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{
    "id": 727959,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/727959/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 157,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Wakhungu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1889,
        "legal_name": "Chrisantus Wamalwa Wakhungu",
        "slug": "chrisantus-wamalwa-wakhungu"
    },
    "content": "Matiang’i, is listening because he has been on record saying that he is going to work round the clock to look for fake degrees and all sorts of thing so that those people will not be allowed to contest. It is good to know that the Regulations that we are passing today as required by the law, must be passed by this Parliament. Hon. Cheptumo who is a lawyer for many years and can qualify to be a judge of the Supreme Court has made it clear that the purported 10 agencies coming together to come up with those Regulations are null and void. So, whatever they are doing, for them to be implemented, they must come to the Floor of this House. Hon. Speaker, I was looking at the regulations particularly touching on party primaries and party lists. One of the critical ones is that a person who qualifies to be a member of the elections board must be a member of the political party. It is very unfortunate because we have seen members of party elections board who are not members of those particular parties. The reason is that maybe the Registrar of Political Parties (RPP) has not been keeping the records. In Ford Kenya, we have seen some people who are members of the party, but when they try to check with the RPP, they find that their names have been snatched and they appear in Jubilee records. That has been a big worry. It is important that the RPP moves with speed and cleans that register. How the Jubilee Party has managed to get the names of those members, we do not know. We also do not know the magic that the smart card is doing. I have been a member of Ford Kenya since my days at the university. Recently, I saw my name in Jubilee. How it went there, I do not know. But I moved with speed and transferred my name back to my political party. So, it is important because this can be a basis for someone to appeal if they lose by saying the board members were not members of the political party. This is one of the regulations I have seen here. Something important that I thought I should mention because the Chairman did not bring it out clearly, is that we have seen many presidential candidates. Last time, Hon. Martha Karua was a presidential candidate but she lost. Many Kenyans said they really needed her brain in this Parliament. There was the issue of whether they are allowed to be in the party lists for purposes of them being nominated. We have seen many good presidential candidates and we do not want them to get wasted. I would wish that we have clarity, so that in the event these people do not make it in one way or another, they can find themselves, on priority basis, in the party lists. This should not be at the discretion of IEBC. Hon. Wangamati is here because he was nominated by Ford Kenya in the category of the elderly persons. So, it is, indeed, important to give leeway to political parties. We have seen many people going to court because of nominations. Hon. Ichung’wah has been on record with his friend the nominated senator from Nakuru, Sen. Njoroge that he went to court because they wanted to kick him out of the list. We need a lot of clarity. He has been on record saying that he is a nominee of the High Court. I think that is what Hon. Ichung’wah has been saying. When it comes to these regulations, we need a bit of clarity so that we do not have these issues. Another issue is who is allowed to participate in the party primaries. When the Elections Act was passed, it was very clear that only members of a given party can participate in the party primaries. From next week parties are holding their primaries but up to now, the IEBC has not supplied comprehensive party membership lists to the respective political parties so that during nominations you do not see people from a different political party participating in a primary of a different political party. The danger is that a member of Jubilee may participate and nominate a weak candidate to beat the Ford Kenya candidate especially in Trans Nzoia. We are worried. 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."
}