, as Sen. Mariam Omar said, there is still lacuna in these places. That, by the time the previous commissioners' term was over, there were a lot of gaps that was created. Today, we have constituencies and wards which have no Members of Parliament or Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) to represent them. The Bill is still silent on those kinds of things. In the absence of the commissioners, the right thing to do is allow either the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the team to conduct the elections or form an ad hoc committee to represent the commission. We also need to think and see how best we can include those things. The other thing is boundary delineation. As you are aware the boundaries issue in this country is so emotive. At times during elections there is a lot of disorder. You will see a lot of mix-up in the polling stations where election takes place. You will find a polling station in one constituency, and it has a mobile extension in another constituency. This has also been a big problem and it causes confusion. One station having two polling places. When one is called you have a polling station for one constituency and at the same time you have another in the same neighbourhood. These are anomalies. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am not in agreement with the reduction of the terms of office from five to four years. Institutional knowledge is very important. This is one institution that needs to have a lot of knowledge and recourse. If we reduce the terms office, it shall create a gap. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you are aware that in this country, the 2010 Constitution was formed to unite Kenyans so that the minority and majority would all have rights. However, up to now the minorities have been forgotten. There are people who do not even know who a Member of Parliament is. Maybe they just hear about it. They do not vote, nor do they have any knowledge of what their rights are. There are no wards and therefore this business of protected constituencies will ensure they lose their population. We should reduce the threshold for the constituencies so that we can remove any protected constituencies. I would suggest that at least the minority communities such the El Molo and Ogiek need to have registration in this country. They are so disadvantaged and forgotten. Some of them do not even know what the government is. Therefore, some of these protected constituencies should be given to these minorities such as El Molo that have never had representation in the national Parliament. Every time we give nomination to the minorities and gender, the same minorities come from the majority communities. You see an MP, Senator, nominated person or Ward Representative come from the larger communities but in the name of minority. We need to have a regulation that safeguards the minorities. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in times of dispute we need to have proper dispute resolutions committees in places so that it can be minimised. As much as we appreciate the courts which are doing very well, there is also a lot of manipulation in their The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}