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"id": 225133,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/225133/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ms. Karua",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 166,
"legal_name": "Martha Wangari Karua",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I had already indicated that there will be an independent Office of the Registrar of Political Parties. I would like to state, in terms of the proposed Clause 3 of the Bill, that there shall be an Office of the Registrar of Political Parties, which shall be an office within the Commission and shall have operational autonomy. I would like to stress that although the office will be under the Commission, it will have operational autonomy. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Clause 5 of this Bill clearly indicates that political parties can only be formed within the provisions of this Act and for purposes which are not contrary to the Constitution or any other written law. The disqualifications of parties which promote certain things are given in Clause 6 which states that parties based on ethnic or religious considerations are expressly prohibited. Clause 6(1)(a) states the following: \"The Registrar shall not register a political party which- (a) is founded on an ethnic, age, tribal, racial, gender, regional, linguistic, corporatist, professional or religious basis, or which seeks to engage in propaganda based on any of these matters.\" This is a very important clause when you consider that today there is indiscipline in the political world where leaders are openly propagating ethnic hatred and deliberately balkanising Kenyans on grounds that are clearly not within the best interest of the country. This particular clause goes on also to indicate that a political party that uses words or slogans that would arouse negative feelings on the same basis will not be registered. It goes on to give further qualifications of behaviour that is prohibited if a party wants to be registered. For instance, a party that accepts or advocates the use of force or violence as a means of attaining its political objective---You will recall that there has been widespread complaints from across the political divide about violent behaviour of parties, violent disruption of political rallies held by opponents and, the most recent incident, the violent ejection of a Member of Parliament from a cultural activity. It means that each party will have to ensure that its members do not promote violence, otherwise that party will be deregistered. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, certain public officers are also prohibited from being founding members of a party. In other words, certain holders of public offices cannot found parties. These include those officers in the Armed Forces, the Police Force, the Kenya Prisons Service, The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), and Judicial Officers. All those officers are not eligible to found political parties. Also, people who are, for the time being, not qualified to be elected as Members of Parliament under the National Assembly and Presidential Elections Act cannot be members of April 19, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 793 the Executive and founding members of a political party. This is necessary because the definition of a political party is clearly an association or organisation which has, for purposes of its objective, one or more of its objects, the purpose of proposing or supporting candidates for the national or local elections with a view to forming or influencing the formation of the Government or of any local authority. In other words, if you are not qualified to hold the offices for which you want people to propose others, then you cannot be a founder or a leader in terms of the executive of such a political party. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, another very important provision of this Bill is the participation in political activities and the rights of party members. It is known that, even currently, when people join parties as members, the founders of the party, or its leadership, do sometimes, unlawfully, exclude its membership from full participation. Sometimes party leaders can even arbitrarily determine who vies for a parliamentary seat, or who becomes a leader in the districts, or in any other area within that party. This clause clearly confers a legal right on any person who is a citizen and has attained the age of 18 years, the right to participate in political activities which are intended to influence the composition and policies of the Government and to join any political party of his choice. This will protect people from coercion. It is also clearly stated that a member of a political party, who intends to resign from their party, must give a written notice. If they are Members of Parliament, they must address that notice of resignation to the Clerk of the National Assembly or to the relevant local authority, if they are members there. It is further provided that: \"No person shall be a member of two or more political parties.\" Currently, even within this House, majority of hon. Members do appear to belong to more than one political party. This is not healthy for democracy at all. It does not help to build and nurture political parties that can foster democracy. