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"id": 1491187,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Crystal Asige",
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"content": "belongs to absolutely every one of us. The more we continue ignoring that fact, the more we are leaving out a huge population, the biggest minority group in the country. Let me also emphasise that when it comes to election cycles, every single candidate will come to us and then disappear once they get what they want. However, I want to remind those political aspirants, young and old, that our vote is not disabled. Why is it that when you come to us for our vote, you do not see the disability. However, once you get what you want, you forget that there are people with disabilities who support you to get to where you are. Our vote is not disabled. Therefore, you should not continue disabling us further in terms of lack of representation on both levels. Madam Temporary Speaker, I also want to encourage PWDs in the country that this is for them. When they hear about this Bill, I do hope that they push their county assembly speakers and their county assembly representatives to make this a priority issue as well. People in the public should go to their county assembly and ask: Why is it that you are one of the 21 county assemblies that have no PWD representation? That should be something that the public can absolutely take on and ask them, write letters, petition the county assemblies, ask them these questions and hold them accountable. In addition, if you are in a political party, every single one of them, including my own, has a disability league. We should be asking these questions and ensuring that in the next elections, which are fast approaching, these issues are prioritized. These issues should be resolved to a level that will ensure that we do not continue to leave this huge minority group behind. Madam Temporary Speaker, every single party, or at least my own party, the ODM, has a strong youth league. We need young people and other marginalised groups to speak out for themselves. However, we cannot do it alone because we are a minority. The majority of you who are non-disabled can also support us in this agenda in this campaign. We need full representation at the national and county levels. I am touched by all the sentiments that have been shared about my work in the Senate. I really do not take that for granted because when I work, I want people to know that the narrative of disability can change and should change. I want to be one of the people or one of the many people who can help move that narrative forward. We are not disabled, but we have exponential creativity; exponential brilliance and capacity to do the job, so long as we are given an up-level playing field. That is important for Kenyans and the world to know, especially in Africa because we are conditioned beyond repair. It is unfortunate how PWDs are treated across African nations. They are not given leadership that will further our cause, our fight for equality and equity and the push for diversity in leadership. I also take this opportunity, as I close, to thank my party, ODM, but more than that, I thank my party leader, Hon. Raila Odinga, for giving me this opportunity. I do not see it as something small. I never have because of someone like him, seeing somebody like me, a visually impaired person, the first Senator in this House to have a visual impairment, and him, as well as our elective committee, thinking or believing that I can 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."
}