Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 671418,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/671418/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 318,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "In 1978, the late Masinde Muliro stood for an election in one of the constituencies; I think it was Cherengany, in Trans Nzoia. It was so clear that he was winning after the votes were being counted before they were announced. His supporters were busy celebrating outside the county hall, but when it came to announcing the results, the Returning Officer who at that time was a District Commissioner (DC), unfortunately a DC coming from my part of the world, announced the opponent’s votes as being those of the late Masinde Muliro and the late Masinde Muliro’s votes as being those of the opponent. With that announcement, the late Masinde Muliro was defeated in that election. When he confronted the Returning Officer and told him that he had made a mistake because he had not announced the right results, he told him that he had announced the results and he could take that matter in the High Court. So the late Masinde Muliro lost an election that he had won by a landslide. The returning officer deliberately because of the powers she was given announced his opponent’s victory right in front of the public. I am saying this because there could be even a properly held election but an officer or a commissioner such as the one we have can commit a fraud upon the people of a constituency by deliberately announcing the results that cannot be supported by the vote. To that extent, all that we are asking as Kenyans is that we should have a Commission with integrity. If elections are conducted with integrity – they are not complicated. Up to about the time I contested my first election, there used to be a supervisor of elections sitting at the Office of the Attorney General, just one person. He used to coordinate elections countrywide. The difference is; there was no presidential election. The largest democracy in the world; India, hold very complicated elections but other than individual candidates contesting results in courts in India; in parliamentary and in the Upper House (Raja Sabha) generally, the elections are accepted because there is integrity in the process. On this note, one cannot examine and talk about everything today; there is a word which is used in this Motion which is very important. The election should be administered in a verifiable manner. That means that even if you have lost an election, just for the record, I may demand from the Commission that I want to see the returns of the elections; look at the election documents just for my satisfaction. Many times and having taken part in many election petitions, you would have people who are just interested in an inspection being carried out after an election exercise; they look at the documents and the records and say, I accept I lost, I am also satisfied with the record of that election. Now, what happened with the IEBC, for example, after the last presidential elections? I am not trying to talk about the result of that election but I am saying that even for somebody who was interested in determining as to whether or not there was an election that was held transparently--- Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am so sorry. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}