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"content": "comes from the greater Eastern Province. Therefore, I am happy as a person from that part of the country to see the Senator for Makueni County seated on the high Chair. He is also the Vice Chairman of Wiper Democratic Party. Good luck. Indeed, your star is shining bright. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Bill deals with the substantive electoral issues. It amends various electoral laws. As my senior, Sen. Wako, said this is something that we are all conversant with in terms of the context and the political parameters that circumscribe this law. Therefore, I do not want to speak a lot, but to highlight three things as I move the Bill. First; is the inspection and publication of the voters register in Clause 5. This Bill proposes at least 90 days before elections, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) must open the register for inspection, especially with regard to verification of biometric data. After the verification period - which should be reasonable - is over, the IEBC is expected to gazette the closure of that period and, thereafter, publish the register. This is just to ensure that information about who is eligible to vote is available in good time. That is why the 90 days are there, so that we do not register people three months to elections. This information is available for inspection, verification and is published, to increase the transparency of elections. The second one is with regard to the audit of the existing register. The clause does two things; one, it provides that six months before any election, the register must be audited. In this case for the coming election, the Bill proposes that the IEBC must, within 30 days after the passage of this law, engage a reputable professional audit firm to audit the register for the following purposes: (i) To verify the accuracy of the register. (ii) To recommend mechanisms for enhancing the accuracy of the register. (iii) To update the register to remove voters who might have passed on, relocated and may not be available to vote. Once the audit for the purposes of the coming election is done, the audit firm shall report the findings of the audit to the IEBC, which is required to report to both Houses of Parliament the findings of that audit as well as the implementation. This is because the IEBC is obliged to implement those findings, but thereafter, report to Parliament. Thirdly, it is on party primaries and lists. With regard to party primaries, the IEBC may, in accordance with Article 88 of the Constitution, upon the request by a political party, supervise party primaries. I know some of our friends; including my brother, the Senate Minority Leader and his coalition, not particularly Ford Kenya, but segments of his coalition have their own views about the involvement of the IEBC. I am not trying to say those views are not good, but that the Bill makes it optional. It says: “At the request of a political party.” It is not trying to say that the IEBC must supervise party primaries. It may, if requested by a party, as we in the Jubilee Coalition have publicly announced that we shall be inviting the IEBC to conduct our party primaries when the time comes. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this provision is envisaged in the Constitution. Therefore, it is not a strange thing. Other than the involvement of the IEBC at the request of a political party, the Bill provides that at least 60 days to the elections, the IEBC must publish the candidates who have gone through party primaries. This means that the primaries must be held at the very latest, 60 days before elections to provide enough time for those who are successful to campaign. At least 21 days prior to the primaries, parties must submit the various candidates who will compete in the primaries. At 81 days to elections, there cannot be change in terms of parties. Therefore, after your party has said that for this seat candidate x, y and z are competing in our 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."
}