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{
    "id": 731409,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/731409/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 391,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ababu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 108,
        "legal_name": "Ababu Tawfiq Pius Namwamba",
        "slug": "ababu-namwamba"
    },
    "content": "My contribution is that we hasten and conclude this debate so that the Commission can get down to business of preparing for elections. I dare to add my voice to this whole question of party primaries. This is because we have got to be men and women who say what they mean and mean what they say. If you say you believe in democracy, then practise it. Do not say you believe in democracy for the ears of those listening but, in the real sense, your commitment to the spirit of democracy is doubtful. Party primaries normally provide a very good opportunity for parties to demonstrate that they, indeed, believe in what they preach and when you are handed the responsibility to lead this country, they can practise what you preach. What we are witnessing - like the spates of violence in Migori the other day - is completely unacceptable. As the leader of the Labour Party, I want to declare that my party has total faith in IEBC to preside over the elections. We must be a country which shows fidelity to the constitutional order of this country. We must also be people who respect the institutions we put in place to manage the affairs of this country. We cannot engage in this vicious cycle of putting in place institutions and before they have settled in office, we start undermining their authority and responsibility. Only a year ago, everybody wanted a new IEBC and we got it. Everybody wanted Issack Hassan out of office and we got a new Chairman of the IEBC, Mr. Chebukati, son of the very good people of Mulembe, who have no time for dishonesty and insincerity. I want to declare that we have faith in Mr. Chebukati to preside over the 2017 elections. Those who are running all over the place and painting IEBC as being unable or unprepared to preside over the elections, are doing a great disservice to this country. They are undermining the authority of a constitutional body and even creating an environment to declare parallel results. That is a subversion of the constitutional order. We know that the law allows monitoring of voting. You have your party agents to monitor the exercise from point “A” to the very last and, indeed, you can tally your own numbers for purposes of comparison. But to say that you can declare a parallel set of results in a general election is to usurp the authority of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and to subvert the constitutional order of this land. That is desperate, it is reckless and it is a recipe for anarchy. We are passing laws. The kind of regulations we are passing here must be seen in light of the series of laws that this House has had occasion to debate and enact. We have made amendments to the Elections Act. We have a Constitution that lays out very clearly the framework of conducting elections in this country. I just want to urge the protagonists in the 2017 Elections that for once, let us act mature; let us show that we are real democrats. Democracy entails respect for the rule of law. The rule of law is anchored on fidelity to the Constitution and respect for the institutions established in that 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."
}