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{
    "id": 1064293,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1064293/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 403,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Milgo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13174,
        "legal_name": "Milgo Alice Chepkorir",
        "slug": "milgo-alice-chepkorir"
    },
    "content": "His Excellency the President of this country, together with the Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga came together in 2018 and in their communicae, they came up with nine issues, notable among them was ethnic antagonism, competition, inclusivity, divisive elections and lack of equity in resource allocation as well as gender, among others. Out of this, there was a taskforce that went round collecting suggestions and opinions from people. As stipulated in the Constitution, this culminated into the popular initiative Bill that is before this House today. I thank the Joint Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs for burning their midnight oil to come up with a refined Bill from such a huge document in a short time. While there are many contentious issues in this Bill, there good clauses. Just like in the Constitution, 2010, there were many contentious issues that were to be amended before its passage. I am sure amendment of a Constitution is open many times. For example, the Constitution of USA has been amended for over 57 times. May be, we may have an amendment next year and the other year. Therefore, I support this Bill more specifically because of a number of clauses. I will start with the elusive two-third gender principle. As many of my colleagues have said, last year, there was an advisory from the former Chief Justice David Maraga that Parliament should be disbanded for not meeting the two-third gender rule. It was to be costly for our country. So, we cannot afford to wait for another advisory when we have such an opportunity to amend our Constitution. Clause 7 compels political parties to ensure the two-thirds gender rule. There are holes in this but it is better to have a provision than not have one at all. When there has been no provision, women have had a challenge. More specifically, they do not have a level playing ground like men when it comes to elective position. I am more excited about Clause 4 that amends Article 98 where there shall be election of one man and a woman in the Senate. Some of my colleagues feel that there will be many legislators in this House. However, we are only 27 short of them. This is the right time to bring on board the 52 per cent of the population that has been excluded. Based on this, we shall progressively achieve the two-thirds gender rule. The only sad side of it is the fact that there is no clear way to achieve the two- thirds gender rule in the National Assembly. The provision that we may end up nominating 103 women is there. I would have loved if we had left the 47 women who had a kitty that is going a long way in improving the lives of women in the villages. In that area, we lost because when it comes to nominations it is usually a challenge. Many of my colleagues, including Sen. (Eng.) Hargura, have spoken to this. This relates more specifically to me because in the last one year, I have lost the right to vote. I cannot vote as a Member of the Bomet Delegation because of receiving a letter from the head of my delegation that stated that I cannot vote any more. This is one of the challenges that affects a nominated Member. In addition to this, any nominated Member cannot have an independent mind. I do not want to expound on this, but there are many examples that can be given to explain the fact that nomination has majorly affected women. Looking at this House, for example, the larger number that has been nominated, save for areas of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and the youth, has been that of women. These women have been subjected to many challenges."
}