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is further provided that even where a person has not given notice of resignation, you can by conduct, be inferred to have resigned from your political party if you start promoting another party, or if you join in the formation of another political party. Most of us are guilty of this offence. This Bill will bring back the stability that is needed to nurture democracy and protect parties in order to enable them to instil party discipline to their members so that there can be a clearly defined Government and Opposition, which is healthy for the country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Clause 10 states that any party that applies for registration after, on the face of it, fulfilling certain conditions, will be given provisional registration and thereafter, within six months, they have to fulfil certain conditions to either secure full registration or fail to qualify as a political party. So, what are those requirements that a party must fulfil? For provisional registration, the application must be signed and the name set out. If there is any abbreviation of the name the party wishes to make, it must be shown. A copy of the constitution must also accompany this application. Clause 11 provides some of the necessary things in a party constitution. There are certain things that a party must indicate in its constitution. It shall also be entitled to hold and address public meetings in any area of Kenya within the provisions of this Act. Once it is provisionally registered, it will be entitled to security of the State when holding or furthering its objectives. This is meant for the conduct of peaceful and orderly meetings. This is something which is already provided for under our laws. However, it is necessary to restate it in the Political Parties Bill, so that the legitimate activities of political parties enjoy State protection without any discrimination and hinderance. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Registrar will be entitled to refuse to register a political party if its name is obscene, offensive or excessively long; or if its name is an abbreviation of another political party's name or nearly resembles the name or abbreviation of the name of another political 794 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 19, 2007 party registered under this Act. We know the situation today where we have so many parties having similar or nearly similar names. We, therefore, need to sort this out, so that we do not have political parties that confuse the public because of the similarities of their names. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is clearly indicated that a party that has secured provisional registration shall not participate in elections until it attains full registration. And that from the date of provisional registration, a party will have 180 days to put its house in order and acquire full registration. Some of the conditions for full registration are: The party has to be provisionally registered and obtained, within 180 days, not less than 200 members who are registered voters for the purposes of parliamentary elections in each province. The party must at least have 200 adherents who are registered voters from each of the provinces. This is meant to rule out regional or ethnic- based parties. It must also submit a list of names, addresses and identification particulars of at least one founding member of the party, ordinarily resident in each of the district of this country. Currently, we have 105 districts. This means that a political party, in addition to having 200 members in each of the eight provinces, must have another 105 members from districts. This is not a difficult thing for any serious political party to attain within a period of six months. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the party must also submit to the Registrar the exact location of its head office and its registered office within the Capital City of Kenya. Even if the head office is not in Nairobi, the party ought to have a registered office within the capital. It must have a postal address to enable communication. It must also provide exact location and addresses for its district offices, if any. It is therefore, not mandatory that the parties have district offices. However, if it has them, then all those particulars must be with the Registrar. This Bill proposes to prohibit an alien from being appointed to any office or be a founding member or ordinary or other member of a political party in Kenya. This is in recognition of the fact that we are independent and must control our political destiny without interference from outsiders. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Registrar is then obligated to issue a certificate of full registration to a political party which has fulfilled all these conditions. Today, political parties registered under the Societies Act are not legal entities. When you want to sue a political party, you have to chase its secretary general, treasurer or the chairman. Section 16 of this Bill proposes that political parties shall have corporate status with perpetual succession. They will be capable of suing and being sued in the corporate name. This is good because it will separate the affairs of the party as corporate entities and that of the officials, as individuals. Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, this Bill also proposes that each party give a declaration of its assets and expenditure, including all the contributions, donations and pledges to the Registrar of Societies. This would enhance accountability of political parties. It is also required that this information be published in the gazette by the Registrar of Societies and one daily newspaper having a circulation nationwide. This, again, is to avoid people running political parties as though they are their own personal outfits. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we know that in most political parties, members never get to know the financial dealings of their parties. Even when they contribute, not all political parties publish their audited accounts. To enable the members and public to know about the financial dealings of political parties, their audited accounts will be published by the registrar of political parties. This is necessary because, apart from public accountability, this Bill is for the funding and regulation of political parties. Therefore, if there is funding from the Exchequer, there is need to ensure that there is a certain measure of accountability. