Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1491185,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1491185/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 302,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Crystal Asige",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I am extremely appreciative to all colleague Senators who have contributed to the County Government Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, (Senate Bills No.2 of 2024) that I am seeking support from the House. By name, I appreciate Sen. Okiya Omtatah, Sen. Ali Roba, Sen. Olekina, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, Sen. M. Kajwang, Sen. Cherarkey, Sen. Omogeni, Sen. Nyamu and of course, my Deputy Party Leader, Sen. Osotsi. A special thank you goes to my seconder who is the Senate majority leader, Sen. Cheruiyot, not only for the support that he gives me outside of this Chambers in my agenda as a PWD representing special interest groups, but also for the continued support in my work even outside of the Senate. I appreciate my seconder as well as all members who have contributed. I have listened very keenly and have been taking notes on the different contributions, suggestions and ways to enrich this Bill that have been put forward by Members and I take them very seriously. I want to make sure that I highlight that I will and have listened to every single one and will use each of the contributions that have been put forth this afternoon to further enrich this Bill. Matters of defining what a marginalised group is extremely important because we do not want to create another loophole and not close this loophole up in future by amending one problem, but then leaving another problem for interpretation in future. I also heard on issues of how to clean up this proposal a little bit more. I have taken note of that proposal. I take note of the proposals made by Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale regarding how we can further empower PWDs at the grassroots level in the local county governments, even to the extent of having PWDs vote and elect their own representatives, rather than leaving that up to the wider society, who may not really understand issues that bedevil us. These are issues that have been long-standing in our history such as systematic issues with regards to discrimination and stigmatisation of PWDs. That we should have the key constituent, which is a PWD vote for their representative. That was an interesting and a very powerful contribution from the Senator for Kakamega. What I have enjoyed as well is listening to every single Senator contribute, not just on a technical level with regards to the provisions in this Bill, but also on a personal level. As has been said in one way or another by every single person, everyone in this House understands the plight of PWDs, not because they might have one in this House, but because they have been directly impacted or have somebody that they know with a disability, someone they have employed with a disability. Every single person in this House, every Senator, has PWDs in their county. I thank the elected Senators as well as the nominated Senators who have contributed on a The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}