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{
    "id": 1446356,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1446356/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 253,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Chimera",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "only one to safeguard the question of conflict of interest as we perform our oversight role in this Senate. You may agree with me and most of us who are in different Committees of the Senate, especially the oversight committees, that whenever we summon a governor and they appear before us, they have one uniform answer to the question of the use of public funds allocated to them. They always say they were neither the governor nor in charge of that county at that time. They always run away with this beautifully choreographed response that ‘I was not in charge at that time.’ That simply tells you that a governor who has served his or her full term as governor for 10 years and seeks election as a Senator, will attempt to either conceal or meddle with the affairs of his county when he served as a governor. That is the mischief I am trying to cure by way of this Bill. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I had said when I was moving this Bill that Article 38 fundamentally guarantees their freedom to political association and political freedom. Most of those who spoke waved that Article before you as a way of trying to say I am moving a Bill that will be unfair to Kenyans who have served as governors and who still want to continue being in leadership as Senators. What the Bill is simply saying is, yes, you have served your 10 years as governor. Yes, we are not presuming you as being guilty in your course of service for those 10 years, but what we are saying is, can you at least cool off for five years and allow the relevant Government agencies to do their jobs? If we feel you are okay enough, then you can seek election either as a Senator or Member of the County Assembly (MCA), or any other office for that matter. We already have a living example. Members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) who have served their full terms are not allowed in law to seek election in any elective position for a period of five years immediately after serving their full term. This is not Sen. Chimera saying; it is the law. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, what is good for the goose must equally be good for the gander. It cannot be that we are limiting certain citizens in this nation from seeking elective positions and still allowing other special citizens in the name of former full-term governors to immediately seek election. The nation recently has witnessed a lot of political upheavals. The young men and women of this country have spoken their minds and for the first time, I want to applaud them that they have taken the bold step to be willing to participate and engage in a discussion that secures their political future. This allows them to freely air their voices and that the leadership of the day has room to listen to them, engage them and institute reforms that are applicable across the board. The young men of this country have spoken against the much opulence that we witnessed in the past and the blatant arrogance that some of our leaders in this House, in the other House and various other elective positions have shown in the past few days and very many years. They have spoken on the need to sanitize our politics, fix our governance and question our leadership. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only.A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and Audio Services,Senate."
}