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{
    "id": 1067461,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1067461/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 291,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Isiolo CWR, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Rehema Jaldesa",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 601,
        "legal_name": "Rehema Dida Jaldesa",
        "slug": "rehema-dida-jaldesa"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to add my voice on this historical moment on behalf of the people of Isiolo. Just to put the record straight, I placed my card at 1.00 p.m., and, therefore, you have not given me any favour because I was already at the top. From the outset, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs for this good Report. I followed their Report more than the BBI one and I want to congratulate Hon. Muturi and his team for simplifying the Report and making it easy for us to understand. It is said that politics are local and it is about interest. For the interest of the people of Isiolo, I stand to register a lot of reservations on this BBI proposal cognisant of the ruling made by the Speaker this afternoon. We have been told that the Bill before this House is by popular initiative. My understanding of a popular initiative is a people driven process. I have listened and interacted with people in my constituency and my host constituency, Nairobi, and I want to say that the ordinary people seem not to understand the BBI. That begs the question: If it is a people driven process, how come people have not had an opportunity to see copies of the BBI document? How come civic education has not been conducted? If I can remember, in 2010, we were part and parcel of the civic education process. We were given booklets. People used to knock our doors telling us about the 2010 Constitution. Therefore, I am wondering how it is a people driven process. In the county I come from, Isiolo County, people only know about the BBI from what politicians say. Some of us have said that they have reservations and even if they have reservations, they will pass the BBI Bill while others have said that there is no perfect document. So, there is a lot of confusion. I have listened to some of my colleagues and they have said that there is no perfect document and constitution making is a process. However, I am wondering if there is no perfect document. We have the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and we know its challenges. Why can we not improve it other than create more confusion? Having said that, I want to go to the specific issues that I have reservations on. One is on representation. Looking at the BBI Report, especially on the consideration of the Second Schedule, it looks at the one man one vote one shilling principle. While I agree that each citizen’s vote is of equal importance, I am equally concerned about how this principle will be applied. Kenya is defined by its people and its land. If I would have been given an opportunity, I would have proposed we consider the one man one vote together with one kilometre one vote, so that we have fair representation. As the Secretary-General of the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group, we submitted to the BBI Taskforce that to be fair to this country, we should also consider people with populous constituencies and huge tracts of land. We proposed each county to be given one constituency and then the remaining 23 be shared by the populous counties. If that is taken care of, this document will be passed without reservations. I am concerned that the 47 women representatives’ seats are being taken from this House to the Senate. That is clawing back on the gains we have made. It is like giving us something with the right hand and taking it away with the left hand. Why am I saying so? The 47 women representatives’ seats in this House addressed the gender gaps in a better way. The seats gave 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."
}