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{
    "id": 1480939,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1480939/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 172,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "If there is one exercise that we must completely ring-fence and keep away foreign influence, it is in our elections. I read somewhere today that if news can be fake, then history can also be fake. The history of Africa is replete with rigged elections, assassinated leaders and coup d’états engineered by the West. I am a Pan-Africanist, and I believe that there are those forces out there, out of Africa, that believe Africa should never be fully independent and never self-determine its direction. We need a law that says that when it comes to the infrastructure, the systems, the processes, and everything to do with our electoral system, we shall make it home- grown. We have no shortage of skills whether in technology. The other day, the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning was here telling us about e-Citizen, developed by locals. It is handling billions of shillings daily or monthly basis. If we can trust our young people to build a system of that nature, why can we not trust them to build an electoral system so that we do not have to go to foreign countries to get that technology? Even when it comes to capacity building, it should not go beyond our electoral officers making tours to those countries to see how they do it. We should not have a situation where you have a foreign-funded organization offering technical and capacity building for our electoral officials and our electoral systems. I believe that even if it is just coming from ordinary revenue or specified fund, our electoral system should not be subject to multilateral or bilateral agreements. It should be home-grown because if we do so, we rid our electoral system of foreign influence. If you have read about the history of Africa and not the fake version of African history, the West always has an interest in electoral outcomes because whoever becomes the president of a country, sometimes influences the kind of relationships that country has with the West. We have seen interference in electoral systems in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Even in Kenya, I am convinced that there has been undue foreign influence in our electoral systems. So, that is part of what we need to look at in a complete and comprehensive overhaul of our election laws. The Senators in this House have to spend a lot of money to get elected. Why? We have an electoral system that has put the responsibility for trust in and responsibility of ensuring the accuracy of results on the candidate rather than the Commission itself. You have heard previously when petitions have been taken to the Supreme Court on presidential election results where the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) which is mandated to ensure trust Accuracy and integrity of results, referring to returns of agents of candidates. We should not be investing in agents in elections if we have an independent electoral body that is of the highest integrity and credibility. It is a very expensive undertaking. You can imagine that before the election day or three days before the elections, all of us here as Senators, when you are organizing your campaigns, you need to call your agents to a central place to train them. You have to give them the oath of secrecy and keep them together so that they are not poached by your opponents. 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."
}