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"id": 224575,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/224575/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Mwiria",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Education",
"speaker": {
"id": 190,
"legal_name": "Valerian Kilemi Mwiria",
"slug": "kilemi-mwiria"
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"content": " I hope so, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. But there are some contributions made by hon. Members which I have not listened to. Firstly, on the issue about the Registrar being given the responsibility of deciding whether or not to register a political party, even though under the ECK, how do we ensure that the team that will be given that responsibility will be non-partisan? Secondly, what measures are we going to take to ensure that the Registrar does not delay the registration of a political party? Do we have a deadline? For instance, if you do an application, by what time must you be given a response as to whether or not that political party is being registered or not? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Clause 5 is on characteristics of who should form a political party. We are told that you should be 18 years and over, but what about other characteristics of people who form political parties? If you have been associated with some criminal activity, can you - even though you may have cleared your name with time - be allowed to form a political party? What are we asking for in terms of educational background? Do you have to have certain minimum qualifications in order to be entrusted with the responsibility, and for people to take you seriously as a person who can lead a political party? What is your record for bringing people together as Kenyans and so on? In other words, may we require a letter of good conduct from people who register political parties if we require the same from even messengers and drivers? Is it not important for that person to be one of integrity and of un-questionable character? There is the issue of a political party not being restricted to one region. It should not be just regions. You can have a political party that is restricted to several regions, but it is meant to close out other regions, even if it is one major region. So, again, if political parties are clearly limited to particular part of the country and organise themselves on the basis of excluding others, that should be considered. 946 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 25, 2007 But the most important issue is how we can enforce that. Do we insist that every political party must have a record of so many members from every constituency? Should we insist that locations of political party offices must be evident? They should not just have an office in Nairobi. Should we insist that we should have an office of a political party in the province, district and even in the constituency? The more difficult we make it in terms of the criteria that we are talking about, the more likely it will be to get to a limit of those political parties that Members are talking about; a maximum of two to three. In fact, I wish it was possible for the Government to form just three political parties and ask all of us to choose which one we want to join. That would make it much easier. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, about membership, I wonder whether it would be useful to give ideas about classification of members. I am thinking about that because most political parties have a clause for life membership. But it turns out to be nonsensical because many life members of political parties will soon be life members of other political parties. Many of those parties, as you know, you can still lose your membership even when you are still alive. There is also the issue of writing to the Clerk of the National Assembly if you are getting out of a political party. What do we have as way of ensuring that, that information is made public? Could it be through a Kenya Gazette? Should we ask people to place an advertisement in the newspapers, so that we all know? People who voted for such Members in their respective parties should know clearly that they have deserted that party for another one. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of moving from one party to another, I think the point has been made. A person who has been refused nomination by one party should not use that as an excuse to move to another party, unless he or she has a very good reason to do that. But the problem here is: If we say we leave it free--- Sometimes, you are penalised by a political party even when you are not the one to blame. That will defeat the very purpose of eradicating political \"prostitution\". Maybe, we can leave it to the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) and the Registrar of Political Parties to supervise the process of nomination and ensure that there is no victimisation of members of political parties that do not agree with the so-called leaders of those parties. What would be the period of implementation? It is not enough to give certain restrictions, especially when one is resigning from a political party. I think there should be some time limit in terms of when certain rules can be put in place. That will ensure that whoever has breached those restrictions is subject to punishment. How do we also check the excess of political parties and political leadership? How do we ensure that members of political parties that are more prominent do not witch-hunt and penalise those that they do not like? I realise that there is going to be an Appeals Tribunal. I think it is important to check on that. But it is also important to find ways and means of dealing with leaders of political parties who interfere with other political parties. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Clause 14 spells out how money raised for political parties should be used. I think we should also allow licensing of radio and television stations for political parties. That is important because if we have a Government that is against free media, it will make it impossible for political parties in the Opposition to have access to free media. There is also the issue about registration of political parties. I think a point has been made about the need to ensure that membership is across districts and constituencies. But also, for people who are going to be founding members of political parties, we should have their profiles. I think we should see their profiles. It is not enough to just have a list of people, without knowing what they represent in terms of business interests, political orientation and their general beliefs with regard to issues that could make a difference. We should know what they stand for. Those profiles should also reflect other demands. We are now talking about gender equality. We are talking about representing marginalised groups and so on. I think founding members of political parties should April 25, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 947 also be seen to reflect that kind of thinking. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Clause 16 (6) states that a fully registered political party will lose its status if it does do not hold any elections in six years. Why do we not limit that to the term of Parliament which is five years, so that we could have consistency? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of 25 per cent of the money available being distributed equally among political parties, first of all, it will depend on how much money is available and how many political parties there are. I think the emphasis should be on stronger political parties. We should also limit the number of parties that can benefit from that Fund if we, indeed, want to reduce the number of ethnic-oriented political parties. I think it should be possible to say that we shall support only five political parties depending on the numbers of people who have registered with those parties. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, but on the other issue of ensuring that the limit of contribution by individuals should be only Kshs1 million, how do we enforce that? It would be very difficult, unless we have a tax deductible system where, if you have contributed to a political party, you are eligible for a tax rebate. If we introduce that system, we will know who has donated money to a political party. It should not be free for all. Anybody should not be allowed to donate money to a political party, irrespective of whether you got your money through drug trafficking or other criminal activities! I think it is important to know who is contributing money to political parties. What are their sources of income and what is it that brings them to the political party that they intend to support? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, points have also been made about a coalition. I agree with the need to restrict political parties. That is the only way to ensure that people do not form political parties to make money or advance their ethnic, religious or other interests that have nothing to do with the common good of the people. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}