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are penalties for failing to comply or giving false information in this respect. The penalties are directly to the officers concerned and the party. The April 19, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 795 penalties include a party losing its status as a political party and a body corporate if it fails to comply with the provisions. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we know that although we have 80 registered political parties, some of them have been on the shelves for the last ten or more years. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill, therefore proposes that a fully registered political party, will lose its status as a political party and as a body corporate if it has not participated in a parliamentary election or a local government election with electoral proposals of its own for a period of six years. This means that, if a party fails to participate in a general election for two consecutive elections, then it will lose its status as a political party. This will discourage briefcase political parties and also those parties meant to be cash-cows which can be sold to those who can find that they are out of favour with their political parties. It is also a requirement of this Bill that when a registered party intends to change its constitution, rules or regulations, title, name or address of any person or office, its name, emblem, slogan or colour, it shall notify the registrar of its intentions and the Registrar, shall within 14 days publish that in the Kenya Gazette and in one daily newspaper having a nation-wide circulation. This is to notify their members. In the past and even in the present, we have known political parties changing their constitution, the office bearers and sometimes putting in office members of the same family without the knowledge of the members of the political party. As a result, most political parties are in court due to wrangles. It is, therefore, necessary that members of a political party be aware of any move that is being made. Once that is published in the newspaper and in the Kenya Gazette, everybody who may be aggrieved or in support of the move will be put on notice. This will enhance, not only internal democracy of parties but also accountability of the leadership of the parties to their members. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have already said that for non-compliance with the provisions of the Act, the Registrar has wide powers, including for very serious breaching, to de-register that political party. In case that happens, then there can be an appeal against the decision of the Registrar to the High Court, which decision is final. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Part IV of this Bill provides for funding and accounts of political parties. It establishes a fund to be known as the Political Parties Fund, which shall be administered by the Registrar. The sources of the Fund are: Such funds as may be provided by the Minister for Finance in the annual estimates, so that the first source of funds for political parties will be the Exchequer. Secondly, contributions and donations to the Fund from any other source. This means that any foreign government entity or non-governmental institution that wishes to contribute to political parties, can do so through the Fund. This Fund will be administered by the Registrar. The monies in the Fund which are not immediately required for payment to political parties, shall be invested in such securities as may be approved by Treasury. It means that once money from the Consolidated Fund goes to the Political Parties Fund, it will not return to the Exchequer again but remain part of that Fund, but can be invested for the benefit of political parties. The purposes of that Fund is proposed to allocate such monies to the registered political parties and which must be used by those political parties for purposes compatible with democracy. This includes, promoting active participation by individual citizens in political life, covering the election expenses of the political parties and the broadcasting of the policies of the party, ensuring continuous vital links between the people and organs of State. I would imagine that includes helping people to put their Government to account. Further, the purposes include the organization by the political party of civic education in democracy and other electoral process, bringing the parties' influence to bear in the shaping of public opinion and not more than 10 per cent of this money shall be used for the administrative expenses of the party. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the monies allocated to political parties by the Fund shall not be 796 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 19, 2007 used for the following purposes: It cannot be used for paying directly or indirectly remuneration fees or rewards or any other benefits to a member or a supporter of the political party. In other words, such funds should not be used to buy membership or to bribe people to become members. It cannot also be used to finance or as a contribution to any matter or cause, directly or indirectly which contravenes any code of ethics binding on public officers. This again raises the bar on accountability. It can also not be used whether directly or indirectly for the purposes of establishing any business or acquiring or maintaining a financial interest whatsoever in any business or removable property, except for purposes of acquiring unmovable property to be used by the party, solely for the ordinary political party purposes. Therefore, the Fund could be used to buy premises for the party but not to help the party join business ventures. It can also not be used for any purpose incompatible with the promotion of multi-party democracy and the electoral processes. