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{
    "id": 661598,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/661598/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 487,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kobado",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2964,
        "legal_name": "John Owuor Onyango Kobado",
        "slug": "john-owuor-onyango-kobado"
    },
    "content": "time of registration but are likely to turn 18 years of age before the general election. They should also be allowed to register. Allow me to address myself to Clause 7 of this Bill. Clause 7 seeks to amend Section 22 of the Elections Act, 2011 to require minimum qualifications. The minimum qualifications have been set out as a diploma from a recognised institution for those who are running for seats in the county assembly and a degree for those who are aspiring to run for seats in the National Assembly or the Senate. Looking at this particular clause very critically, this law is going to be elitist. It is creating a legal requirement that I would consider elitist. Education is important. There is no doubt about that. The more time you spend in school the more you become a better leader. However, there are exceptions to this rule which we need to consider. Education is not just formal education. You can get education through a formal route, informal route or non-formal route. It is still education. You can gain self-education as you progress in your career. Take for instance a person who has been elected as a councillor at age 18. He or she may have been in politics for 30 years. Even if this person does not have formal education, he or she has education that he or she has gained informally through a career in politics. Locking them out would be unfair. I am not defending this clause out of fear. People might think that some of us are defending this clause because we feel our positions are threatened. Personally, I do not support this clause although I would have no problem with it. I hold a Master’s Degree from a reputable university. That aside, we have to consider what the role of Members of Parliament is vis-a-vis the role of the President or the governor. Governors and the President hold executive positions. Executive positions are purely or heavily management roles. Elective positions such as those who vie for parliamentary elections as Members of Parliament or Senators are purely leadership positions. The position of the President or the governor is executive in the sense that they are charged with the responsibility of overseeing resources namely, human, physical and monetary resources. There is a designed structure in which the President fits. There is a designed structure in which the governor fits with people formally reporting to him or her. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, in the case of Members of Parliament, there is no such formal structure. Members of Parliament are not directly responsible for resources. We are not overseeing any resources directly. There are no people who are directly responsible for what we are doing. Our work is to provide leadership. Sometimes, people ask whether leaders are made or born. Strictly, they are born. Managers are made. One has to go through some training to become a professional so that you can manage. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I propose that this clause be amended to allow people to come in as it used to be, so that one can be elected and perform his duties as a leader once one has attained qualifications higher than secondary school. There are people who have achieved in leadership without formal education. They have done very well and the list of such people is long. The richest man in history, Rockefeller, never had formal education. Henry Ford, who is the father of the motor industry, was an artisan. He was a hands-on person who grew through the industry and became its father. Winston Churchill is known for leading the United Kingdom (UK) to victory during the Second World War. He never had any proper formal education. Abraham Lincoln, who is the best known President – a person who effectively finished slavery in the United States of America (USA) – did not have any formal education. Bill Gates dropped out of university, where he was doing his course in business management, and succeeded in his area. Tom Mboya is another such leader. 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."
}