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{
    "id": 945088,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/945088/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 156,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Wilberforce Oundo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13331,
        "legal_name": "Wilberforce Ojiambo Oundo",
        "slug": "wilberforce-ojiambo-oundo-2"
    },
    "content": "Providing publicity is so blanket. It can mean giving undue publicity to other categories of contestants contrary to the provisions of the law. It is a matter that we must debate so that we are not seen to be discriminating against other people. Hon. Speaker, on the issue of minority numbers as provided for in the Constitution, I want to join my colleagues who said that some provisions in this Constitution are contradictory and not in keeping with our culture. When we went for the 2010 Referendum, we were told that 20 per cent of the Constitution is bad and so we take the 80 per cent. Probably, as we make laws to effect the Constitution, we must make efforts to cure the so-called 20 per cent. The only procedure of increasing your numbers in a society is well known and there can never be any other. If you are unwilling to labor to increase your number, then you should not become a cry baby and generally stifle the growth of this country. Just ask those communities to encourage their young men and women to engage vigorously and consistently so that they increase their numbers without really looking for legislation to legislate a natural process which somebody can chose to participate or not. We will seriously have to have this debate. Otherwise, it means I can simply stay back, hold back my energy and allege that I am marginalised or I am minority and so I require a special treatment. That is a matter that we must debate. Hon. Speaker, I have difficulties in implementing what is required under Clause 17 of this Bill. It requires a political party to present candidates in a certain manner: one-third of its nominees for parliamentary and county assembly elections are either gender, and 5 per cent of its nominees for parliamentary and county assembly elections are persons with disability. Article 38 of the Constitution of Kenya provides for universal suffrage. As you have clearly said, first on the post is declared the winner. Even if you lost by a vote or even half a vote, you will have lost. The winner who got a vote more than you will be declared the winner. I can see the difficulties political parties are going to have. What if the candidates who win in party primaries are of one gender? Does it mean that political party will be barred from presenting candidates? It is not their choice. It is the voters who have decided how they want to go. It is obviously, therefore, impossible to implement and it will make it difficult because you will basically be killing political parties. You will be killing internal democracy – we should never allow internal democracy to be killed. This is a country built on democratic principles and we must, therefore, protect those principles. As the late Kenneth Matiba used to say, let the people decide who their leaders are going to be. You cannot legislate a political process. My free advice to the Committee, and we will be moving there, where the problem lies and where the solutions lie is in the Elections Campaign Financing Act, Elections Offences Act and the Elections Act. That is where the focus of the Committee should be. It should make sure that the special interest groups, as they are being branded, have got an equal opportunity to participate in the elections. I will move the amendments at that particular time, but for now…"
}