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{
    "id": 764735,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/764735/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 431,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "For purposes of illustration, ODM could front six names and the Jubilee Party will determine who among the six will be elected persons to go to EALA because they have the majority in both Houses. So, numbers are very important. Democracy is very important because it is the will of the majority and numbers are very good. If you ever form your party in future, you must work very hard because numbers are very important. I have heard people castigating numbers because of the decisions that are being made. Democracy is such that many citizens will have an opportunity to vote whether you like them or not. It does not matter the degree or the corner of the country they live in but their numbers are very important. In this House, in less than two or three weeks, numbers will matter again. We will come back here to vote. We will have those aspiring to be nominees lobbying and they will be given time to go around explaining their manifestos and what they will do for Kenya when they go to the EALA. The person I may like on the Jubilee Party list may never win because it is the votes that will come from both the Jubilee Party and the NASA that will determine who will be elected. The nominees will have an opportunity to talk to the Senators for Nyamira and Busia even if they were appointed by Jubilee. They must convince the political parties across the board. The persons who will get more votes will be nominated to represent Kenya in the EALA. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the exercise is important. It was born out of a court decision after the 2007 elections when the ODM went to court to challenge the process of nominating persons to the EALA. They said that it must be as transparent as possible. I therefore urge our Members to come and vote. I have seen my colleagues take issue with the nomination of persons based on their relationship with politicians. It does not matter whether they are related to hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, hon. Raila Odinga, hon. William Ruto or Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki. If you do not like someone because they are related to so and so, hold on because we will vote here. You will have a chance to vote them out because you are allowed to vote for other people. So, I depart from the position of my friends who say that the son of Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka should not be on the list. We must be magnanimous. We cannot beat someone in elections and say that their children cannot have a chance to try something else which is unrelated to what that person was pursuing. I completely depart from my colleagues who say that it is wrong for the former vice president and former prime minister to forward names of their relatives. Let us allow them to bring their people but we will assess them based on their competence. Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka’s son is a lawyer and I might be inclined to vote for him unless someone convinces me otherwise. When I look at the NASA list and find that he is the most competent one, I will vote for him. If he, his father or friends call me requesting for my vote, I am a citizen of this republic and I will consider across the board because I am a nationalist. I completely depart from the previous position we held. We will give a chance to every person who will be on the nomination list. Yesterday I heard my colleagues in the National Assembly saying that our friends and relatives should not be proposed. We have a very difficult job. We will be punishing so many people by virtue of us being elected by voters. We must remember that J. F. Kennedy was the President of the USA when his brother Robert Kennedy was the"
}