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{
    "id": 591256,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/591256/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 322,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Prof.) Nyikal",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 434,
        "legal_name": "James Nyikal",
        "slug": "james-nyikal"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. May I, on behalf of the people of Seme Constituency, pass my condolences to the students and families who have lost their beloved ones? It is sad that these students lost their lives in the process of exercising their democratic right as enshrined in the Constitution. I must say that people who are charged with the responsibility of administering public institutions must take our new constitutional order into consideration, internalise it and realise that public participation is a right of everybody. Free and fair election is a key element in public participation and democratic processes. Every time you find that there are problems in elections, be it for students or wherever, you will find that there is an effort to succumb to inhibition of free expression of the people’s rights, and to stop free and fair elections. In this case, and as Hon. Olago has indicated, there seems to have been interference by the administration in favour of preferred candidates. Whenever people try to have preferred candidates in any process, the result is often violence. This is because people want to have the freedom to express themselves and elect people who lead them. Be that as it may, it is also important that in the new constitutional order the people responsible for enforcement of law and order must realise that the control of civil unrest must not be like in the olden days of beating people up, using strong arm tactics, using firearms and causing disorder that results in people’s deaths. We in the new dispensation are going to see a lot more of people expressing themselves. If the security forces insist on using such mechanisms, a lot more people are going to die and I think we need to look at that."
}