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"speaker_name": "Mrs. Noor",
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"legal_name": "Sophia Abdi Noor",
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"content": "Thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to contribute to this very important Bill. The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission Bill is very important to my life. Coming from the background I come from and the injustices that I grew up in, it means a lot to me. Although history has it that many commissions have been formed in this country, there has never been any commission that has had an impact on the affairs of this country. I pray that, this will be a different commission that will yield results and bring Kenyans together. I hope it will be a result-based commission. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, women are acknowledged as constituting the majority of victims of war and conflict. These agreements often ignore women's role in political and economical reconstruction of any country. Nevertheless, women remain a vital resource for peace making and peace keeping. Other truth and reconciliation processes such as was the case in Sierra Leone, have been criticised for not involving various groups in the peace process. It is important that women be involved at all levels from policy level to the grassroots level. The process of appointing and removing Commissioners from office needs to be reviewed to guarantee the independence of the Commission. I propose that a Parliamentary Select Committee with equal representation of men and women of this House should be established to oversee the implementation of this particular legislation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also wish to propose that the membership of this Commission, for the first time in the history of this country, should be only women. This country has made history in this continent by signing the peace accord. Today, this country is taken as a role model in the whole of this continent. For the history that this country has made, I am requesting hon. Members of this House to make another history by nominating women. There is an English saying that goes: \"Behind every successful man, there is a woman\". Behind every successful man in this august House there has been a woman supporting him and women supporting them. I am pleading with Members of this House to make history and nominate only women Commissioners. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there have been many commissions in which women have completely been excluded. If I could mention one among the many, we have the Waki Commission. It is a three-man commission. There is no reason that we can give for this. We have women who have the capacity, ability and knowledge to sit, negotiate, mediate and conduct peace initiatives in this country. All those concerned including civil society organisations, victims, human rights defenders and people belonging to minority central groups should be fully involved in discussing the mandate and power of the Commission and selection of its members. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, to ensure the protection of victims and witnesses who may be at risk or may be victimised as a result of their participation in the process, the Commission should establish a comprehensive, long term and effective victim-witness protection programmes. The experience of other truth commissions around the world shows that victims and witnesses, especially women, fear participating in the process because it may put them at risk. The ownership of the Commission at both community and grassroots level is key and very important. At the grassroots is where there are conflicts and many other problems. Those are the people that we really want to reconcile. Let this Commission not be considered elitist by the people. We should involve our people and ensure that the process is people-driven. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Commission should be empowered in order for it to reach out to many Kenyans. Just like the Constitutional Review Commission when it went out to collect information and sensitize Kenyans all over the country. They educated people on their mandate, role and specifically what they were looking for. As a result of that, Kenyans came out in 2284 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 31, 2007 large numbers. Kenyans contributed to the Review Commission. Kenyans debated and told the Commission what they wanted. On the same breath, I wish to request that the Bill looks into the issue of educating the people. The Commissioners should be empowered and given the capacity to go round this country to educate the communities on their role, responsibility and mandate. I beg to support."
}