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{
    "id": 690404,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/690404/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 539,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mulu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1955,
        "legal_name": "Benson Makali Mulu",
        "slug": "benson-makali-mulu"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Let me add my voice to this debate. I appreciate the product of the Joint Select Committee. Looking at this Bill and the other Bill on Election Offences, you realise that a lot of work has gone into this Bill. There are some progressive clauses in this proposed law. At the same time, there are also clauses which need to be looked at afresh. Let me start with Clause 3. Clause 3 of the Bill proposes that Kenyans who have waiting cards instead of a national Identification Card cannot vote. This is good because it just confirms that you need an ID card. However, looking at what is happening on the ground, this clause might block many Kenyans from voting and exercising their right. In some regions in this country, it takes so long for people to obtain ID cards when they apply for them. It is because of such situations that this House last month passed a Motion enforcing the requirement that if you have a waiting card you can vote. This law is doing away with that. That is an area which, as Kenyans and as representatives of the people, we might need to look at. The other area which I want to talk about is technology. It is good that we are talking about online voter registration. The Commission will allow time for people to verify whether their names are in the Register. This will be done online. While technology is good, it is also very tricky. We need to be careful so that even if we encourage use of technology, we do not fall into the trap of technology playing tricks on us as Kenyans. That is my fear. We are really keen to move to the use of technology but at the same time I do not know whether we have taken care of the shortcomings which come with technology. As we talk about this matter, it would be important to make sure that technology does not fail Kenyans as it did in the last election. In Clause 6, there is the requirement of auditing the Voter Register. This is very important bearing in mind that in the last election, there was talk of about three or four voter registers. In a situation where people do not know which Voter Register is being used, it is important for this country as we move forward, that we audit the Voter Register so that Kenyans are sure that we only have one Voter Register which will be used as we conduct our elections. In that case, it will reduce the issue of people complaining about multiple voter registers. Clause 10 talks about party nominations. The reason why you hear of so many Members being suspicious of party nominations is because of lack of internal party democracy. It is important that as a country, the parties we have in Kenya try as much as possible to mature our internal party democracy. If our internal party democracy was mature, nobody would care about party-hopping being stopped. Our internal party democracy will continue being an issue of concern to Members. As it has been said, the problem is not with the party leaders. At times, the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}