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{
    "id": 1426874,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1426874/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 165,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, when you look at all the proposals that are here, there is no attempt on engaging the gender parity. So that Senators in the House do not think that I am just speaking passionately out of nowhere, when Sen. Wambua was saying that we need to get off our phones, when some of us are on our phones, we are researching and ensuring the points we speak are factual. This is so that a Member stands on a Standing Order No.105 on factual points. Looking at the Samuel Kivuitu Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) members without looking at the skillset or the ethnic background, you will see that we had Mr. Bashir Sheikh, Mr. Eliphelet M’Thambu, Mr. Henry Jura, Mr. Edward Cherono, Mr. Frank Kwinga, Mr. Nathaniel Chebelyon and Ms. Wangui Karanja – one lady. I like speaking from data and if you look at how we have progressed on the representation of women in active politics from 2003, we have had 7.14 per cent of women elected to the Parliament of Kenya. That gradually increased in 2022 to 23.4 per cent. Madam Temporary Speaker, I looked at the commission to see if there was any influence. The latest IEBC commissioners is comprised of two women out of the total commissioners that are there. If right now we have an opportunity to dictate on who becomes a commissioner, where they come from and their religious background or political institution, why are we not being intentional on ensuring that at least our two- third gender threshold is met. There is nowhere in this proposal where it says that out of all these members, at least two-thirds should be of one gender. I believe that is something that needs to be looked into because I have given the data and statistics. Coming from a proposal that had a Special Bipartisan Committee from both sides of the divide and yet both sides of the divide did not even think about women. I am disappointed over that issue. Madam Temporary Speaker, we need to be careful in every single Bill that comes to this ‘Upper’ House and on how we engage with it. I have said this before that sometimes we are pushing the agenda of the National Assembly. When I look at all the references made in this Bill, then we are actually proposing that the National Assembly takes charge in terms of all the procedures---"
}