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{
    "id": 718924,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/718924/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 41,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The BVR machines will not break down as they are doing now because they will be enough. Where there is serious turnout of voters to be registered and then by midday the BVR machines go off may mean some voters will go away. Therefore, while we persuade Kenyans to register as voters, it is also good to persuade that our systems be efficient. We have given them every provision. In fact, it is the duty of the IEBC to register voters. It is even their duty to lobby Kenyans so that they can register as voters. We, Members of Parliament, have volunteered, through our political parties, to go round the villages and ask voters to come out and help those who cannot move to the nearest registration centres so that they can be assisted, especially people with disabilities; those who are unwell and other Kenyans who have identity cards and are eligible to vote. You have heard that there are very many Kenyans, up to 26 million. The number of identity cards tells us the number of eligible voters who are there. It also tells us the number of people who have registered so far. After registering, a few Kenyans do not see the need to wake up, despite it being a public holiday, to go and exercise that right. It is what shows that you love your country. It is the only thing a normal Kenyan will be asked to do for his country, after the country has provided that Kenyan with security among other mechanisms provided by the Government under the Constitution. It is the only contribution you make to a country you love. There can never be any better Kenya than our own. There can never be any better country for a Kenyan than Kenya. You can only make Kenya great by registering as a voter and by exercising that right which is expressed in our Constitution. It is a right of every Kenyan. However, we have not made it compulsory because if you make it compulsory, then you are forcing Kenyans. For you to show that you love your country, it is good to volunteer and make a contribution and an effort to come out and register as a voter so that you can help your country and participate in nation building. The country is not only for us today, it is also for the future generations. We also have a challenge which I believe the IEBC will address. I think many Members of Parliament should ask about cleaning up the voter register. Recently, in the last two months or so, mostly and majorly because of the strike of doctors, a lot of Kenyans who have no insurance or access to private doctors have passed away. I have been to several funerals of that nature in my constituency. Most of these people were voters. We have to clean the register because we have had so many dead voters in the last 10 years. We want to avoid a situation whereby a voter rises from the dead, comes back to the world, votes and sneaks back to the place he is resting in peace. It is important for us to come up with a mechanism. This is through consensus building and in consultation with the stakeholders of IEBC so that we can clean up the register. The stakeholders of IEBC are political parties and any other interested Kenyan. I am aware there was a court case about a firm which was supposed to clean up the register. It can be negotiated but stakeholders need to sit so that we clean up the register and 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."
}