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{
    "id": 846408,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/846408/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 314,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kilifi North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13373,
        "legal_name": "Owen Yaa Baya",
        "slug": "owen-yaa-baya"
    },
    "content": "Therefore, riding on that tradition that great democracies have had amendments to their respective constitutions without any upheavals or political temperatures, Kenya has reached that threshold of democracy. Kenya has matured as a democratic country and, therefore, it should be able to pass a constitutional amendment without any ruckus in this country. The amendments should be passed here in Parliament and the referendum should not be politicised. Hearing the Leader of the Majority Party telling us that this journey is bumpy and long and all that he is alluding to are the old methods of constitutional amendment. We know that whenever there is a call for constitutional amendment or constitutional overhaul in this country, you have the whole country ignited into political campaign mode or mood. We have reached a situation in this country where we cannot run away from. We do not have to go that way. We can still maturely sit down as a country to make constitutional amendments without political ruckus. This country requires this amendment to ensure that elections come at an appropriate time when everybody is ready for an election; not because of the dictates of saying that this Article will affect that Article. It will do that, but the country and the Constitution itself allow us to amend the Constitution until we get to the Canaan that we want for this country. Therefore, we should prepare, as a country, to change our minds that the constitutional amendments will become “them” versus “us”. That is what we have heard. In the past, when we wanted to change the whole Constitution, it became “them” versus “us” and the whole country was torn into two pieces. It became a political war and determined the following elections. We can run away from that by ensuring that we pass this constitutional amendment so that we get an election that does not disenfranchise other Kenyans. The election in August disenfranchised many Kenyans. My constituency had 120,000 registered voters. Those who voted were around 70 per cent. If you find out why, they will tell you that the date was not good for them to come home to vote yet they had taken a voter’s card from the village. Looking at August and the upheavals that surround it, it disenfranchised many Kenyans. Probably, if we had held an election in December, the results of that election would have been different because many people would have gone to their polling stations to vote. Therefore, it is very important for us to consider, not only school dates and examinations, but also to look at whether we are enfranchising more Kenyans to come out and vote or setting a date that disenfranchises them. Like my good friend Wanyonyi Wetangula has said, probably the reason is to keep people in Nairobi to vote for the Nairobians. That is what he alluded to. We want people to go out there and exercise their democratic right. When they vote for a President, they should also vote for the occupants of other offices. Looking at the statistics, you will realise that the presidential votes cast were more than those cast in the other elections. The reason is that many people stayed in Nairobi to vote for the President, but did not know who to choose as a councillor in the city. The only change they had was in the village where they would have voted for a Member of Parliament (MP). Therefore, to give every person an opportunity to exercise that rare moment to elect the leaders of this country, we have to ensure that we have an appropriate date. That appropriate date comes in December when everybody is available to exercise that right. My friend, Waititu, would like to say something."
}