Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 760059,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/760059/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 150,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, some people contested that that was not a Senate committee but a Jubilee select committee. That is misleading and a lie because according to the Standing Orders, we do not go by parties. The quorum is made of MPs. Indeed, there are more parties than just the Jubilee Party and the NASA. Therefore, Members from the other side should stop confusing Kenyans that this is a one-party issue. We have had many select committees properly constituted and other parties properly represented. Secondly, those of us who followed the proceeding heard what the judges said. They pointed out gaps and said that there were ambiguities here and there. The Opposition Leader said that he will not take part in the elections but we have heard different interpretations of the law by different lawyers. We need to ask ourselves what will happen and whether we shall have a new election. It is unfortunate that our economy cannot afford to have three more months of campaigns because of instability. We do not know whether President Uhuru will be sworn in or whether we shall have elections on 26th October, 2017. Therefore, removing the ambiguity is very important because it will address what happens in such cases. The Senator here alluded to the issue of transmission which also came up in the Eleventh Parliament and we passed a law that there will be a complementary method in case one fails. I do not know why it did not work. That is why it is very important to have this clearly defined; that both manual and electronic systems will work together so that there are no questions about figures. I believe that most of what happened was man-made because hacking was never proven. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we should not insist on conducting elections electronically. As we have heard, technologically advanced countries like Germany and France opted to go the manual way because we cannot trust machines since you do not know when they will break. Even the mobile phones that we use sometimes do not work because machines are not human beings. Therefore, we cannot pretend to be so advanced that we cannot trust our people and insist on using technology as opposed to manual system. Relying on both is better and that is what is provided for in this law. So, we should make everybody happy. The other issue is about election officers not signing documents or filling forms 34(a) or (b) properly and submitting them late. Even the NASA brigade should appreciate that that is not the way to go. We certainly know that some officers colluded with some members of some parties especially in some parts of Mombasa. How do you explain how the lawyers knew exactly which forms to ask for during presentation on the presidential petition? The time was too short for them to have gone through all those mountains of papers yet they singled out Mombasa and some other areas. That was a pointer that maybe some people colluded. To cure this, we need a law that will make officers take responsibility. They should know the consequences of colluding with some people; they will be jailed. That will also ensure that we have a credible and transparent election. If Members of the opposition are interested in having a level playing ground to ensure we have a free and transparent election, why would they object to that? They have been raising issues about the staff of the IEBC and that is why they have been demonstrating out there. The judges of the Supreme Court said that nobody was found culpable but pointed out the flaws in the processes. This law will cure the flaws in the"
}