{"id":716295,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/716295/?format=json","text_counter":127,"type":"other","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"amendment. I want to echo the sentiments of a number of my colleagues who sat in the same committee. Interesting enough, when members of the public appeared before us, we had a lot of discussions and presentations as to the kind of backup that is required. I want to be on record indicating that at no point did we have a person or a group appearing before us and saying that we do not need a backup. Therefore, it is important that whereas we might disagree, let us agree on issues that bring us together. Let us agree on the presentations that we brought and then we can agree to disagree on certain areas. Mr. Speaker, Sir, no member of the public appearing before our committee said that there is no need for backup. We are living in this country and we know that for every procedure, you must provide for a backup. All of us here have gadgets such as phones and computers and the element of backup is important. Secondly, the right to vote as provided for under the Constitution of Kenya is a right that is available to every Kenyan. It would be tragic and completely unconstitutional if a member or a citizen in this country entitled by the Constitution to vote is denied the right to vote because an Act of Parliament says that identification of that person must be electronic but the gadget fails to identify them. Therefore, it is important that as a House, when we make laws or amend legislation, whether by the Kiraitu-Orengo Committee or this particular amendment, it must be a law that furthers the implementation of the Constitution and allows every Kenyan the right to vote. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Constitution of Kenya clearly indicates that for you to win the presidency in this country, you must have 50 per cent plus 1. That particular “plus 1” could as well be lost if an individual entitled to vote appears in a polling station and the Electronic Voter Identification Device (EVID) is unable to function. That is why as leaders in this House, we need to look at this as politicians. If you are running against your competitor and tomorrow one of your supporters is unable to vote on the basis that he is unable to be identified because the machine failed, at the end of the day, you end up potentially losing your seat just because of one vote. If we can agree and appreciate the value of one vote; that everybody has a right to vote and that vote is equal, we must provide for a law that protects that right. If you look at the wording of the law – we spent some time in the Committee – in the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, all of us are lawyers and even in the Committee on Information and Technology, the understanding and the readings sometimes are in plain English. Clause 44(a) of the proposed amendment talks about a complementary mechanism. There is no stretch of an imagination that the word “complementary” means the primary. Complementary can only be subject to. It can only be subsequent to a primary mechanism. The mistake that has been sent across this country is that ---"}