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{
    "id": 846426,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/846426/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 332,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Baringo North, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. William Cheptumo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 50,
        "legal_name": "William Cheptumo Kipkiror",
        "slug": "william-kipkiror"
    },
    "content": "There is something which Hon. Duale said a few minutes ago. As the Chair of the Committee, I feel it is important for me to raise this issue before I conclude my submission on this matter. I want to reaffirm what the Leader of the Minority Party has talked about. On 20th August 2015, through a Communication from the Chair, the Speaker guided that no amendments should be proposed to a Bill which seek to amend the Constitution, unless there is something extraordinary in the Bill that would require application of extraordinary measures. This is a House of records and procedure. The Communication that you issued then should be respected. It must guide the House, as we deal with our business. That is something which has not been done in this Parliament. But in the previous one, in which I also served with Hon. Wamalwa, who is introducing these amendments, we do not want to depart from our traditions which are already established. In view of Hon. Speaker’s ruling, the Committee did not adopt further amendments based on public views. So, we were alive to that ruling. That is why we could not adopt any other amendments as a Committee. The members of the public who appeared before the Committee to present their views supported overwhelmingly the proposal on change of date to December. This is a very important issue which I wanted to raise. The Constitution we are dealing with now was passed by Kenyans in 2010. The Committee considered the various reports that were prepared during the constitutional review process, including the Report of the Committee of Experts on Constitution Reforms. The final Report of the Committee on Review of the Constitution did not elaborate the rationale for changing the date of the general election from December to August. We should also be guided by previous submissions. We tried to look at the rationale behind the change of the date from December to August when the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 was promulgated. We did not come across any justifiable reason, apart from the issue that those in Nairobi and other cities had to remain behind, so that they could vote for their candidates. As the Chair of the Committee, after looking at the process through which the Constitution of Kenya 2010 was made, I am satisfied that there were no justifiable grounds to change the election date from December to August. My appeal to my colleagues is that we are here to make laws and amend the Constitution, when we feel that it is necessary, in a manner that will benefit Kenyans."
}