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"id": 34975,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/34975/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Muriithi",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Industrialization",
"speaker": {
"id": 91,
"legal_name": "Ndiritu Muriithi",
"slug": "ndiritu-muriithi"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. It is hon. Nderitu Muriithi, but our constituencies are next to each other. I have three points to make. Let me begin with the whole question of internal democracy in political parties. Most of us agree that some of the confusion of the last general election, in fact, stemmed from the fact that political parties had very little regard to democratic processes. Therefore, I believe that the Minister should consider, in Part II, to have a clause that regulates the conduct of elections within political parties and how political parties go about nominating individuals who are running for political office. So, how often, for example, do political parties have elections, how might those be conducted and how might the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission assist? Secondly, I want to speak on the whole question of coalitions. Right now, because, of course, coalitions exist, part of the challenges that we have been facing include party loyalty. So, where members of political parties get appointed to the Government, do they continue to adhere to the policies and the ideals of their political parties? In addition, I want to talk about the whole question of the distribution of funds from the Political Parties Fund. Indeed, major disputes exist today on this specific question of how you distribute the funds. I know the provision made is that you distribute according to votes, but I think Part III could be a bit more specific, so that, for example, Clause 10 is saying that people can go into a pre-election coalition, then we need to make better and more specific criteria as to how we will distribute the political parties funds after that. In addition, I believe Clause 10 ought to provide for coalitions, not just before elections, but after. Indeed, the practice throughout the world is for coalitions after the elections as opposed to before. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Clause 14 should provide more specifically what happens when you resign. It provides how somebody should resign from a political party. But what are the consequences, for example, if you are holding a parliamentary seat or if you are in the regional assembly? My final point relates to the whole purpose of political parties. We agree that political parties are about getting power, but the question is: power to do what? For what reasons are you seeking political power? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I agree with hon. Jim Orengo and others, who have said the culture of deceit is rampant in the conduct of political party affairs. For example, the Grand Coalition in which I am today is formed by most of the major political parties, which, in the last general election, went round the countryside, suggesting to citizens: “We are going to have 14 years of basic education for every child”. However, nobody seems to be keen to implement that policy. In an ideal democracy, a Member of Parliament or political party is elected on the basis of political platform. You say: “Please, elect me because I am going to do A, B and D, so that the society can move from point A to point B.” If political parties do not follow through what they say they are going to do, then we are short-changing the citizens. So, I believe that, under Part II, Clause 17(1)(c), the Minister needs to look at how to link not just the policies. The Bill says that political parties must be able to maintain and show by record, what their policies and programmes are, but those need auditing, so that the funding of political parties can be linked not just to the votes they got, but also to whether they actually live up to the things they promise Kenyans. In that way we can stop this game of deceit where political parties are seen as vehicles for individuals to take a stab at power. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you listen to the political language even today, you will realise that hon. Members are talking about “what is our vehicle?” and so on. I believe that it is by linking the funding to whether political parties live to what they promise Kenyans that we can regulate their conduct. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}