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{
    "id": 390420,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/390420/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Hassan",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 431,
        "legal_name": "Hassan Omar Hassan Sarai",
        "slug": "hassan-omar-hassan-sarai"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for the record, my names are Sen. Hassan Omar Hassan. First and foremost, I want to appreciate this Motion by the Senator for Kisumu County, Sen. (Prof.) Peter Anyang’-Nyong’o. I am here to second this Motion. First of all, I would like to emphasise that in the conceptualization of our Constitution, Kenya had for too long been bedeviled by the fact that we had weak institutions in the name of political parties. Until recently, political parties were personal vehicles; arbitrary vehicles that did not have the right capacity to discharge the functions that are required democratically for them to enhance democratic participation and rule in this country. An attempt to cripple the functions of political parties is a further attempt to cripple our democratic growth. You will realise that notwithstanding the personal feelings of any individual in the Government, constitutional obligations remain just that. I reiterate that any person charged with any responsibility must respect those responsibilities. Parties have emerged from elections and many parties are now reorganizing their political structures to ensure that they continue to be competitive and to prepare for the next round of elections that will come up in 2017. It is unfortunate that to date, most of our parties are yet to enjoy the funding that is not a preserve of the Executive, national Government, but a demand of the Constitution. This money has already been allocated. However, it falls way below the constitutional threshold that is required of political parties to be allocated. Therefore, it is not just an allocation, but an allocation with respect to the Constitution and with respect to the laws that govern allocation of resources to political parties. It is unfortunate that we will cripple accountability and cripple the role of parties that are not in Government by ensuring that we suffocate funding for these parties so that they do not roll out their programmes. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you will also realise that I am also associated to a political party and a coalition. I know that our coalition is ready to roll out programmes and ensure that it energises and reenergizes itself to meet its obligations and the objectives of the capital state power. However, that has been suffocated by mere bureaucratic bottlenecks that now need to be unlocked. This does not only apply to one coalition, but to all parties. All parties need to be managed in a manner that is stipulated in the Constitution. You will realise that once these parties are funded, there are constitutional obligations that they have to meet. The parties will have to continue living within the tenets of the Constitution as Article 91 stipulates. These Articles can only be discharged if these parties are funded adequately to create the structures and mechanisms that facilitate them to meet the requirements as stipulated in the Constitution. We need to have democratic practice in these parties. We cannot have democratic practice without sufficient capacity The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}