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"id": 48619,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Muthama",
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"speaker": {
"id": 96,
"legal_name": "Johnson Nduya Muthama",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I want to make very brief remarks. First of all, I want to congratulate the Minister for demonstrating very clearly that we can have hardworking Ministers. The Minister is focused and he has tried to see the implementation process of the new Constitution going through. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to just pinpoint a few issues here. (a) The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission that is coming into place should not mess up with things by misusing its independence. In 1992, 1997, 2002 and 2007, there were problems with elections results. The only team that was blamed was the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK). The Minister must consider instituting provisions that deal with punishment of the team that will supervise our elections in the coming years. It should not be left to be independent because independence can be misused. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I looked at this Bill and the salaries of members of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is not indicated. So, it should not be left to the Commission itself to determine and decide what they will be paid. It should be passed to the new Salaries Remuneration Commission that is coming into place. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have seen a clause in this Bill that stipulates that immediately after passing this Bill, it will not take more than five months for the Commission to put in place new constituency and county boundaries. The Minister should note that Kenyans will be expecting that, after five months--- I am so eager to see that happen. I want the new boundaries to be put in place. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Commission that is coming in should not work on reducing the areas, although that is within the Constitution. I am talking more about the county assemblies. My constituency, which is about 900 square kilometers, has only six wards. I am looking forward to having more areas of representation. I do not want the Commission to reduce the wards. The new Commission must note that there was the Ligale Commission that left with shame due to its bad work. We do not want to see a constituency within Nairobi like Westlands, or where I live in Runda--- I represent Kangundo and 80 per cent of people who live in Westlands Constituency are in their rural homes. That is where you find work of the constituency. In Nairobi and, particularly in December, nearly all wananchi go back home to their rural areas. So, when there is a consideration of increasing the constituencies in the Republic of Kenya, priority should be given to rural areas. So, let Nairobi have minimal constituencies so that the number of constituencies in Nairobi can be given to very needful constituencies like Makueni, where you have over 250,000 people and yet, it was left without an additional constituency. The area is also quite big and that was not considered. You find that Kibera measures 1.4 square kilometers and it is a constituency. That should be given a very serious consideration. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue is on page 151. Clause 7 says that the Commission will have one non-executive chairman and the vice-chairperson. The other commissioners are also mentioned, and will serve on a temporary basis. It means that some commissioners will be appointed on temporary terms of service. That person will never be comfortable to work because he or she does not know when he or she will be shown the door. We want that to be amended. Let all the commissioners in whatever capacity, whether chairperson or vice-chairperson, serve with confidence, and a feeling that they are part and parcel of this country. Nobody should be given an office to work on temporary terms. The words âtemporary termsâ makes someone to work casually and not to give total commitment to his or her work. The issue of qualifications of the commissioners has to be considered. However, I want to ask my colleagues and Kenyans wherever they are to learn to trust one another. We need to trust our brothers and sisters. We must help to correct mistakes if they arise, if they are made unintentionally. Let us have trust in the Commission that is coming in. We should not be dreaming, complaining and claiming that these people--- In this country, immediately someone gets to office, whether as a President or a Minister, their name is changed from being a darling of the community. No Kenyan should be referred to as âa groupâ. We want to see Kenyans get to office and practise justice to Kenyans. Since I want my colleagues to contribute, I beg to support."
}