{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=138992","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=138990","results":[{"id":1406321,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406321/?format=json","text_counter":247,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Nakuru Town East, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. David Gikaria","speaker":null,"content":"It also brought about the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG- CDF). All these things are joined at the hip. We are asking the relevant committees to address them simultaneously and not prioritise the IEBC forgetting the inclusion of the NG-CDF in the Constitution. We need to stop this madness where people go to court to stop a transformative fund which is present and felt by every Kenyan in every homestead. We are asking the leadership of this House and the House Business Committee to prioritise as well other legislations that go hand in hand with this one, so as to actualise this whole issue that has come out. 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"},{"id":1406322,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406322/?format=json","text_counter":248,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Nakuru Town East, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. David Gikaria","speaker":null,"content":"I advocate for allocating funds to the Senate to enhance its oversight role. Sometimes, Senators remain inactive within the Senate chambers almost encroaching the National Assembly of Kenya’s function instead of carrying out oversight in the counties. If they are empowered, you will rarely get quorum in the Senate. I request the relevant departmental committees that are handling legislation related to these matters to coordinate their efforts."},{"id":1406323,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406323/?format=json","text_counter":249,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Nakuru Town East, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. David Gikaria","speaker":null,"content":"On matters concerning what the Member for Kuria East had indicated earlier, I totally agree with him. It is demeaning for this House to be told that they are passing unconstitutional legislation, and that we have to be guided by the courts. It is a huge setback for this House. This House has many lawyers. About 80 per cent of the Members in the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee are lawyers. It is important for us to critically look into it, and not ride at the waves that we pass unconstitutional matters and then they find their way to court."},{"id":1406324,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406324/?format=json","text_counter":250,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Nakuru Town East, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. David Gikaria","speaker":null,"content":"It is important for us to look at the thematic areas that this amendment is bringing particularly on the inclusion of accountants and ICT qualifications. The only profession I am not seeing here is plumbing. You remember the role of plumbers was mentioned in the Supreme Court. The inclusion of professions in some fields that were identified is key in this amendment. I applaud the Committee for bringing this amendment. Increasing the number of members on the selection panel from seven to nine to accommodate more stakeholders is an added advantage."},{"id":1406325,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406325/?format=json","text_counter":251,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Nakuru Town East, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. David Gikaria","speaker":null,"content":"Clause 2 of the Bill seeks to amend the definition of a chairperson. In the last term, I had an opportunity to bring an amendment to the IEBC Act. My amendment spoke to the chairperson. My view at that time, which I strongly still believe and might bring an amendment on, is that the chairperson possesses the qualification of a Supreme Court judge. That only means that the person must be a judge and must have a background in law. I then ask myself, are elections a legal issue or are they projects? We need successful managers and administrators of projects. We have had chairpersons who have been lawyers, but all that time there have been issues. As a country, should we only interrogate lawyers as chairpersons or can we change this and bring in project managers who can deliver even without a legal background? We need to look into that."},{"id":1406326,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406326/?format=json","text_counter":252,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Nakuru Town East, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. David Gikaria","speaker":null,"content":"Clause 3 speaks about the inclusion of other people, but there are a few other things I want to say under Clause 7. When we talk about delimitation of electoral units, it is important for us to also interrogate issues here. Is it fair for me to stand here representing 5,000 people and have a vote in Parliament when someone else is representing 200,000 people and has the same? Delimitation of boundaries is important. It does not matter the size of that constituency. If a constituency has over 200,000 people, it should be given an equivalent representation in this House."},{"id":1406327,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406327/?format=json","text_counter":253,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Omboko Milemba","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":{"id":13328,"legal_name":"Jeremiah Omboko Milemba","slug":"jeremiah-omboko-milemba"},"content":" Next is Hon. Rozaah Buyu. If you can, deliver in 10 minutes."},{"id":1406328,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406328/?format=json","text_counter":254,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kisumu West, ODM","speaker_title":"Hon. Rozaah Buyu","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for this opportunity. Before I speak to the amendments, I congratulate one Hon. Mayaka. I do not know if you were in the House at that particular time when she was responding to a question. She stood to say that she has been a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM). The reason I congratulate her is because we have many young girls in many parts of this country who have gone through the FGM. Many of them feel they were forced into FGM and their lives have come to an end. The Member stood up and shared that she has gone through that experience yet when you look at her, she is beautiful, intelligent and has everything to offer. That gives hope to thousands of young Kenyan girls who have undergone FGM that life has not come to an end. There are still huge opportunities. I, therefore, thank and congratulate my sister."},{"id":1406329,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406329/?format=json","text_counter":255,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kisumu West, ODM","speaker_title":"Hon. Rozaah Buyu","speaker":null,"content":"I support this amendment. It is the first opportunity to realise the negotiated NADCO Report after a fierce battle with what many people have considered woes created by the IEBC. We have a Report that was politically negotiated and this is the beginning of realising it. 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"},{"id":1406330,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406330/?format=json","text_counter":256,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kisumu West, ODM","speaker_title":"Hon. Rozaah Buyu","speaker":null,"content":"Hon. Temporary Speaker, I hear many people talking about three years not being enough for a CEO. If the CEO of the IEBC needs more than three years to acclimatise himself with the job, he is not worthy of being in that position. One CEO presided over two elections and began to feel like he was the IEBC. He even began to feel more important than the commissioners themselves. I support this amendment Bill because the IEBC CEO will serve for three years. If he does a good job, he can serve for another three years. In effect, he will only be overseeing one general election. That is good for the country. I also like the fact that the selection panel has been expanded. I heard a few of my colleagues say that when you expand it and bring in more professional bodies, we will be able to judge candidates who want to be commissioners on different aspects. An accountant will see that an applicant has finance skills, or a member of the section panel with a legal background will see that an applicant has a legal mind. The end result will be that the people who will be selected as commissioners will be all-rounded and different professional sectors would have given their nod. Apart from increasing the number of members of the panel, I also like the fact that we are asking the commissioners not to sit pretty and feel like they have already done their part after we have a general election. It is now mandatory for the commissioners to conduct a review of the election in the first year after the election. That review should not be a secret sitting within the Commission, but should be shared publicly so that we know they had the opportunity to see what went wrong, or what might have gone wrong, and how they can rectify the mistakes that may have occurred in the previous election. This is fundamental because once you are a commissioner, you cannot say that one election will be like the next. Different challenges will be experienced during different elections. The commissioners must sit and review the election process to knock off the challenges they experienced and make the next election better. I do not intend to speak for too long, but this is an opportunity for Kenyans to fight to have a free election that will not have people feeling like their victory has been stolen or make other people say that they stole your election, therefore, uta do? This is an opportunity for us to come up with a body that will be full of integrity and that will be governed by steadfast policies to make it better than the other commissions that we have had. We had three commissioners deciding on everything in the previous election. However, this amendment Bill states that there must be, at least, five commissioners for there to be quorum. I am sure it is difficult for five commissioners to all lean on one side. We will have better balance and well-thought-out reasoning from the IEBC. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for that opportunity. Just remember that one woman stood out for me today, and that is Hon. Irene Mayaka."}]}