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{
    "id": 566624,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/566624/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 348,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ababu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 108,
        "legal_name": "Ababu Tawfiq Pius Namwamba",
        "slug": "ababu-namwamba"
    },
    "content": "I look around and, of course, I can see very many persons associated with our party, for instance, who would, otherwise, have been Members of this House through ODM.My very good friend and several other Members here are actually children of the House of Orange, notwithstanding the colour they wore to come to this House. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, there are challenges in political parties. Let us look at this from the perspective that we have liberalised our politics and our democracy. We have opened up the political space. We want every single Kenyan desiring of seeking any political office to find a reliable platform upon which they can pursue their ambition. Therefore, it is important that we put in place a financing model that goes hand in hand with that liberalised environment. At the same time, we must also acknowledge that politics and democracy are about competition and that competition is not determined by the leadership. It is determined by the people themselves. So, even as we apportion resources to political parties, we cannot do so in a vacuum. There must be a formula that takes cognisance of the realities of democracy. I support the amendment to the arrangement that would allow a process that takes cognisance of reality coalitions. At the time when we enacted the Political Parties Act and at the time when we debated the establishment of the Political Parties Fund, the reality of coalitions had really not dawned on us as political leaders. We had really not tested the framework, the functioning and the mechanics of coalitions. But now we know and it appears like coalitions will be a feature of our politics for a long while. Therefore, I would support adjustment to the Political Parties Fund through the Political Parties Act that takes due cognisance of how you share resources within that framework of a coalition. Those of us in the CORD Coalition and the three main constituent parties of the CORD Coalition, namely, ODM, Wiper and FORD (K) have worked very well together. We have put in place a gentleman’s agreement allowing us to share the portion allocated to ODM. We have shared that as three constituent parties. I agree that it is important for us to legislate that process, so that it is not dependent on the goodwill of a party or the leadership of a party - it is enacted in law. At the end of the day, small or big, let us know that we come into the political arena, not to be funded but to seek, capture and exercise political power. For us in ODM, that is our mission. Our mission is that funding or no funding - and funding is important - our singular agenda is to seek, capture and exercise political power responsibly in the best interest of the people. Let me send a serious warning to all our rivals that as far as 2017 is concerned, our singular determination is to capture and exercise power as ODM. I support this amendment."
}