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{
    "id": 1499775,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499775/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 232,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, maybe with the leave of your Office, it will be an opportune time to provide time for people to either think through and share the amendments before eventually taking a vote on this Bill, including calling for submissions from members of the public. I said this yesterday in my tweet, and this is accurate information. The report that is before the House bears me witness. There is no religious organization that sent in a memorandum on this Bill, and that is quite curious. I see people speaking very strongly. I had expected to see the Catholic and Anglican churches that have spoken publicly in support of this Bill, to send in memorandum in support. There are also others that have spoken in opposition to the Bill. As legislators, that will enrich our work to benefit from their perspective. Madam Temporary Speaker, this is an interesting conversation that the country needs to have before the conclusion and the final determination of what to do with this Bill. As the Senate Majority Leader, I will be writing to the Speaker seeking for additional time for consideration of additional views and give legislators time to reflect and perhaps seek more opinion from their own people. Sen. Mungatana, it will be good for you to ask the people in Tana River County, including the young people that perhaps at the time where this conversation began, said they do not want to see politicians making donations in churches. Let us not lose track of history. This conversation began at the height of the so-called Generation Z protest. It will be important to listen to them over this weekend, especially as they speak in a large gathering at your village back in Garsen. They should speak and instruct you in the presence of the rest of the voters. You will also hear the feedback from the rest of the voters before you cast your vote. Madam Temporary Speaker, this conversation is about trying to reduce the influence of money in our politics. Let us not pretend. Harambees form part and parcel of our body politic. The kind of contributions people make has an influence in the determination of whether to vote for a candidate or not. It may not be the only determinant, but many of the times, it has been used as a yardstick to gauge your abilities and prowess of marshalling resources and people use it as a determinant. If we are not careful and do not put a check on this space of fundraisers, in another two or three cycles of Parliament, you will have these Houses filled up with wash-wash characters. It is increasingly becoming difficult to campaign on issues. How many times do Members of this House go out to campaign, and before they address a gathering, people do not want to listen. They tell you they have heard those stories before. They are already queuing and asking you to finish and sort them out. That they know what they will do at the ballot. We, therefore, have to be intentional. It is not on fundraisers, but includes the overall influence of money as a mobilising tool and determining factor in who gets elected into Parliament and positions of leadership. We have campaign financing laws, but how effective are they? Sen. Mungatana, do you remember when you were running for the last election? We were supposed by law to open an account, through which you channel your campaign finances and manage it, then file returns to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). 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."
}