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{
    "id": 892776,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/892776/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 311,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kajiado North, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Joseph Manje",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1669,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Wathigo Manje",
        "slug": "joseph-wathigo-manje"
    },
    "content": "and the actors repeat it. At that particular time, we said that there was conflict of interest between the then Chairman and the CEO. They were unable to work because of the conflict of interest. There were about three procurement committees that were not able to procure the BVR kits. The same thing was repeated in the previous election. If we do not do anything about it, the same thing is likely to be repeated in 2022. It is time we sat down as Parliament and asked whether we should come up with reports that are never implemented. That is not the way to go. If you look at the level of corruption in the country and read the previous Report by PAC, you will see that it is a repetition of what has been going on since time immemorial. It is repeated in the same design. Things are imported from abroad and paid for, but they are not supplied. It is the same thing. If we implement the recommendations in this particular Report, we will go somewhere. If we keep doing things in vain and put the reports in the library, then, it would be useless to come up with the reports. We need genuine oversight in this country. We have to oversee taxpayers’ money. If we continue doing things casually, fighting over issues that are dear to this country while our people are dying in the background because of lack of medicine and other essentials, we will not be doing justice to this country. The IEBC is normally given money at the last minute. They should be given money to manage within a longer period. They are denied a good budget during other years until the last year of elections which means that they normally work and operate in a hurry. In previous elections, they procured items shortly before the elections. They were not given enough time to implement and test the equipment because they were supplied the last minute. Why can we not plan and make sure that our systems operate? We also make our elections very expensive because of distrust among communities. In developed economies and democracies, elections are not taken as seriously as we do. Some of them are done at the post-office. They are announced after three or four days. Nobody is interested. When you get a position, you are expected to serve diligently. We have to do something different. We have to make sure that we bring the cost of elections down. If you check that Report and the amounts spent in this country, you will be shocked. It is as if the only important issue is elections. We spend so much money on elections while our schools do not have desks and are not renovated. You go to the outskirts and you find schools built from mud and our children reading under trees yet we use a lot of money on elections. We have to see what we can do better. We have to understand that sometimes the IEBC conducts very many elections at a go. They conducted six elections at once. We should find a method to separate national elections from county elections. The IEBC can conduct the three county elections at a go and then conduct the national elections on a separate day. That way, we may reduce the burden and the timeline of holding elections. We also have to implement the Kriegler Commission Report. It was well-stated that we need to have this system well in advance. You cannot start changing the commissioners at the last minute. The commissioners should be well-versed in what they are going to do. Being a day- to-day Commission, you cannot wholly separate them from the Secretariat because they operate on a daily basis. Sometimes they divide themselves into different regions. You will find the commissioner in charge of Nairobi region is different from the one in charge of other regions. This is a situation where they work daily and, therefore, we cannot separate them. With regard to that particular election, there was something I found peculiar where the Chairman and the CEO were fighting in the open. I have never seen a commission or an entity The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}