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{
    "id": 152188,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/152188/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 446,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I want to emphasize and repeat for those who would like to hear again, that this country is committed to a new Constitution. Therefore, the amendment proposed under the Constitution of Kenya Review Act is well thought out. We are even introducing things like misconduct. We are also showing that the actual date will be counted from the date of appointment. This House, in its wisdom, did not pass the laws at a time that we thought it would be passed under the National Reconciliation Act. Therefore, we want to adjust that to make sure that we will not come back to this House to seek for an extension. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on page 233, you will see that we are again, putting a formula. We are deleting “15 days” and substituting it with “30 and 21 days” and so on, for all the various organs, like the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC). Therefore, this law is timely and I would like to salute the hon. Attorney-General - subject to what I will say on some of the issues raised by Members - for bringing it at this time. That is the reason for seeking to move this Bill away from the normal procedure of Parliament. My fellow Kenyans, time is running out on us. This Bill will enable us to say that we have the IIEC, the Interim Boundaries Commission and the Interim Constitutional Court that are functional. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will find the composition and operations of the court on page 235. We are reinventing Kenya in this process. You will notice that under sub-paragraph 3 on page 235, we have allowed this court to regulate its own procedure. Again, on page 234, we have reintroduced a section on the proclamation of the Constitution, which is Clause 43(a). It bears repetition and says that the President shall by notice in the gazette promulgate the new Constitution not later than 14 days after the publication of the final results of the Referendum. Again, the referendum has been very well referred to. I would like to inform this House that we will originate a referendum law that we will bring to this House long before the Referendum itself. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to talk about the issue that has made Members to rise on their feet. That is the question of salaries. I hope we do not make a mistake. I have a lot of respect for hon. Members, particularly my learned friend, Mr. Mungatana. To say that we withdraw this Bill is to say that Members of the IIEC will not be paid. This is because, rightly or wrongly, they are provided for in the Constitution under Section 105. Therefore, we must find another method of making sure that we spell out how much these Commissioners will be paid. I agree with Members that we have no office of the Vice-Chair, because in the process of recruitment – and I served in that very able Committee – we did not recruit a vice-chair of the IIEC. However, we recruited the Chairman. I plead with this country to accept that. If we postpone this idea of salaries--- Personally, I have my own reservations, because the magistrates, court clerks and support personnel of the Judiciary are not covered here. However, the Attorney-General is also right that these Constitutional office holders’ benefits have not been revised since 2001. Therefore, as we consider it, let us bear in mind that if we do not pass this Bill, we will not have made provision for the members of the IIEC. It must be remembered that when we threw out Mr. Kivuitu and this team, we also threw out the baby, the bath water, the towel and everything else. So, I urge hon. Members to accept the generous and very timely offer by the hon. Attorney-General, that any weaknesses in this law, can be polished during the Committee Stage. We will look at it and amend it in order to ensure that we do not--- This Committee is recognised as a constitutional body and its officers"
}