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{
    "id": 461763,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/461763/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 320,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Waiganjo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2644,
        "legal_name": "John Muriithi Waiganjo",
        "slug": "john-muriithi-waiganjo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution to this very important law. A law that comes to level the political playground between candidates and brings sanity to our elections is crucial. In fact, this comes almost 50 years after our independence and this has been long overdue. It comes by dint of Article 88(4) of the Constitution. These are some of the benefits which, perhaps, we are reaping from the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. I also think that this is a Bill that has borrowed a little from other jurisdictions and there is need to try and domesticate it so that it aligns to our political realities. I am sure that if Members are asked to give their political stories and how they got to this Parliament, you would hear a lot of long stories because most candidates were pitted against very wealthy candidates. This Bill comes to regulate the manner of expenditure during the campaigns. We also need to give civic education to our populace and voters. It is voters who encourage candidates to give bribes. As a matter of fact, voters openly ask for bribes during campaigns. It is a time for voters to reap – they collect themselves in various groups and invite you to speak to them. After you do that, they ask you to release them which obviously means that they need you now to give them some money. This is, therefore, a Bill that will bring down political corruption because most politicians obviously will use a lot of money not for the purposes intended to win an election; not to print campaign materials; not to be used in transportation but, sometimes, they would use it to hire thugs and goons who would go to disrupt other candidates’ rallies. This is a Bill that will bring sanity in the way we manage our campaigns. 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."
}