Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 34942,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/34942/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 345,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mrs. Noor",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 375,
        "legal_name": "Sophia Abdi Noor",
        "slug": "sophia-noor"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to add my voice in supporting this important Bill. We agree that political parties are very important vehicles. This is the vehicle that puts in place a Government. This needs proper management. It should be done in a manner that can help realize the aspirations and the will of the people of this country. Reforms in this country should be undertaken in line with the provisions of the Constitution which gives clear guidelines on how powers should be exercised on behalf of and for the benefit of the people of this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Constitution provides for certain basic requirements such as affirmative action and the promotion and participation of marginalized and minority groups in the political processes. Political parties’ legislation must contain some provisions in addressing the participation of the groups I have just mentioned; the women, youth and persons with disability. Despite important and major improvements noted in this Bill, there are several shortcomings and contradictions that should be dealt with in order to improve it. The Bill lacks clarity on funding and independence of the Registrar of Political Parties. The most controversial issue during the drafting of this Bill was the independence of the office of the Registrar. Unfortunately, this remains unresolved. This Bill does not give this office independence. For one, the office is still with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). The IEBC Chairman is the Chief Executive Officer and the Accounting Officer of the Commission and the Registrar heads a department within the IEBC just the way it is now. That does not give the independence needed. It does not separate the oversight roles. The Chairman is the coach and is going to be the referee. That is a contradiction. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister needs to look into that because of the aspirations and the will of the stakeholders. When Kenyans were discussing this Bill, they talked of an independent body that is going to manage political parties in this country. If you go back and look at the recommendations made by the Committee of Experts (CoE) they said that this very important office should have independence of its own. This is missing from this Bill. The other important thing in this office is the funding. The funding modality is not clear. The modality proposed by the Bill raises several issues. First, the Bill is silent on how to fund the tribunal that is established under Clause 35. It is very unclear. We do not know who is going to fund it. It is also not clear whether these resources will be funded by provisions in the Constitution under the Judiciary or whether it is going to be funded by the 10 per cent administrative fund. That needs to come out clearly. The other thing that is not clear is under Clause 25, where there is a detailed breakdown of how to use these funds. It is very confusing. The guideline is not very clear. We need a guideline that will give conditions on how the resources will be distributed in line with gender, people with disabilities and the minority. This very important office that is going to transform political participation of this country in future needs to have a clear outfit from the outset. There are several good clauses in this Bill but there are a few shortcomings and shortfalls that we need to address. We must correct these so that we do not regret in the future. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}