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{
    "id": 991462,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/991462/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 308,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ruaraka, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. T.J. Kajwang’",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2712,
        "legal_name": "Tom Joseph Kajwang'",
        "slug": "kajwang-tom-joseph-francis"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. If Members decide to behave the way they behave in conferences, nobody will differentiate what happens in a conference and what happens in the National Assembly. So, that is why when I hear Members say that they will be in their houses, for example, in Mathare or Ruaraka and as they serve their constituents with one hand, they will also be virtually participating in proceedings… Parliament has been made of traditions over the years. You must equate yourself with parliaments in closed jurisdictions. There are issues that must come to bare. Article 10 of the Constitution is the basis on which you must always think on how you debate in this House. Article 86 of the Constitution says that voting must be… The words are that, in any method that you chose, voting must be accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable, transparent and must facilitate prompt declaration of the results of each vote. The interesting thing with Article 86(a) of the Constitution – although it is designed for elections – when you look at it, it is a principle that runs across the Constitution. Whenever you want to do any voting, including here, it should be a process that is verifiable and secure. Members must think about the Powers and Privileges Act. It draws from Article 117 of the Constitution. There is what is defined as “Precincts of Parliament”. It is within the Precincts of Parliament that there is the privilege of the immunity that we talk about. Of course, you can do Committee work and we have been doing it. For example, before I go to Mombasa, I can say something and I will be immune from what I have said. But if, for example, you are somewhere and somebody places a gun on your head, where will you get the immunity while you are out there? Or, for example, somebody appears and demands to influence you to vote or participate in a way. Or a simple area that the Deputy Speaker has talked about: There is that stranger in the House who insists that you must do certain things his or her way. These are things you must think about when you want to develop these guidelines. Article 117 of the Constitution says that this is a House of free speech and debate. We must be robust and we need to be as free as we can to be able to express ourselves. So, even when we talk about that, we need to see how that enhances our freedom to debate. According to Article 126, Parliament is where the Speaker is. Where you see the convening presiding officer is where Parliament is. So, you can be wherever you are, but the Hansard and the record of this House will be taken to have come from the House. I was speaking to a Member from Uasin Gishu, my very good friend Hon. Chepkut. We were comparing our gadgets and we realized that we both have a ‘mulika mwizi’. ‘Mulika mwizi’ is a kind of phone that is not able to host some of these applications that we are talking about. The Leader of the Minority Party has never been on WhatsApp. He does not even know about it. If you ask him to operate it, he would not know how to do it. He does not know what Facebook means. You have to send him an SMS or call him. The Deputy Speaker is a person that I have known for long. He has the problems I have of digital compliance. So, even when you talk about these devices, there must be some standardisation of the devices so that there is quality assurance in the products. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}