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{
    "id": 1526454,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1526454/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 503,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "a woman. Some of the people trying to hound her out of office are extremely corrupt themselves, but they do not raise corruption issues when it comes to men. It is only when Martha Koome or Nancy Barasa sit in those offices that they notice the corruption. That is why I say women wear special shoes that men do not understand. Try wearing high heels. Try having the kind of figure I have and the “material” I am carrying behind my back. Try walking in high heels with that “material” and tell me if you can manage. Hon. TJ, you do not know what we go through as women. We also have to deal with menopause, hot flushes and other symptoms. Hon. Kajwang’, you do not know half the story of being a woman. That is why we need affirmative action. I have seen the impact and effect of affirmative action as a Member of Parliament. Thanks to affirmative action, Hon. Njoki Ndung’u now sits on the Supreme Court; Cecily Mbarire is now a county governor; Millie Odhiambo is now serving a fourth term in Parliament; Gladys Wanga is now the Governor of Homa Bay County; Hon. Martha Wangari is now serving a third term in Parliament; and Hon. Lesuuda is also serving a third term in Parliament. How did we get here? We got here because we were given that platform. When I first went to Suba, I was asked questions that Hon. TJ was not. I was asked why I did not have a child, where my home was, and if I was married. Nobody asked Hon. TJ those questions. My house was burnt down and my bodyguard was killed. I know that the violence we experience as men and women Members of Parliament is similar, but it is worse when you are a woman. I am leaving the chamber because of a case of a 19 year-old girl who was reported to have been raped. I am meeting her and her mother. People are mocking her on social media. The girl is depressed and we may lose her because of what she is going through. Men do not have to go through those kinds of things. We should not trivialise the things women go through and make them seem elitist. Hon. Kajwang’, I know your daughter. She sings very well at the Nairobi Central Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church. She is an elite woman because she was raised in Nairobi. I hope that women in rural areas get the same opportunities that she does. If you do not like the women in the House, think about your daughter. She is a wonderful woman who needs opportunities just like other women. I am very happy that we are discussing this Motion just as we are about to celebrate the International Women’s Day on 8th March. It is a reminder that it has been a long journey since 1975 in Mexico up to now. We went to Copenhagen and then New York. We came to Nairobi with the forward looking strategies. Hon. Kajwang’, it has been a journey. It is a lifelong journey for some of us. I am committed to changing the lot of women, which is why my outfit today bears the words: “Women committed to changing the lot of women.” I will not stop. I will not retire from this course because it is lifelong. I am, therefore, encouraging my brothers not to trivialise this issue. These are your daughters and your mothers. I know for wives, we have different stories. These are your daughters and your mothers. Please, have empathy in Jesus' name."
}