Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 461726,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/461726/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 283,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Pukose",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1458,
        "legal_name": "Robert Pukose",
        "slug": "robert-pukose"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Election Campaign Financing Bill. This Bill is going to bring in discipline in as far as raising funds and the utilisation of the funds in the campaigns is concerned. When you look at the objective of the Bill, it is to bring a level playing field for everybody, so that the best representative for the people can be given the mandate regardless of their social status. When you look at this country, people have risen from hustlers to the various positions where they are. Most of them have come from humble grounds. In the past in this country, it depended on whether your father was a chief or whether your father’s father was in a position of leadership and had saved some money, so that you have money to campaign. But majority of us have come from humble grounds. Personally, I have come from a humble ground where I did not have money. When I went to school, I went bare feet. The first time that I put on shoes was when I joined Form One and to rise to this level and to be a Member of Parliament today is because of almost level playing field but we need to do it better. This Bill achieves that. Many countries in the world like the United States of America, Britain and other countries whose democracies have grown, have election campaign finance. It stipulates how much each candidate is supposed to raise and how much you can utilise during those campaigns. This is where we need to go, so that at the end of the day, people are elected on meritocracy, so that they can adequately represent their people. I thank my constituents of Endebbes because they did not look at how much money I had and how much money other people had. They looked at how best you can represent their views. This is where this country needs to go. Therefore, this Bill is timely. I know it has come early enough. When it has come as early as it has, it gives us room to debate it in a sober manner, look at it item by item and in a more rational way. As the Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs has pointed out, there are procedures to be followed. More often, you find that opponents always look for a loophole. From other proceedings that we have seen, the ICC, for example, you have people who are hired to give false evidence. Opponents hire people to fix you, so that you are not in the campaign. The amendments that the Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs is bringing have warning and sanctions. This is fair because it allows room for somebody to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused person is guilty of an election offence as far as finance is concerned. Occasionally, you find that there are old people who would want to vote, but they are not able. The old and frail, sick and others within the society will need to be transported to the polling stations. So, these are the areas that we need to improve. It should also meet the standard of any campaign Financing Bill the world over, so that we can do things that other countries are doing. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}