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{
    "id": 729412,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/729412/?format=api",
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    "content": "My committee; the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights has been receiving petitions, a number of which relate to the Constitution, and we have always looked at it and said: “This is a good idea, this is not a very good one.” However, who are we to decide that? It requires a body to look at all these petitions that we have received, take into account other recommendations, come up with the ones which this country can agree and have a referendum. However, that should be within two years. So, I expected the President could offer guidance on some of the areas that this country needs to look at with a view to making amends, taking into account the experiences that he has had as the first President elected under the current Constitution. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will just briefly touch on some aspects he mentioned, for example, in Paragraph 12, 14and 16 he talks about the great transition that has taken place which he calls: ‘Significant transitions’. He mentions, of course, that the Judiciary is now in place with the Chief Justice, Hon. David Maraga and his deputy Hon. Justice Philomena Mwilu in place. So far, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the two because we have seen that they are giving the Judiciary some direction and that things appear to have cooled down. We do not have those other quarrels we used to hear emanating from there between the judges. I congratulate the two for the leadership they are giving the Judiciary and for the firm stance they are taking on the various issues in particular, to defend the independence of the Judiciary. I was quite pleased with the comments that Hon. Justice Maraga made in Mombasa during the Legislative Summit. The President then moved on to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Since the last election there has been a tussle about the IEBC and we are now glad that at least the new one is in place and is already working tirelessly to ensure we have free and fair elections. However, I must say that they inherited a very big problem where the timelines for the various issues will be difficult to adhere to and that is why we have had amendments of timelines from time to time. We do hope and pray that come 8th August, 2017, everything will be in place and that we shall have free and fair elections. Of course, that election must be digital and the manual aspect should only be used in extremely rare circumstances. We do not want a situation like in the last election where on the election day, rather than it being digital, we were thrown back to manual .It becomes more manual than digital which is where the manipulation of figures and so on comes in and people start doubting and lacking confidence in the results that have been announced. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President also talked about the independent commissions and he said it is important that we accept and protect their role and that of independent offices. However, in Paragraph 16 he stated: “However, it should be remembered that attempts to subvert this Constitutional framework damages our democracy, undermines the rule of law and weakens our institution development and our nation.” I would have liked to hear from the President a little bit more on what he means and the examples that he thinks that the independence of these institutions and offices have had attempts to subvert them. If there are those attempts to subvert them, then those are some of the matters that can be considered during the Constitution review process. 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"
}