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{
    "id": 757359,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/757359/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 143,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "We will debate this for many days to come. As has been observed by the coalition that I represent, after the presidential election, it will be a decision that we will be looking forward to. I have special concern for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). They have to draw up a programme for fresh elections on 17th October, 2017. They are yet to understand and get reasons why the job they did earlier on, which in their opinion and of the majority of Kenyans, was quite a stellar job. As they prepare, they keep wondering where they may have missed the point. Be it as it may, it is important to agree with the President that democratic or independent institutions have to be respected. Their place is guaranteed in our Constitution. It is clearly spelt out that they are supposed to operate without undue influence or guidance from any other person or body. Therefore, at this time, when we are staring at a political situation – I would not wish to call it a crisis because it is only a crisis in the minds of those who are trying to push it through – we find ourselves in this political quagmire because in the first place, we allowed ourselves as a House to discuss and be forced into what was then a political narrative, that we needed to change the IEBC before proceeding to the August 8th elections. We fell into that trap and here again we find ourselves going through the same journey all over again. It will be a great mistake if Jubilee falls into the same trap the second time. As they say, “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me; and shame on us all.” We cannot accept this. We should let IEBC do its job independently. Let them determine what the job is. Mr. Speaker, Sir, one writer observed that we have got to a time where as politicians; we are the only people that happen to take ourselves seriously. If we do not take care as Kenyan politicians, we will fall into that trap soon. We have become so obsessed with interfering, having an opinion and carrying ourselves with so much seriousness that we do not treat other Kenyans with the kind of dignity that they deserve. Many are the times when you are unwell and you go to a hospital, if you are checked you do not ask what tribe or political orientation that the doctor ascribes to. If you are driving from Nakuru to Nairobi, for example, and your car breaks down, when you call a mechanic to assist you, on many occasions you do not question his or her tribe but as politicians, the minute fellow Kenyans are placed before us and you are told that they are supposed to adjudicate a certain political situation, so many things fall on the table. It is my hope that we will soon learn to respect independent institutions and let them have their place. On No.23, the President said:- “In this regard, I urge all political leaders to avoid engaging in divisive and destructive politics that have no place in modern Kenya.” I agree with the President. More so in the recent past I have noted with great concern that - and this perhaps falls on both sides of the political divide – The campaigns have become about personalities. It is no longer about issues as we observed up to the lead up to the August 8th elections. It is a very sad state of affairs. I hope that this will be rectified. We shall soon be discussing values and ideals as opposed to abusing each other and setting a very bad precedence. I also noted that many of our colleagues were congratulated regarding the work that they did in the Senate. For those of us who were in the House in the previous term,"
}