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{
    "id": 928011,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/928011/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 168,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Emuhaya, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13328,
        "legal_name": "Jeremiah Omboko Milemba",
        "slug": "jeremiah-omboko-milemba"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I wish to support this Bill from the outset. We need to constitute a full IEBC that can carry out its mandate. We also need to divorce Parliament from legal work and the politics that we do. Parliament should never stand in the way of what we should be doing, especially creation of a legal framework, like the Mover of the Bill indicated, so that we seem to be contributing to the absence of IEBC perse. Currently as constituted, the IEBC meets its minimum threshold of three members, but with three commissioners, it cannot carry out its mandate properly especially the elaborate mandate that is put down in the Constitution under Article 88. Voter education includes continuous, massive processes that may not be carried by the IEBC as is constituted today. Remember there is also the issue of voter registration. As constituted today, the IEBC is a lame duck in a way. Kenyans cast aspersions and doubts on its ability to perform. As we go through the many processes of by-elections, Kenyans look at the commission as a lame duck. Therefore, I fully support this amendment. I want the Committee to listen to only two things, which, later on, when we get to the Committee of the whole House, we will consider as amendments to the Bill. The panel we are going to constitute, though the earlier panel was ad hoc and, therefore, remained dissolved after carrying out its duty, must have a timeframe. Yes, it will carry out its duties and continue monitoring the events at the IEBC, so that when commissioners walk in and walk out, the panel will be available to replace them. But upon expiry of the term of the IEBC, that panel should also remain dissolved. This will bring fresh minds and make the panel dynamic. I would also wish that the Committee relooks at the people who have been given the mandate to nominate the panellists. The EACC’s mandate will be specifically to look at the data and credentials of the people nominated to the panel and those who the panel will nominate. It may not have a serious ground to be one of the bodies to nominate people to this particular commission. I notice with severe realisation that possibly this is a slot that should have gone to the workers of Kenya. They are very important people when elections are carried out. Their voice should be heard. Maybe we shall be making this amendment, not limited to a particular group of workers, but the holistic understanding of the workers of Kenya. I am sure my colleagues will also be making their suggestions on this in order to bring in groups that are serious stakeholders on the same."
}