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{
    "id": 688196,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/688196/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 349,
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    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, from the views that were presented before us, I am glad to report that there were various allegations that were made, some of which were not in the form of concrete evidence but some were in terms of reports that were received from agencies including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and other Government agencies that had relevant material for our consideration. This included the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Attorney-General. Because of the legal complexities on the question of how the commissioners could vacate office, we decided to hear the commissioners to determine whether some other mechanism could be found on how the members of the Commission could vacate office. This arose because under the Constitution, as it stands, although for various offices, including those of Members of Parliament (MPs), there are provisions of how one can vacate office, including by way of resignation, death or other factors which you will find in various provisions of the Constitution, when you look at offices such as that of the President and MPs. For the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) both in the statute such as the IEBC Act and the Constitution, there was no other legal mechanism for vacation from office for the commissioners including by way of resignation. Therefore, since we undertook to find a mechanism under which the commissioners would vacate office, we have – in our recommendations which are contained in the Bill – made provisions. If they find favour with the Senate and the National Assembly, we have provisions that will make it possible for the members of the commission to resign voluntarily, which is what the members of the commission told us in the plenary. They said that Kenya is bigger than each one of them and all of them were prepared to vacate office by way of a dignified exit. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if we had not found a mechanism by which we involve the commissioners, together and individually, to leave office voluntarily, we would have invoked the provisions of Article 251of the Constitution. That Article requires Parliament to hear a petition on the removal from office of commissioners on the grounds which are spelt out in the Constitution. For that matter, if the National Assembly has determined that there are grounds for removal from office of the commissioners, the matter will then be presented to the President who will then appoint a tribunal. If we had gone that direction, it would have taken a very long time to attain a legal mechanism for the removal from office of the commissioners as spelt out in Article 251 of the Constitution. Various members of the Electoral Commission voluntarily came before the Committee and said they were prepared to vacate office on accounts of the fact that Kenya needed to move forward. They also said that the debate over the question of elections should not be postponed any longer, and that we should proceed with other business without necessarily going through the process of a tribunal. To that extent, I feel happy to report that we were not then bound to look into Thematic Areas Nos.1 and 2 because of the offer by the commissioners to voluntarily vacate office without any kind 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."
}