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{
    "id": 843253,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/843253/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 228,
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    "content": "Officer of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) and other roles that he played before he came to politics. Hon. Chepkong’a was a very robust lawyer and advocate and still is. However, he suffered from being too good because when you are too good, sometimes, just like a ripe fruit, you actually face a lot of wrath of the people. That is exactly what happened. Hon. Chepkong’a went ahead to become the Chairperson of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly in the 11th Parliament and he did a stellar job. He was extremely committed. He gave his all and he is credited for the reforms that we saw in the electoral process in the last election. One of the key things that he ever did was to reduce the number of voters from so many thousands to only 700 per polling station. This helped in terms of expediting the time taken to vote in this country. All of us remember that the queues were much shorter in the last general election, thanks to Hon. Chepkong’a. Hon. Chepkong’a spearheaded the approval of many people who were appointed to various constitutional commissions and independent offices without fear or favour. For that, we really need to give him credit because some of these commissions and constitutional bodies have gone ahead to perform their duties. He did not shy away from also auditing these very institutions because they fell within the purview of his mandate. He questioned them including the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) with regard to how they were conducting themselves. He was not shy to point out issues when there were challenges to do with the separation of powers between the Judiciary and the Legislature. He also tried to advance the rights of women by proposing a workable Bill on how to implement Article 81 of the Constitution with regard to the two-thirds gender Bill. This is a gentleman whom history will be very kind to upon its writing because he maintained fidelity to the law and the objectives that he wanted to achieve were clear in his mind. My interaction with hon. Chepkong’a also made me realise that he was very amenable to the rights of vulnerable members of society. He agonised over how we could go ahead and implement Article 100 of our Constitution and how Parliament is supposed to increase the representation of women, youth, and persons with disabilities, ethnic and other minorities. In fact, he even proposed that if we want to increase the number of elected women in Parliament, they should even be given some special fund to help them navigate around. That is how objective and open hon. Chepkong’a was. Hon. Chepkong’a was a robust debater on the Floor of the House. He would give meaning to debate and insights that would have sometimes escaped the common wisdom and would sweep public opinion in that regard. However, as fate would have it, when you are too good a legislator and so nice, the voters back home sometimes do not appreciate you. In fact, it has been said and I wish that the Senate Majority Leader was here, that most Chairpersons of Committees do not make it back to the House. This is because they perform the real work of a Member of Parliament. They are here doing laws. The laws are good and I am not trying to belittle our role for we must do it because that is our job. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}