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{
    "id": 27728,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/27728/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 262,
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    "content": "the provisions are not clear and they can be misused by the IEBC to bar a candidate who is otherwise, qualified under the Constitution to run for office. We must avoid giving unnecessary power, too much power to bodies that are not subjected to a judicial process to be determining who is qualified to run for office and who is not qualified to run for office. The other key issue I also want to comment on is the provision on harambees. Whereas we agree that it is useful to bring some control over fundraising in this country because the culture of fundraising has been misused and abused, it is not right to put a very blanket definition of what a public fundraising is. There is no clear definition. I have looked at the definition; it just says that if you carry out a public fundraising--- If your mother is sick and you invite your friends to your home to help you raise funds to take your mother to hospital, that would fall under the definition in the Bill because you have done so publicly. You have been able to publicly invite people to come and help you to do a fundraiser. What that means then is that you would be disqualified from running for office if you do it within that period specified by the law before the general elections. So it is a very dangerous provision that can be misused to harass people, especially poor people because it is poor people who raise funds. I was trying to see whether the Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs is listening. I was not addressing him. It is the poor who have need for fundraising. Therefore, in most cases they are the ones that suffer when we enact laws that make it difficult for us to help other people in our society merely for the purpose of barring particular people who may have need for running. It is not right. It is dangerous. We have to correct that. If we are not able to define properly what we mean by this thing we are referring to as “public fundraising” then we had better remove it from the Bill completely, so that people are free to run for public office. Finally, this issue of trying to unduly restrict people’s freedom to move from parties---"
}