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{
    "id": 1066157,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1066157/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 123,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Mwaura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13129,
        "legal_name": "Isaac Maigua Mwaura",
        "slug": "isaac-mwaura"
    },
    "content": "I lobbied very hard to the extent that the BBI Bill now has got four slots representing PWDs in the National Assembly. There will be two men and two women, and that is a big gain considering that it was not there before. However, I stand here as somebody who represents people who are underrepresented. On one hand, I am the Senator for persons with disabilities together with my sister, Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve. That is the model that was adopted by the drafters of the Bill, to have a man and a woman to represent each and every county. We are representatives of a huge constituency across the country that is highly underrepresented and under-resourced. We represent a people who are yet to have a true voice in the democratization and equal opportunity in this country. Our African pathos and ethos require that an ambitious leader in a community must provide leadership in the locality where they belong despite their status. It does not matter whether they are male, female, youths or someone with disability. For the last eight years or so, I have been trying to provide leadership in the County of Kiambu and particularly, Ruiru Constituency. In Ruiru Constituency, we have 490,120 residents within a small radius. Those people are underrepresented. Vihiga County has 475,000 people and it has a Governor, Senator, Woman Representative, five Members of Parliament and Members of the County Assembly. I fight to represent a people and I do the work of a Member of Parliament who is missing in the equation. This is the reality that I have to face and that includes the other Members of Parliament who come from populous constituencies. Unfortunately, it is a zero sum game because that constituency will only have one Member of Parliament at any given point in time despite the fact that resources in this country are shared using the political unit. Ruiru Constituency deserves four Members of Parliament. If you use the threshold of 132,000 people per constituency, Ruiru will have 3.71 Members of Parliament. If you round it off to the nearest ten, you end up with four Members of Parliament. That will be closer to the Vihiga County matrix of 475,000 with about five Members of Parliament. Therefore, BBI has proposed some rebalancing of historical The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}