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{
    "id": 35342,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/35342/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 357,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Mbadi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Bill before us. One of the issues that Kenyans have been grappling with is the management of political parties. We have complained, many times. It is true that at one time, Kenya had only one political party. It was a milestone when we became a multiparty democracy. It appears to me that many of us were not ready to embrace multipartysm. The moment that came up, misbehavior came with it. My colleagues have talked at length and said that this is the only country where someone talks about creating a new political party and still insists that he or she has not left the political party that sponsored that person to Parliament. This is the only country where you find someone campaigning for people in another political party, recruiting memberships and campaigning openly and calling the political party that elected him or her to Parliament names, and still has the courtesy to stand in Parliament to say that he belongs to that political party. It is high time we put a stop to that. I do not think that we do not have laws in place at the moment. The problem we have is the Registrar of Political Parties. The lady we gave that position has been a let down to this country. I was looking at this Bill, critically, to see whether we will leave the occupant of that office in place. I am happy that according to the qualifications set out, she does not qualify. But even if she did, we would have done this country a disservice if we retained the lady who is occupying that position now. That is because she has failed to act. That lady cannot even justify her presence in that office and the salary she earns. We have complained that she is the one who has mismanaged the political parties system in this country. I thought that this Bill would put a stop to it. I urge that when this Bill goes to the Committee Stage, we tighten punishment even on the Registrar of Political Parties. We need to look for a way of dealing with the Registrar of Political Parties if he or she fails to follow the law in discharging his or her duties independently. The qualifications of the Registrar, even though one of them is knowledge in finance and management, are not clear on what level of experience and knowledge that he or she has in finance and management. I think we need to be more clear on this. I cannot agree more with those who have talked about Article 25 on distribution of funds. I also feel strongly that 10 per cent is too much for administration. More importantly, it needs to be clear how that Fund will be distributed to political parties. It talks about votes garnered by a party. At what level? Is it at the presidential, parliamentary or county level? We need to be very clear and categorical that it is based on votes garnered at this particular level. When it comes to distribution of funds, we should not be in doubt on the formula to be used to distribute funds. With regard to those who are talking about public officers, Clause 12(2) says that public officers are supposed to be excluded or restricted from holding positions in political parties. I agree with that. But when it comes to exempting and excluding the President, Deputy President, Members of Parliament and Governors, for good reasons, the Minister has left out the Office of the Prime Minister. I know that it will not be there in the next dispensation. But it is still there with us. This Bill will become an Act of Parliament before the next General Election. It should be very clear that the Prime Minister is among the public officers who are excluded from the restrictions to hold public position. If we do it this way, the only politician who will be excluded from holding political positions is the Prime Minister. I hope that will be amended. With regard to the Registrar refusing to register or even to accept provisional registration, if there is additional information that the Registrar requires, we need to be very clear on it. If there is any additional information required, we need to set a time line within which the Registrar must communicate back to those who have applied for registration, so that it is not left indefinite. I propose that we put 21 days because within these 30 days, the Registrar needs to make a decision. So, if the Registrar is not satisfied that the information supplied or provided is sufficient, he needs to write back to the people who have applied for registration so that, that information is availed after 21 days."
}