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"id": 225184,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kipchumba",
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"legal_name": "Joseph Kipchumba Lagat",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in Clause 9, there are issues about resignation. It is very clear that when a Member of Parliament resigns, he or she must presents his or her resignation letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly. But when it comes to political parties, it says a person resigning will submit their resignation letter to the political party. That is ambiguous. A political party is an entity and, therefore, we must define who will be given the resignation letter. So, we will probably have to say that the letter shall be addressed to the Secretary-General of the political party. If a Member raises a query, then we know to whom they gave their resignation letter. 816 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 19, 2007 Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are also issues of disqualification, and who should be a leader of a political party. The Bill says a political party shall not have, as its leader or a member, any person who is not qualified to hold public office. We must state when a person is not qualified to hold a public office. We are very much aware that there are people who have been recommended not to hold public office, but they continue to do so. The law, as it is, is not clear as to the extent to which somebody will be made not to hold a public office. Therefore, I would request for that to be defined more clearly. In Clause 6(f) says that the Registrar shall not register a political party which does not allow regular, periodic and open elections of its office-bearers. It is not yet a political party. Therefore, how do we then talk of a party which is not holding regular, periodic and open elections? It is just seeking registration! Therefore, I do not know what that clause intended to achieve. I would also want the Minister to define what we mean by \"provisional\". Clause 13 says a party can be \"provisionally\" registered. I think it is important that we are told what is \"provisional\". What are the provisional requirements that a party must meet so that it can be registered? Is it just a name and an emblem, or a name and a few officials or just a name and 200 members in every province? I think that must be made very clear. It also talks of a party formalising itself within 180 days. This is quite a lot of time. Actually, it is half a year. I would want to reduce that to only three months. There is no reason why a political party worth its name would want to remain informal for 180 days. Clause 15 talks of a political party being registered in the capital city of Kenya. I do not understand what that was intended to achieve. A political party can have its offices in Mombasa or Eldoret. Therefore, I think we should not define where a political party should have its headquarters. I would want this provision to be deleted completely, and replaced with a provision that a registered political party must have a known address in addition to meeting other requirements. Its head office does not necessarily have to be in the capital city. In fact, many jurisdictions in the world allow most activities to take place outside their capital cities. They have them distributed all over the country so that the capital city is not congested by unnecessary offices. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Clause 16, says the Registrar shall, within 90 days, publish in the Gazette and in one daily newspaper, having a nationwide circulation--- One newspaper is not enough. There are people who would want to read other newspapers. Therefore, for us to reach as many Kenyans as possible, we must talk of, at least, two daily newspapers with nationwide circulation. That will make a lot of sense, because we do not want monopoly in information dissemination. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I said before, there is a requirement by the Bill that the Registrar will cause the books of accounts to be published. It is the responsibility of every political party to ensure that it publishes its own books of accounts for public consumption. It is not the responsibility of the Registrar of Political Parties to ensure that the accounts are published. In fact, if you look at all the public institutions in this country, you will see that every one of them ensures that all its audited accounts are published, so long as the Controller and Auditor-General has gone through them. Therefore, we should not continue putting more burden on the taxpayer of this country by requiring the publishing of books of accounts by the Registrar. It will be very unworthy for the Registrar of Political Parties to follow parties and ask them: \"Where are your books of accounts so that I can publish the annual reports?\" It must be on record that every political party should publish its books of accounts at some stage. After all, those political parties must ensure that they account for the money they have been given at the end of any financial year. They must follow Government regulations. At the end of June, which marks the end of the financial year, they must account for their money. If all the money that the political parties have been given is not utilised, it must be returned to the Exchequer. Those are Government April 19, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 817 financial regulations. We do not want political parties to be accumulating money to become a source of wealth. If a political party did not, for example, use Kshs25 million last year, it is not fair to give it another Kshs25 million this year to keep it in its account. We should require that any money that has not been utilised within a financial year should be surrendered immediately to the Exchequer. In fact, any political party that is unable to utilise funds is not promoting democracy. Therefore, there should be another requirement that such political parties should be de-registered. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, publishing of audited accounts of every political party is reflected in Clause 27(3), which reads:- \"The Registrar shall publish an annual report on the audited accounts of every political party.\" I propose that, that clause be amended. It should not be every political party. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is an issue that I have been grappling with. That is reflected in Clause 28(2), which reads:- \"A political party shall maintain at each of its district offices an accurate and permanent record in relation to the requirements under subsection (1) of the matters relating to the district and constituencies comprised in the district.\" Many political parties have moved out of districts because of in-fighting for political supremacy. There is no merit for political parties to be registered at district headquarters. Most political parties are registered at the constituency level. It is from the constituencies that many of those democratic ideals start. Therefore, instead of us putting a requirement that political parties must maintain an accurate record at each of its district offices, they should maintain it at the constituency level. It makes a lot of sense. The reason why KANU had a lot of problems is because there were four or five hon. Members in a district and they all wanted to become the chairman. Therefore, there was fighting for political supremacy in the various districts. As a result of that, KANU changed its constitution and elections were conducted at the constituency level. We do not want to reverse the clock. Therefore, I would like to propose that, that clause be amended accordingly so that we move forward as opposed to moving backwards. Wherever the word \"district\" appears, it should be replaced with the word \"constituency\". Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, I do not understand what we want to achieve in Clause 281(d). It does not make sense to me. It reads:- \"Every political party shall maintain at its head office or national office in a form approved by the Registrar, an accurate and permanent record of- (d) in books of accounts approved by the Registrar,---\" I do not know whether we want the Registrar to approve accounts. I would like the Minister to clarify whether the Registrar is supposed to approve the books of accounts. When the Controller and Auditor-General has audited the books, I think that should be sufficient. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}