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{
    "id": 717433,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/717433/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 184,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Cheptumo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 50,
        "legal_name": "William Cheptumo Kipkiror",
        "slug": "william-kipkiror"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I will be very brief. In the next seven or so months, this country will be going to elections. Today, this House has been given a chance to make a decision on the great men and women of this country who are going to be Commissioners of the IEBC. They are going to oversee and manage the elections of 8th March, 2017. I am a Member of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs; we had to satisfy ourselves that these Kenyans have the right vision, experience, expertise and the desire to ensure that this country has successful elections. The positions these members will occupy are very unique and special. Article 1(2) and (3) of our Constitution says, “(2) The people may exercise their sovereign power either directly or through their democratically elected representatives. (3) Sovereign power under this Constitution is delegated to the following State organs, which shall perform their functions in accordance with this Constitution. (a) Parliament and the legislative assemblies in the county governments;” Hon. Speaker, these seven Kenyans are going to oversee a very important exercise where the assembly of leaders in the county, the National Assembly and the Senate will be elected. They are going to prepare Kenyans to elect leaders who are going to exercise the sovereign power and the will of the people of Kenya. Therefore, I am proud as a Member of the 11th Parliament and I believe my colleagues are proud that they are part and parcel of this process. In the recent times we have had a serious challenge. There have been a lot of mistrust and there is a belief that the current IEBC as constituted lacks the trust of Kenyans. We also have another challenge this time to bring back the trust and confidence so that as we elect our leaders, we are going to do so knowing that we have Kenyans who are going to help in this process. Finally, it is important for us to note that we may have the best Commissioners and secretariat, but they will not succeed on their own. We want to call upon every Kenyan, including Members of this House to be partakers and stakeholders in ensuring that we give the support necessary to allow these Commissioners to execute their mandate as clearly stipulated in Article 88(2)(3)(4) and (5) of the Constitution. I would therefore like to call upon my colleagues that it is not just about celebrating that we have Commissioners in place, we have a duty as a people and leaders of this country to give them the support. Hon. Speaker, what impressed me about the nominees is that they recognised the need to ensure that the institution of the IEBC is going to undertake credible and fair elections. The issue of ensuring that we go electronic is something I saw in the minds of all the Commissioners. 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."
}