HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 70442,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/70442/?format=api",
"text_counter": 442,
"type": "other",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(ii) The second advice from the Attorney-General was that whereas under the former Constitution of Kenya, the Commission was required to make recommendations to Parliament in respect of boundaries of constituencies and wards, under the new Constitution, the Commission was to determine those boundaries. The Commission was accordingly mandated to gazette its determination, which in tandem with the spirit of the new Constitution as exemplified in the mandate envisaged for the new Independent, Electoral and Boundaries Commission. The determination of the Commission could only be challenged through a judicial process after gazettement. (iii) The Attorney-General advised that the mandate of recommendations to Parliament on administrative boundaries, including the fixing, reviewing, varying of boundaries of districts and other units has not been amended or modified by the new Constitution. (iv) It was the opinion of the Attorney-General that the Commission was not mandated to determine the boundaries of the counties established under the new Constitution. Such boundaries are set by the Districts and Provinces Act, and it is clear that the intention was that the boundaries of the counties would be looked into after the next general election, with the Senate in place. That can be inferred from Article 188 of the Constitution. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with this opinion in mind, the IIBRC went ahead to complete their work and to determine 80 new constituencies in addition to the existing 210 constituencies, and served the Government Printer with notice to gazette the constituencies. The Commission also made public, the product of its work by publishing in the print media on 17th November, 2010, the list of all the 290 constituencies under the Constitution. The publication of the constituencies’ details elicited intense public reaction, with those in support and those opposed expressing their sentiments with intensity. Three suits were subsequently filed, seeking to stop the Commission from gazetting its report. These are Petition Nos.72 and 74 of 2010 and High Court Civil Miscellaneous Application No.339 of 2010. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the first suit, Petition No.72 of 2010, involving John Maingi against hon. Andrew Ligale, Commissioner Rozaah Buyu, Commissioner Iren Marsit, the IIBRC and the Attorney-General is of relevance here, because it resulted in a substantive ruling of the court. Inter alia, the matters prosecuted in this suit are as follows. 1. The petitioner had sought an injunction restraining the Chairman, hon. Andrew Ligale, and two other Commissioners – Commissioner Rozaah Buyu and Commissioner Iren Marsit – from participating in or presiding over functions of the Commission, on the argument that the three Commissioners were ineligible to remain in office, under the new Constitution, which precludes any person from membership of the Commission if they, among other things, have contested a parliamentary election within the preceding five years, or held office in the Executive Committee of a political party. In respect of that prayer, the court ruled that the same three Commissioners were validly in office, having fulfilled requirements of the former Constitution, under which they had been properly appointed. 2. The second prayer was for an injunction against the Commission, restraining it from publishing in the official Gazette the proposed delimitation of constituencies on the"
}