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"id": 208778,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/208778/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ms. Karua",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 166,
"legal_name": "Martha Wangari Karua",
"slug": "martha-karua"
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"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, we had not come to 252 constituencies. The Bill proposes 40 constituencies. So, we are talking of 250 constituencies. To clarify what you have raised, the Government engaged the ECK, and the ECK indicated that it would be satisfied with 40 additional seats. Those are the seats proposed by this legislation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as hon. Members are aware, Kenya is a signatory to many international human rights instruments, which recognise, among other things, the human rights of women and their right to participation in Parliament. Additionally, the opening clause of our Constitution, Section 1(a) clearly states that the Republic of Kenya shall be a multi-party democratic state. Democracy means inclusivity and participation. In line with the policies of the Government, which have been adopted and accepted by this House, the Government has been practising affirmative action to various groups, among them, women. Even the intake in our public universities, there is affirmative action for the girl- child where admission is lowered by one point. For children coming from Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), for admission in secondary schools, again, the points are lowered. This is not to suggest that either the girl-child, or children from the marginalised areas are not endowed in a way that they can attain the higher grade. It is just a recognition that they do not have equal access and equal facilities in terms of education. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in terms of budgetary allocation, our ASAL areas have been given affirmative action by this Government over the last three years to enable them to catch up with the other parts of the country in terms of development. Our bursary funds and the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) is also allocated on the basis of affirmative action. It is in line with this policy and in recognition of the Government's commitment that it will enable women to increase their representation in Parliament, and this, I am aware is, indeed, in all the constitutions of all the political parties represented in this House. This Bill seeks to repeal Section 33 of the Constitution, which, as currently constituted, provides for 12 nominated Members of Parliament and to replace it with a new section for specially 3230 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 15, 2007 elected Members of Parliament. The new proposed Section 33 provides that: \"Subject to this Section, there shall be 50 specially elected Members of National Assembly, who shall be women elected in accordance with this Section.\" This is a clause introducing 50 exclusive specially elected seats for women. How shall these women be elected? Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is clearly indicated that: One, the women so specially elected must be qualified to be nominated for a Parliamentary election. In other words, their qualifications will be equal to those of Members of Parliament who run for elections in the manner that we do. These Members of Parliament will be elected by way of a party list, which is a method recognised in some parts of Africa, like South Africa and in the developed countries, like the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and even Germany, by way of proportional representation. It is akin to the current manner in which we nominate the 12 Members of Parliament where the number of votes garnered by each political party becomes the determinant of how the 12 nominated Members of Parliament are apportioned. The only difference is that in this case, each political party participating in elections will give a party list containing 50 names of women and when the elections are over, the ECK will, again, in accordance with the strength of the Parliamentary parties represented in Parliament, apportion to the parties the 50 women and the ECK will be required to go through the list. If, for example, party \"X\" qualifies for ten Members of Parliament, they will take numbers one to ten. If the next party qualifies for five Members of Parliament, they will take five Members of Parliament. In this case, instead of party leaders giving their nominated Members of Parliament and determining who they are after the election, the parties are forced to bear their intentions to the electorate before the election commences. The proposed Clause 3 indicates that for purposes of this question, each political party participating in a General Election shall on or before the date of nomination of candidates for the election submit a list of 50 women candidates to the ECK. So, it means that you have to show your list before you nominate. Another criteria is indicated in subclause 4(a) which says the parties will rank the candidates in order of priority. Subclause 4(b) say that it will take into account special interests, including the youth, persons with disabilities and geographical distribution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it will be the duty of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) in the proposed Subclause 5, to ensure that each party complies with this criteria. It means that you cannot take 50 women from your village and lift them into the party list nor can you take them from one province or age group. Women are diverse. Therefore, we have to look for diversity both in terms of character and geographical distribution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, currently, the 12 nominated Members have since Independence, been picked after general elections. In most cases, without much internal consultation within the parties. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this new method addresses the threshold and the participatory process in that any party that picks a list that is not credible endangers itself on being rejected during the elections by both voters and its supporters, including its candidates for parliamentary seats. It is, therefore, my humble submission that this method is superior to the current method. Mr. Speaker, Sir, issues have come up as to why other groups have not been provided for. These two clauses are about elections only. They are not about minimum or maximum reforms. They have a deadline in the sense that the ECK needs to know how it would proceed to elections. It needs to know whether the status quo remains or they proceed to the general elections by creating new constituencies. I am urging hon. Members to support this proposal and to note that in a survey done by the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) on the representation of women, Kenya ranks number 42 out of 43 countries in Africa and 107 in the world. Our neighbour Tanzania is leading; it is number 18 with 30.4 per cent of their parliamentarians being women. Uganda comes next with 27.6 per cent. With the recent admission of Rwanda, it is now the leading country in the world with 48.8 per cent of its members of parliament being women. August 15, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3231 Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is the time that people must stop paying lip-service to affirmative action, especially with regard to women. People must stand up and be counted. Although most people find it politically-correct to claim that they support affirmative action, anybody who supports affirmative action with \"a but\" is not sincere. This is a day where those who can stand and be counted with the women of this country will form more than half the population. Anybody who believes in democracy must truly see the need and urgency for the 50 specially elected seats for women. If you look at the total number of parliamentarians proposed by this Bill; 250 plus 50 equals 300. Out of 300, 50 seats is a mere 16.7 per cent. Mr. Speaker, Sir, other women like myself and other colleagues will come through competitive elections with the rest of Kenyans. That should raise the threshold of the number of women more towards the required one-third. Presently, we stand at 7.1 per cent. It has also been claimed that the proposed Clause 33---"
}