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{
    "id": 688211,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/688211/?format=api",
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    "content": "advantage in any way and this is how elections should be. As political leaders, we should never be proud to win elections through fraud or rigging. The objective of this process, as I understand it, was to ensure that whenever elections are held, they are free and fair, transparent, accountable and verifiable. That is not an objective that we as Kenyans cannot attain. I know we can because in the presidential elections that were held in 2002, there was a general acceptance of the election outcome. Because of that outcome of a clean election, it was acclaimed worldwide that the most optimistic citizens in the world were Kenyans who had welcomed the changes that took place in 2002. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, during the just concluded elections in South Africa, the value of the rand went up because there was general satisfaction with the outcome of the elections. The ruling party lost significantly in major cities and in some areas in South Africa. They managed to retain some areas but at the end of the elections, both sides accepted the results of the elections. Therefore, I hope that we as Kenyans should live together in peace. Whether there are elections or not, we should continue living in peace and together as one nation under one Constitution. We should build on the promises of this Constitution to achieve many other things that this Constitution guarantees. Maybe my Co-Chair will address this. There was a question of party hopping. My take on this is that in order to build the kind of political parties that are contemplated under this Constitution, because the Constitution of Kenya says that Kenya is a multi- party democracy---We are a democracy where political parties receive state funding. Political parties themselves being constitutional organs, they should be operated almost at the level Government institutions. Therefore, once somebody has made a choice to join one political party, he should stand by that party not only on account of competitions and elections but also on what that political party stands for. We have seen that in major democracies where such a principle is valued and kept, democracy has thrived. Where people thought that parties were inimical to the realisation of the development or even of political rights like Libya and at one time in Uganda where there was a design to have a no-party kind of system but it did work. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we need to develop strong political parties that are identified by what they are standing for, ideologically. When the name of a political party is mentioned, a person will be able to know which direction that political party is going to take him. So, if a person looks at the general spirit of the legislation, even the time for nomination of candidates by political parties, extension of time for resolving disputes and extension of time for consideration of whether one wants to run as an independent candidate, all these have been placed there. Even if you are wronged by a political party, there will be enough room for that person to challenge the decision of any nomination process that would have taken place. Even from the Judiciary, they did suggest that we need a little more time to handle disputes that emerged from the elections themselves or from the nomination process. Let me finalise my contribution by saying I really appreciated working with Sen. Murungi. We have come a long way. Through his leadership, we were able to resolve so 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."
}