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{
    "id": 567739,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/567739/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 184,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Bishop) R. Mutua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13137,
        "legal_name": "Robert Mutemi Mutua",
        "slug": "robert-mutemi-mutua"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Deputy Speaker, everything that is small grows. We do not want a scenario where political parties will remain there because they have nobody to challenge them just because the party leaders dominate those parties. We should allow other parties to grow, so that we can tap new brains and better visions that other Kenyans may come up with. Today’s small parties may not necessarily be small 20 years from now. There was a time when the KANU was the strongest political party in this country, but today it is not. Suppose at that time we decided that the ODM and the Jubilee Coalition should not come up; suppose we disallowed them to come up. We would still be trying to fight day in, day out. Therefore, political parties should be recognised and funded so that they can grow and provide alternative leadership to this country. Another reason for funding all political parties that have Members in Parliament is that the more parties we have, the less dictatorship we will experience. This is because parties that win elections from time will not be able to form governments on their own. They have to talk to small parties to join them and form coalition government. A coalition government is healthy for this country for three reasons. First, it encourages inclusivity because it must give concessions for other parties to negotiate for their space. If we have only two parties and the winner takes it all, we will have a scenario where one group controls the resources and enjoys the services of this country. When we have more parties in a coalition, we have an opportunity for more Kenyans to participate in the politics of this nation. Secondly, as we talk about financing parties, we grow our democracy. How do you grow democracy of the already grown parties? We need to grow democracy even in the upcoming parties. We can only do that if we facilitate them to put in place the required structures so that they can continue competing. I heard somebody say that the small parties are surviving on handouts from major parties, suggesting that parties can have gentleman’s agreement. Why do we need gentlemen’s agreements in a democratic country? We need to do everything in accordance with the law. Let the law say what you need to get or what you do not need to get. We do not need to enter into gentlemen’s agreements because such arrangements promote the tendency of some people dominating others. 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."
}