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, a formula is suggested here of distributing this money to the political parties. In the first instance, 25 per cent shall be distributed equally among political parties. What does that mean? Today we have 80 political parties and they are going to be, may be, 100 by the time we finish debating this Bill because there are people who are anticipating that this is a way of drawing cash from the Consolidated Fund or from the public. But remember that there are stringent conditions for a party to acquire full registration. It means that this Bill will help to identify serious parties and briefcase parties. It means that serious parties, which I believe will not be anywhere near 80; all those parties will, in the first instance, share out equally the first 25 per cent of the monies in the Political Parties Fund. The rest of the money, 75 per cent, shall be distributed proportionately by reference to the number of votes secured by each of the political parties at the previous parliamentary elections. This is what we do when we are distributing the slots for the nominated Members or even the Members of the East African Legislative Assembly. We always refer to the number of votes a party acquired at the last general election. This is something that we are already doing in another area and it is a good proposal. This is what is also happening to funding of political parties in other countries like Germany where it is even more stringent. They provide that a party that has not garnered 5 per cent of the votes should not get State funding. But in Kenya, the proposals are more generous; 25 per cent equally to all fully registered political parties and, then thereafter, the threshold to be the number of votes each party garnered in the last general elections. To those who have been forming parties, hoping to only cash in with the Political Parties Bill, then you know that the funding will have stringent conditions. I believe that it is the duty of Parliament to safeguard public funds. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Bill also states, in proposed Clause 24 that the sources of other funds of political parties will be membership fees, that is, each party should be funded by its members, voluntary contributions, donations, bequests, grants from any other source but not being a foreign government or inter-government or Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs). Therefore, foreign governments, inter-governmental organizations and NGOs are prohibited from directly funding political parties. If they wish to fund political parties in Kenya, let them channel the money directly to the Political Parties Fund. The other authorised fund is the proceeds of any investments, projects or undertaking in which the political party has an interest. Let us assume that a party has buses or some housing estate. Then, it can draw the earnings from its businesses as a source of its funds. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to state here why it is so important to safeguard our sovereignty, and we do not allow political interference by outside entities. In the last three years, in a country that used to belong to the Eastern European bloc, there occurred what was called the \"Orange Revolution\". It was sponsored by an NGO from the West. Since the Orange Revolution, that country has not been the same again. Everything has gone upside down. Right now, the April 19, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 797 country is in turmoil. There was even chemical poisoning of a presidential candidate in that country. Its people appeared to settle, but two years down the line, they are in turmoil, all because of the Orange Revolution funded by an NGO supported by Western governments. It is, therefore, important that political direction in any country be home-grown and not foreign-sponsored. That is why it is important that we safeguard our political parties from being influenced through funding. A political party will be obligated to disclose to the Registrar the full particulars of all funds, or other resources, obtained by it from any source. This is, again, to enhance accountability. It is also indicated that no individual should donate to their party an amount exceeding Kshs1 million, with a proviso that on request, the Registrar can allow a person to contribute an amount exceeding the Kshs1 million. This threshold is not made a requirement to parties that have been in existence for less than one year, because within the first year, a party can be funded without the limit being applied. I think this is a consideration this House has to accept. If we are going to have funding from the taxpayer, do we also want direct funding from individuals which make them almost the owners of the political parties? If person X fully funds a political party, then that political party becomes kind of their private property, and they may deny other members full participation. This the mischief we want to safeguard against, and it is up to this House to consider and see how to strengthen these particular proposals, so that we can have orderly political parties. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, a political party will also be obligated to make declaration of assets, liabilities, and also expenditure in relations to election. This will be within 40 days after an election. That party will have declared before the election its assets and liabilities. Then, within 40 days after the election, it will submit a detailed statement indicating all the expenditure incurred in respect of each of the candidates supported by that party. This may appear onerous, especially now that we are going to a general election, and parties may be fielding candidates in every constituency and ward. But remembering that each party will keep a record of what it has given to whom, it will be a question of collating the returns and then handing them over to the Registrar of Political Parties. