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{
    "id": 662999,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/662999/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 572,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "When I look at the amendment, I see in it a response to a real life experience. In the political field, we know that our brothers within the Jubilee Coalition wish to merge. A merger of political parties is envisaged in the existing Act and it is something proper. The existing Act only provides security for Members of Parliament and Members of County Assemblies (MCAs). To me, this is like tidying up legislation, so that when there is a merger, it is not only the MP or the MCA who is protected, but also the President, his Deputy and the governor as well. To that extent, it is okay. It is just that the timing and the speed with which it has been processed shows that it is a Bill that has got some high level backing. That is why it is moving that fast. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there are other provisions and amendments that have already been articulated eloquently by my colleague, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. I have one contention – and I concur with him - on the issue of transferring the role of dispute resolution or election primaries disputes resolution to the Registrar of Political Parties. That is the job of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). If you go down history, you will realise that issues of disputes arising out of election primaries have been of concern and contention in this country. On my way to this House, I attempted to go through a political party primary process. Despite my best attempt to ensure that I went through it smoothly, I came across ‘men-in-black’ along the way and the ballot boxes had to be dispersed in all directions. There was a dispute within the nominations. If we bring these disputes to the Registrar of Political Parties, we will be missing the point. We need to leave this responsibility in the hands of the IEBC, but make sure that we have a credible IEBC in place that is well facilitated and structured. This should be an IEBC which enjoys the confidence and trust of the public and that exists within a platform or a landscape with electoral laws, systems and procedures that are acceptable across the political divide. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I want to talk about the issue of fidelity to the existing Political Parties Act. This Act has a section that talks about resignation. It goes ahead to say that if someone who is elected under a party ticket engages in certain utterances, actions and commissions, it might mean that, that person has resigned from that political party. My Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, who is also the one leading the merger of the Jubilee Parties, has just walked out. He has had some exchanges with a member of his party, who is strictly opposed to the position that the party has taken and is on public record as having opposed, to the extent of saying that he will form another political party. Some of those utterances might amount to canvassing or promoting the existence of another political party. The Registrar of Political Parties has a responsibility to take action against such people. In my own political party, if we have a situation where the party has taken a position, for example, on Madaraka Day; saying that we are all Kenyans who appreciate that we got Madaraka, but as a party this is what we will do. Members of the party could decide to do something else and cite the issue of conscience. You can have conscience, but the law is also clear that when you go beyond what the political party has agreed on, then you are deemed to have resigned. Even as we amend this Act every other day, we need to make sure that we exercise some fidelity to the existing Act. 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"
}