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{
    "id": 690350,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/690350/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 485,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Wandayi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2960,
        "legal_name": "James Opiyo Wandayi",
        "slug": "james-opiyo-wandayi"
    },
    "content": "This Bill sets foundation for free and fair elections. Elections are a matter of life and death all over the world. They can either break or make a country. We have chosen the path of a peaceful, cohesive Kenya through fair, democratic and transparent elections. Therefore, it behoves all of us to support this Bill in order to achieve the intended objective. There is a requirement for use of technology in the electoral process, save for the actual voting and counting. We must also insist that we cannot have an electronic process and a manual process side by side. Therefore, we must do all it takes to ensure that technology does not fail us this time round. The consequences could be too great to imagine or contemplate. We are also happy that for the first time we shall have one voter register. There will be no principal register, green register, black book or pink book, we will have one register that will ensure that there is accountability as to who votes. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, there is still a missing link in so far as this Bill is concerned. This Bill does not adequately address the matter of ID registration and acquisition even though it puts a timeframe within which an ID card, which has been applied for, can be obtained. It still does not address the fact that many Kenyans have been denied the right to acquire these ID cards because of very flimsy excuses, one of which is that the registration forms and registration materials are lacking. Unless that is addressed, these time limits will not achieve much. As we pass this Bill, which I urge all of us to do, in the spirit of reconciliation and cohesion in the country, we must ensure that going forward we have a continuous voter registration exercise in all polling stations, including those that are yet to be gazzeted. This will make it possible for all eligible Kenyans to acquire the very vital voters cards, for them to exercise their democratic right to participate in elections. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, a lot has been said about party hopping. I still maintain what I said during the debate on the Report. Party hopping is an unnecessary headache. If for whatever reason you have problems with your party and you feel that your party is not democratic enough, or is dictatorial, then the laws give you all the freedom and leeway to choose where you belong. We cannot keep on harping about the issue of democracy or lack of it in political parties and continue to mislead Kenyans that our parties are not yet mature. It is about 55 years since we got Independence, and about 25 years since the introduction of multiparty democracy in this country. How long do we need for our political parties to mature? It is our duty and responsibility as political leaders in our own right to contribute to that maturity of political parties. We cannot do that by running away through party hopping."
}