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are other provisions relating to the duty of the political party to, on request from the Registrar, avail their records for inspection, for matters that are allowed within the law, and also to allow the Registrar to make extracts of those records. A duty is imposed on political parties intending to hold public meetings to comply with the provisions of existing law. It means that a political party will have to train its members to conduct themselves in relation to a matter within the law. Currently, when there is violence by members of a political party, we all disown the violence and blame it on our supporters. We will now be required to ensure that the supporters of each party operate within the law. This may be the way forward in eradicating electoral violence. Let us convince the electorate, and let us not use violence to intimidate our opponents, whether within our parties or outside them. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Electoral Commission of Kenya, which will house the Registrar of Political Parties, and which will also be distributing the Political Parties Fund, will be empowered by Clause 36 to make regulations for purposes of giving effect to the provisions of this Act. In particular, it will be able to make regulations prescribing the manner of registration of political parties, restricting the change of name, prescribing what forms may be used, securing the submission of accounts to the Registrar, prescribing the fees payable and all other matters connected with the registration and regulation of political parties. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in Part VI, this Bill has transitional provisions. This is very important. What will happen to political parties already registered that do not attain the threshold of the requirements prescribed by this proposed Act? All of them will immediately acquire provisional registration, so that within 180 days from the date of the commencement of the Act, they will also have to comply with the new law. Bearing in mind the time we are debating this Bill, 798 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 19, 2007 it may be necessary to consider what will be practical within this year, being an election year. It will also be necessary for us to look at what is missing in the transitional provisions, so that we are able to save our status in this Parliament. I believe that the provisions requiring hon. Members to strictly belong to one party may not be properly applied to this Parliament, which is in its exit stage. We will require to look at that and make a saving provision, so that we do not dissolve ourselves before the election time comes. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I indicated earlier that there are certain things which will now become mandatory in the constitutions of all political parties. These are to be found in the Schedules. Apart from the name, the registered office, the eligibility for membership, there should also be a provision for admission and resignation of members. The rights and duties of members must also be clearly spelt out. Disciplinary measures, methods and procedures must be indicated. The general organisation, the district organisations, the issue of branches and the powers of the various organs of the party must also be included. The titles and terms of office bearers and their method of election, appointment, dismissal and suspension must also be clear. There must also be the authority and the method of filling vacancies in the committees. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in other words, there are certain key requirements, so that a party is seen as observing democratic principles. Those are what are spelled out here. Also, there is the requirement for transparency and accountability to its members. There must also be the annual or periodic audit of the accounts, et cetera . That will ensure that parties, whose constitutions do not include that basic requirement, including democratic practices that cover gender, nomination and human rights, do not merit registration. It is remembered that we, the women folk of this country, have complained for a long time that we do, at times, suffer discrimination from the parties. Since the Constitution outlaws discrimination, it is important that the constitutions of parties protect the vulnerable from being marginalised by their political parties. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in conclusion, I would like to repeat in part what is contained in the Memorandum of Objects and Reasons. It reads:- \"This Bill seeks to provide a framework for the registration, regulation and funding of political parties.\" Instead of the current situation where political parties are registered by the Registrar of Societies, upon its enactment, all political parties will be registered and regulated under this Bill. That will be a departure from the current situation. It will help us to nurture the growth of democracy. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I, again, reiterate that the journey towards this Bill begun in 1999, when hon. Members from various political parties got together and, with the help of the Civil Society, started formulating a Bill for the funding of political parties. A Bill for funding of political parties was published in 2002. But it was never debated. This is the same Bill which, in 2003, a similar journey begun with stakeholders to discuss the drafting of a Bill that did not only cover funding, but covered registration and regulation. In other words, I am affirming that this is a product of consultation. I also want to say that when I convened the multi-sectoral forum in August last year, the forum looked through the Political Parities Bill and endorsed it as it was. They also suggested certain slight amendments which have not been incorporated. They can now be discussed and incorporated during the Committee Stage of this Bill. This process, therefore, calls for bi-partisan support for its strengthening. That is the role of Parliament. We should bear in mind the objectives of the Bill, so that we may begin to have order in the political sector, which is also order in the area of governance. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move and request the Leader of the Official Opposition to second this Bill. April 19, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 799"
}