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{
    "id": 179509,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/179509/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 524,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ms. Odhiambo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 119,
        "legal_name": "Alfred Bwire Odhiambo",
        "slug": "alfred-bwire"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. I want to very reluctantly support this Motion, because the topic that we are going to discuss is vital to this country. However, I think the timing is not correct. We will have time from December to March when we could have done that. I would like to say that it is important for us, hon. Members, to take a lead in the reconcilliation of the country. I know that it is timely, because sometimes we forget. We over- politicise issues, yet the country is still hurting in many places. We saw women who came here the other day and were tear-gased by the police. I know that earlier on an hon. Member had suggested that they had been ferried here, and that they were businesswomen. Whether they were businesswomen, they were symbolically reminding us of the numbers of women who are still not able to go back to their homes, because they are internally displaced within their own country . That is why it is important for us, as Parliamentarians, to take the lead in healing the country. We should take the lead in healing the country. As we make national decisions, we need to remember that Parliament is on course in relation to a lot of Items of Agenda Four that were agreed on. There is the Truth, Justice and Reconcilliation Bill; As the Mover of the Motion has suggested, it was passed here and is awaiting Presidential assent. That is one of the ways of healing this country of the ills of 1963 to date. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the National Ethnic and Race Relations Bill has also been finalised by the Committee on Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs. One of the amendments that we will be proposing is to change the name to reflect the fact that we are seeking healing and reconciliation in this country. I want to say that this seminar is also important, because it will address the issue of institutional reforms. It is regrettable that I will not be there because I will be attending to Parliamentary business elsewhere, but I hope that while we will be dealing with that, we must emphasize the issue of separation of powers. We cannot, as an institution, be held captive by other arms of Government while undertaking our Constitutional mandate. Some of the institutions that need urgent change include the police. It does not matter whether those who came here were businesswomen, there was absolutely no excuse for the police to throw tear gas at women who are my mother's age. It was a shame for this country, and I hope the Minister will take action to ensure that the police who were throwing tear gas at helpless old women are brought to book. The other areas where we need urgent institutional reforms are the Judiciary and the Electoral Commission of Kenya."
}