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{
    "id": 655975,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/655975/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 276,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Chepkong’a",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1154,
        "legal_name": "Samuel Kiprono Chepkonga",
        "slug": "samuel-kiprono-chepkonga"
    },
    "content": "because they waste about an hour queuing on the line. We want to streamline this process so that we can allow faster voting at the polling stations. Clause 14 seeks to amend Section 43 of the Elections Act to clarify that a public officer intending to stand for election must resign one year before the general elections and within seven days of the declaration of a vacancy hence a by- election. We want to ensure that State officers do not use public resources to campaign. We want to allow people who have made up their minds to run for elective positions ample time. That is so that they can meet their proposed voters. We do not want to allow people or hold people to ransom in their positions of work. Such are the people who do not know whether to get out or stay in. We want to make it clear so that we help them. That way, they will campaign against us effectively and in a manner that does not compromise their offices. I am almost concluding. In Clause 20, we are seeking to amend Section 76 of the Elections Act. It is to ensure that a petition questioning the validity of an election is filed within 28 days after the date of declaration of the results rather than the publication of the results of election. There has been confusion on this. It has been a subject of interpretation at the High Court. We want to make it very clear that if you wish to do so, you should count 28 days from the date of declaration of election results; not from the date of determination or issuance of a certificate of victory. Clause 22 of the Bill seeks to amend Section 86 to require an election court to notify the relevant Speaker of Parliament of its determination of the validity of any question raised with regard to an election. We do want a situation where we do not know what the courts have decided and the Speaker is not aware. We want the courts to forward the ruling to the Speaker because we are the users of that ruling. We do not want it to be kept in courts; it must be sent to Parliament. Section 87 of the Act is proposed to be amended to require an election court to send to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) a report in writing indicating whether an election offence is likely to have occurred in connection with the elections. Based on the results of the investigations, the DPP then initiates prosecution or closes the matter. It should not be the election court which determines that one is criminally liable. It can only make recommendations that it suspects that there is a crime that has been committed, not a final determination. That is a matter that should be left to the DPP to investigate, if it is a criminal offence, and prosecute the person if he finds that they are culpable. Clause 24 of the Bill seeks to amend Section 91 of the Elections Act to make it a requirement that where no petition for the referendum results is filed within the time specified, the declared but not gazetted result shall have effect. This is to ensure that we do not have to wait for the gazettement because there is a lot of human intervention before one gets it to be gazetted. It should be from the time it is declared. Clause 29 seeks to amend the IEBC Act by deleting certain sections which have been obsolete, for instance, by providing for the procedure and criteria for the delimitation of electoral boundaries. More so we are dealing with the electoral boundaries which will be a subject in 2019 not next year. With those remarks, I beg to move and request Hon. Otsiula to second. Thank you. 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."
}