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{
    "id": 938686,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/938686/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 195,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Halake",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13184,
        "legal_name": "Abshiro Soka Halake",
        "slug": "abshiro-soka-halake"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to read this. This Statement was unfortunately somewhat overtaken by events, but I think it is still relevant. Therefore, I will read it. I rise pursuant to Standing Order 47 (1) to make a Statement on electoral violence that takes place during the election campaigns. Kenya has been at a political crossroad since 2007 General Election. While there has been relative peace, general calmness and a running Government, the state of affairs has remained fairly fragile and uncertain. Electoral violence has been common place in our country since the introduction of multiparty politics in 1991. We have lost thousands of lives and disrupted so many others as a result of this poor political culture. The Commission of Inquiry on Post-Election Violence, 2009, (CIPEV) that investigated the 2007/2008 post-election violence attributed the country’s history of electoral violence to a combination of longstanding conflict drivers such as inter- communal clashes and divisive politics. Unfortunately, we have not put in place measures to address these challenges. There are deep concerns with the current spate of violence witnessed in the just concluded by-election campaigns in Kibra Constituency and by-election in Ganda Ward, Kilifi County. These unfortunate incidents are an important example of an increasingly widespread phenomenon in Kenyan politics. The fierce contest in the Kibra by-election should serve as a warning to the general population, candidates and campaigners involved in the by-election contest. They should be encouraged to stick to issue-based politics and avoid various forms of inflammatory statements during campaigns. Mr. Speaker Sir, further, all elections management bodies namely, the IEBC, the National Police Service, the Judiciary and all political parties, should ensure that they act swiftly in order to deter, avert and resolve politically-instigated violence, since elections come and go, but the lives of Kenyans can either change for the better or retrogress. The Government should, therefore, have specific measures in place to ensure that IEBC fulfils its key mandate of ensuring that instances of electoral misconduct, such as"
}