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{
    "id": 470796,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/470796/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 308,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sang",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 907,
        "legal_name": "Stephen Kipyego Sang",
        "slug": "stephen-kipyego-sang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker Sir, I rise to make some contributions with regard to this Bill. From the outset, I would not want to commit myself to either supporting it or opposing it, because this is a very important amendment Bill in the sense that it is giving us an opportunity to evaluate the Political Parties Act after the Act came into operation following a General Election. I want to appreciate the intention and the wisdom behind the establishment of this Bill. Sen. Kajwang who was a Member of the Tenth Parliament and who obviously must have taken part in the passage and enactment of this Bill has shared the mind of Parliament, then and the wisdom that Parliament considered when passing this Bill. It is important to now evaluate and ask ourselves how realistic this Bill was because this was a Bill that was enacted in the previous Parliament but it came into force after the elections in the last General Elections. It is, therefore, important for us to evaluate. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it worries me, looking at the performance of the various political parties in the General Elections and you have serious parties like Wiper, FORD-(K) and others but they could not fit into the mathematics of getting support based on the mathematical formula that we placed in this law. Therefore, it is important for us to relook at the law and ask ourselves whether we want to continue in this country to use taxpayers’ money to fund only three or four political parties or not. When we enacted this Bill, the mind of Parliament then looked only at political parties. One of the emerging democratic phenomena in this country right now is coalitions. This Bill did not consider how parties working in a coalition would be able to even discuss and agree on how to share resources. I think the timing of this Bill is very crucial and we need to look at the Bill and ask ourselves the direction that we need to go. What was the wisdom, but how then do we merge the wisdom then and the realities based on the issues that this country has faced after the General Election? As a Member of the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Senate, we received the Bill, considered it and invited comments and participation of the various stakeholders within the political parties sector. We received submission from the Registrar of Political Parties and interestingly enough, she supported this amendment. Some of the issues that were raised by the Registrar of Political Parties was that this amendment would ensure that you are able to expand the political parties in this country that will be supported under the Political Parties Fund and, therefore, reduce the greater influence by individuals on parties that would miss from this Fund. 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."
}