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{
    "id": 727759,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/727759/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 251,
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    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support this Bill because the first option will be that a Mediation Committee is established. It will make recommendations to the National Assembly, the Senate and the President. That Mediation Committee can make a recommendation or Parliament can decide that we establish a boundaries commission which will do its work and bring its report to the National Assembly and the Senate. One interesting observation is that once the County Boundaries Commission makes its recommendations to the National Assembly and the Senate, and if both Houses concur with the opinion of the Commission, I did not see a place where the President will then decide whether to do it or not. That is important because you have seen cases where Parliament has taken certain positions and recommendations and the President has declined to act. The issue of Makueni County was an example. Also the issue of usurping the role of the Legislature by legislating through memorandums from State House is not proper. Parliament sits and comes up with legislation and that legislation is altered by a recommendation from the President from State House. That is the way to go. The final word on this, having gone through the process, will be Parliament and then after that, the recommendations of Parliament will be implemented. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the First Schedule of this Bill provides a detailed description of boundaries. I went in and looked at the description of County No.043 which is the great county where Mr. Moses Otieno Kajwang comes from. The description of the boundaries of Homa Bay County is just about one page long. When I look at the description of Kisumu County where Sen. (Prof.) Anyang'-Nyong'o comes from, it is about six pages long. There is some additional data. I see degrees and GPS coordinates describing certain county boundaries but I do not see that great detail describing other county boundaries. As we proceed, we should ensure that there is a consistent approach to describing the boundaries of all counties. The boundary of Kisii and Nyamira County, the two counties that are fighting over Keroka, it is fairly brief. It is a total of just about two pages. It does not have to be 10 pages but we just need to define the basic minimum for every county. If it is GPS coordinates or if we are talking about beacon to beacon bearings and distances, that should apply to all counties. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, public participation is one of the things that we insist all these Bills must go through. I hope that during the public participation and consultation process, this will not stoke the embers of further conflict. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as I conclude and support this Bill, it should be clear that we are not talking about alteration of constituency boundaries. That is the role of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). The Constitution gave it that job. It is sad that on the day we sat in this Chamber up to midnight to consider the Election Amendment Laws, this Senate decided to first of all usurp the Constitution by allowing the National Assembly to have a responsibility in the delimitation of constituency boundaries and then shut itself out of the process. We shot ourselves in the foot. Our brothers from Jubilee did not even attempt to convince us because they said we can speak as much English and cat walk but they will vote. I hope they will wake up from their slumber before we go to the next elections so that we can tidy up those pieces of legislation. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}