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{
    "id": 718986,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/718986/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 103,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Bii",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1347,
        "legal_name": "Paul Kipchirchir Bii",
        "slug": "paul-kipchirchir-bii"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to also add my wisdom to this debate. From the outset, while I support this Motion as a long-term exercise in this country, the way it has been framed at this time calls for more delays at the same time. People may be expecting to be persuaded with some tokens or gifts which again will even add more problems to the very delicate exercise we are seeing. It is very important for us, as leaders, to also interrogate ourselves on what could be the problem, why Kenyans do not have to register as voters or do not want to participate in elections. A lot of issues have come up. As we debate, let us also look at some factors that may be discouraging our citizens from registering as voters, so that we do not blame them. At the moment, there is drought in this country. There is famine. People are running up and down trying to pay school fees. The commitments that have coincided with the voter registration exercise should also be considered. It is not that the people do not want to have this document, but they are forced not to by frustrations. We also have to look at the officers that have the responsibility of issuing the documents. I happen to have been in my constituency as most of us are around this season. Many people complain that when their IDs are issued from Nairobi, they are listed in different locations. These citizens get tired and ask whether they have to repeat the process to obtain new ID cards. We have to look at the seriousness of the staff employed at the Registration of Persons Department. Are they serious or lax? To me, most of them portray a lot of laxity. I pity all the leaders. They have been going across the country trying to encourage people to register. It is unfortunate that the officers who are supposed to register the people report to their stations as late as 1.00 p.m. That is one problem that we need to identify and strengthen the weak areas. We should make voter registration and issuance of ID cards continuous in this country. We should not have it only around election time. Democracy says that one is willing. When I hear my colleagues saying that we should jail people, I do not think that, that is the right thing to do. What about the citizens because they also have complaints? I happen to have interacted with a person who was not willing to tell me, as much as I tried to ask him, whether he had an ID card and a voters card. He asked me why he should have them. As I continued to debate with him, he told me that these documents, especially the voters card, are used to elect people who will help this country develop. This citizen was frustrated that he has been voting severally, but then since the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) was introduced, he has never even decided to have a voters card. He never even voted in 2013 because of lack of development."
}