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"id": 174964,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Wetangula",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Foreign Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 210,
"legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
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"content": " Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I will be equally brief. It is very exciting and refreshing to see that we have collectively come to a consensus to move this country to the next level of reforms. If you may recall, I was one of those who resisted attempts to flush out the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) in the manner that many Kenyans wanted. I did so, for the simple reason that I wanted us to follow the law. I wanted us to follow the Constitution. I wanted us to be orderly in the manner in which we carry out our reforms. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, today, with the passage of this Bill, the curtain will come down on the ECK. I hope that as we pass this Bill, the new men and women who will be given the opportunity and the privilege to serve this country as Interim Commissioners will discharge their responsibilities with dignity, decorum and with the interest of this country at heart. If you look at the Commission Reports that we have, the indictments that are levelled against the ECK, go very far and very deep. We hope that these changes will herald a new era in the management of our electoral process in this country. Equally important, is the first innovative move for this Parliament to create an independent boundaries Commission. We all know how unequal our representation areas are in this country. We have some constituencies with as few as 14,000 voters. We have others with as many as 200,000-300,000 voters. I hope that the boundaries Commission will not fall into the trap of political manipulation, but rather do the work diligently, honestly, and in the interest of this country, taking into account population trends as set out, the areas where there is heavy population, sparse population and vast areas. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, just as there is no justification for one Member of Parliament to represent an area as vast as North Horr, there is equally no justification to have one Member of Parliament representing a population as dense as that of Embakasi Constituency, et cetera . I hope that the passage of this Bill, again, will move us to the next level where we will not engage in what December 16, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4131 we did at the end of the last Parliament, where a Bill that was so important to create new constituencies in the country--- We know that the disbursement of national resources in this country is now focused on constituencies. The disbursement of Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) resources and other Government resources, are going to electoral areas. So, we must have the representation of people who benefit from resources from the centre. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, equally important is the creation of the court that will deal with issues in the process of creating a new constitution. Again, this will unfetter the country from the process of going through the normal routine courts, where cases take a little too long to come to an end. These kinds of special tribunals are not new in jurisdiction. I have no doubt that we may even finish the process without that tribunal ever sitting. However, it is important for it to be there to give us an assurance that when we have a problem, we will be able to move forward. As I end my contribution, I want to urge this House to rise to the occasion and put aside partisan interests. After the passage of this Bill, we must move quickly and deliver a new constitution to this country. I dare say that if we go beyond mid-2010, other interests will take over. People will start focusing on who to elect and who not to elect. People will start focusing on which party they belong to. They will lose sight and focus of the process of constitutional review, and we may not have a new constitution. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I hope and pray that after the passage of this Bill, we will start counting the 12 months that we promised the people of Kenya. By the end of next year, we must go to a referendum to deliver a new constitution to this country, so that the remainder of the term of this Parliament can be spent on the usual politics that Kenyans are so fond of, as we effect the new constitution. Once we pass a new constitution, we will have a lot of attendant legislations that will have to give effect to that constitution. We need time to do so. Let me appeal to those hon. Members who may find their ways to the Select Committee to dedicate their time and put in everything to make sure that they use the privilege bestowed upon them to serve this country without any blinkers of ethnicity, party feelings, party affiliation or religion. We want a new constitution for this country. The constitution we are going to give must be able to serve this country for posterity. Everybody must benefit from it. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}