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{
    "id": 760095,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/760095/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 186,
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    "content": "think of all the vacuums that are there so that we can fill them and serve our people. Many people are saying that what we are doing is wrong. For the past many years, we have been naïve for us not to have made these amendments we are doing today. So, on the issue of the Chairman of the IEBC, if we do not have any other person who can play his role, it shows that we are not doing our work well. It is better for us to have somebody who can be there in his/her absence. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the other issue of quorum, many people are accusing us, saying that we are denying people their opportunity and their right. What the Bill is proposing is that the quorum should always be half and not less than three. That is the only safe game that we can play in Kenya today. I also want to comment on the issue of transmission of votes, whether electronic transmission or physical delivery. When women appeared before the Joint Committee, many of them said “I left my home manually; I voted manually; I left the polling station and reached my home manually. Where did my vote go after that?” That question can only be answered when we provide an alternative. What we are saying is not that we want to rely on the manual transmission of votes, which is not even there; we are saying all votes must be electronically transmitted and physically delivered. When that happens, then we are accountable to all the Kenyans who come forward to vote. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other area that I want to touch on before I finish is on Section 86(a). If we had done the Amendments that we are doing today before, today we would not be in any crisis. Under that, Section 3(a) says that where there more than two remaining candidates in an election after the withdrawal, the election shall proceed as scheduled. Whereas part (b) of that says that where only one candidate remains after the withdrawal, the remaining candidate shall be declared elected forthwith as the president- elect without any election being held. If this provision was there, today Kenyans would have been celebrating. But now that it is not there, we are saying that this has to be enacted and Kenyans will not be in the same dilemma that we are in today in future. As I finish, I want to comment on Section 6 of Election Offence Act 2016. Again, when many people appeared before the panel, they were saying, “why should we give people five years; it is too short.” They were reminding us of the dilemma, the pain and the billions that we are using as a country. They were saying “those people need to be jailed even for 15years.” Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is only prudent for us to accept this and approve it so that anybody who will mess up with elections can surely be dealt with. Kenyans then will sit back and say, yes, those who have done the wrong thing have been dealt with in the right way. In conclusion, 26th October, 2017 is approaching. I urge all Kenyans to turn out in large numbers and confirm that President Uhuru Kenyatta is our President; today, tomorrow until 2022. That is the only request I have for Kenyans so that we can prove these people wrong again. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to support."
}