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{
    "id": 662948,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/662948/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 521,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 440,
        "legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
        "slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
    },
    "content": "(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that The Political Parties (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.2 of 2016) be read a Second Time. This Bill is a collection of a number of amendments that are important with regard to improving the Political Parties Act of 2011 which is now five years old. Allow me to just highlight the key areas of amendment so that Senators can have a general view of what the proposed law is about. This Bill amends Section 9 of the Political Parties Act by entrenching the two- thirds gender rule in the organs of political parties. In particular, the amended version of the Political Parties Act will provide that constitutions or rules of every political party shall ensure not more than two-thirds of the memberships of all political organs, bodies and committees in aggregate, have the same gender. In other words, this Bill proposes that going forward, political parties must ensure that all their committees and political organs such as the national executive councils even at the county, sub-national level and electoral boards adhere to the two-thirds gender rule. This is a very progressive provision. I hope the Senate will pass this Bill as recommended from the National Assembly and I hope it will not be acrimonious. We are still smarting from the spectacular failure of the amendment of the Constitution to give effect to the gender rule in Parliament. We hope we can pay back the women of Kenya by at least passing this Bill as we wait for consensus on the issue of the two-thirds gender rule in Parliament, which I fully support for the record. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the second area of amendment is on the merger of political parties. It says that if a party merges with another, in which case it loses identity, the members of that party are deemed to have joined the new party. It goes on to say that a person who does not wish to become a member of that party may choose to join another party or even remain as an independent for the remainder of the term without losing their seat. This Bill also provides for the protection of the President, Deputy President, governors and deputy governors from such eventuality. Let me explain. The current Political Parties Act is providing for the Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) and Members of Parliament (MPs) who may not be affected if their political party loses identity by deregistration or a merger. So, this Bill includes other officers like governors, deputy governors, the President and the Deputy President. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}