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    "id": 622562,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/622562/?format=api",
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    "content": "of natural justice requires that you be heard. As of now, I have never known the criteria that KNEC uses when cancelling or withholding examination results of students. It is a matter that is closed; they take those decisions and the decisions appear to be final. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, no one is able to answer to attempts by students to seek clarifications or explanation as to what they did to warrant that punishment. Therefore, I want to support the establishment of this tribunal because it will give justice to students. If they are aggrieved, they can go and present their grievances and also KNEC will be given an opportunity to explain why they have taken the decision to punish that candidate. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Bill is long overdue. As one Senator said, it should have been done like yesterday. I do not understand why we have allowed this law to continue giving KNEC such sweeping powers. The bigger problem is within the KNEC itself because the setting of examinations is done by them. How come the examinations leak even to the social media to the extent that we can see papers to be done the following day? In fact, that action alone ought to have sent the KNEC members packing. If the action was clearly investigated, people should have been taken to jail. However, since impunity is so rampant in this country, it is like nothing happened. In other countries where the rule of law is upheld and quality education is encouraged, heads would have rolled in that situation. However, in our case, it was business as usual and they said everything is okay. In fact, the credibility of last year’s examination is in question. It also discourages honest students who never cheated in examinations because those whose examination was cancelled cannot be the only ones who cheated, if ever they cheated. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, first and foremost, we must correct ourselves as a society. We must improve on the governance structures. We must ensure that people are punished when they make mistakes. If we do not do that, I can assure you we have not reached the end of cheating and it will go on and on. Therefore, I support the establishment of the tribunal, so that it will give justice to candidates. It will also send a strong signal to respective candidates that a fair action will be taken against them if they do anything that is illegal in future. We must also send a very strong message to KNEC itself that where they are found to have made any errors, they must also be accountable. We are talking of a council that you have heard; that it has been involved in the “Chicken gate” scandal and nothing happened. As I speak today, people who bribed KNEC officials are in jail in the United Kingdom (UK). Those who were bribed are free, but those who gave the bribe are in jail. Which is more serious? I know they are both crimes, but we should have started with KNEC officials in this country who were bribed. We got the information and we should have prosecuted them. However, it is business as usual and the same is happening in other organisations like the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Nothing happens and everything is okay, but those who gave the bribe are already serving jail terms. So, it is a bigger problem than we can see. We will be trying to reduce the problem by establishing a tribunal. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, having said that, I just want to propose an amendment to this Bill. First, in the composition of the tribunal, the Mover has The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}