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{
    "id": 576405,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/576405/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 280,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. ole Kenta",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 420,
        "legal_name": "Richard Moitalel ole Kenta",
        "slug": "richard-moitalel-ole-kenta"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I would like to join my colleagues who have supported the Bill. I support it. I believe that no law should operate in a vacuum. We made the Constitution to serve us. The issues that have been raised by the Members here are pertinent and make sense. August is not a convenient month and I support that. We have spoken about the issue of our academic term, tourism and the budgetary cycles, and these are very important issues. When you look at the economic aspect, the Budget takes us through the year and we cannot even avail money to the IEBC for elections before September or October. So, it is important that we look at the ways of raising money. If it is going to inconvenience the Kenyan people, then it is important that we move the election date to December. The activists in our midst would think that Members of the National Assembly would like to extend their term. I would like to say that our term should be five years. If we looked at it properly, we should be operating as Members of Parliament up to March. However, that is not really important. It might be more costly to take the August date because we will not be ready; we will destroy our economy and we will not have a fair election. Why? We have raised the issue of the availability of the Kenyan people, for example the pastoralists. If the pastoralists cannot take part in the elections in August, you disenfranchise them by saying that we must have it in this month. Whereas there is the issue of the presidential term, it is not cast in stone. If it is a matter of going for a referendum, we shall go for it. But I believe that this is the right time for us to decide these questions once and for all. Lastly, maybe this should be the shortest parliamentary term, but from the next Parliament, if it starts in December, the next MPs will have their five years. We must think rationally and in a way that is going to cater for the needs and the requirements of all the Kenyans. I support the Bill."
}