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    "id": 687586,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/687586/?format=api",
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    "content": "of hearing or trial which would have made things a lot more difficult in the circumstances. It would have been also extremely difficult for us to deal with that question because the kind of evidence that was required to be adduced for us to make that determination to the extent that under the Constitution every Kenyan is guaranteed the right to a fair trial and putting all those legal considerations into account, the only logical way and process for us to resolve this question was to agree with the commissioners that they should voluntarily vacate office which they have done. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, that is not to say that--- from all the presentations that were put before the Committee; either through memoranda or through oral submissions, the conclusion drawn by many stakeholders and agencies was that the country had lost confidence in the commission and its membership. That is a matter which could not be idly taken on account of the fact that for elections to be undertaken in the country, we needed that election to take place in an atmosphere--- If I may put it this way - that even the single loss of confidence by every Kenyan was taken into account in order to make sure that by the time we are holding elections we have confidence in the electoral process. Therefore, under Thematic Area Nos. 1 and 2, all that is left for Parliament is to enact the proposed Bill which is part of the report to provide that legal mechanism for the commissioners to vacate office and for a panel to be constituted to nominate these commissioners for eventual appointment by the President. That is required under recommendations within a space of the next 40 or so days. In fact, our proposal is that we must have new commissioners by 30th September this year if we have to maintain the election timetable of ensuring that the elections are held on the second Tuesday of August, 2017. I would propose that on approval of this report we proceed to publish the proposed Bill and then table it before the House for enactment. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, essentially, our report in terms of the statutory framework which we have developed is contained in the two Bills which are part of the report. If I may just highlight some of what is in those two Bills is as follows: - First, there were many offences in the Elections Act which were antiquated. They were offences that in various jurisdictions, you will not find them in the statute books. If you look at our history, the records of the courts and the prosecutions, you will find that there are hardly any persons who have been taken to our criminal courts to be charged with the offence of treating or transporting voters. This also came from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who actually owned up that it is not possible to trace any prosecution that has been carried out in relation to the offences of treating and transportation of voters. When you look into how they have been dealt with in the Election Courts, you will find that somebody would be held to have committed an election offence simply because he had some people who visited. Normally when one is campaigning, people would visit and if you prepare a cup of tea, or gave out some transport, then it will be deemed that an election offence of treating voters had been committed. We looked at 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."
}