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{
    "id": 318201,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/318201/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 353,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Musyoka",
    "speaker_title": "The Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 191,
        "legal_name": "Gideon Musyoka Ndambuki",
        "slug": "gideon-ndambuki"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also appreciate the sentiments from my good friend, Mr. Ethuro. I really would like to inform him that we had prioritized debate on the IDP Bill for last Wednesday, but he was not in the country. In fact, I am surprised to see him because when I tried to enquire, I was told he will be in Uganda for the next two weeks. It is an usual thing because some hon. Members saw me, particularly the Minister for Agriculture, and she thought she was seeing a ghost because I was supposed to be in Uganda. But that is a reality. All of us are taking this matter with the seriousness it deserves. Therefore, if I remember correctly, these colleagues were with me in the House Business Committee (HBC) on Tuesday and we decided to give this matter priority next week because it is a very important thing. I do not think the country can afford to go to the next general elections with Kenyans hurting out there. So we would want this matter brought up expeditiously. With regard to the legislative programme, I think hon. Members will agree with me that this House has truly tried to meet the essential deadlines, particularly those of a constitutional nature. However, it is also important to note that Kenyans are now conscious of one thing: That there shall be full consultation, not just with the Commissions that have business that is relevant to the legislative programmes, but Kenyans themselves. Therefore, that consultation with the Kenyan people is a matter that we cannot escape. Sometimes, the deadlines will then look serious. When that happens, then the House will need to take the kind of action you, Mr. Speaker, led us through in a Kamukunji, when we all agreed that even the IEBC will not meet those targets. I want, therefore, to thank Mr. Abdikadir’s Committee because they have been very pragmatic and they are able to give these directions. I see that Mr. Mbadi possibly is a Member of that Committee. We should look at issues in the best interest of this nation because the next general elections are not a secret weapon for any individual or party. The next general elections are slated for 4th March, 2013. This is a hard fact. We need to adjust those programmes, so that the IEBC will have time to register voters and to allow for inspection of those registers. I want to take this opportunity to say to the whole country whenever that exercise gets underway, let us have all our people turning up in large numbers and exercising their constitutional right to register as voters. It is clear that we will have to come up with a complete new register. I thank the Minister for Finance and the teams that are working on the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR). This is important. With regard to the public petition and energy, we continue to thank the people of Turkana. My friend, Mr. Nanok, is not in the House, but when I last tried to talk about this situation, he almost became absolutely angry. This is a very important matter. There shall be equity and equality of opportunity. This is an important petition and I will prevail on the Minister for Energy with the seriousness it deserves. Thank you."
}