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"id": 228650,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/228650/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ms. Ndung'u",
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"speaker": {
"id": 361,
"legal_name": "Susanna Njoki Ndung'u",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to contribute in support of the President's Speech. First of all, I would like to focus on gender issues, which I normally speak about all the time. The President talked about the proposed Women Enterprise Development Fund. I think that is one of the most incredibly important thing that has happened for the women of Kenya since Independence. There are many challenges facing women who would like to access credit facilities. For example, they have no collateral. Even banks make it difficult for them to access credit March 29, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 259 facilities. They have to go with their husbands or male family members. That Fund has great urgency and must be put in place as soon as possible. I realised that when I visited Langata Women Prison two weeks ago. I found out that, unlike the male prison, 70 per cent of women inmates are hawkers. Those are women who are forced to sell foodstuff to support their families. They were unable to raise bonds or bails to get out. The other 30 per cent are women who have either committed infanticide or performed abortion because they cannot afford to support their children. So, I think the introduction of that Fund is absolutely necessary. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am glad that the President also talked about the introduction of the Domestic Violence and Family Protection Bill. That Bill was introduced on the Floor of this House in the eighth Parliament. But, somehow, it failed to make it out of the Committee Stage. It was \"killed\" right there. I would like to appeal to hon. Members to take that matter seriously, when that Bill comes to the Floor of this House. We should understand that 70 per cent of the injuries that are treated in all our hospitals are as a result of domestic assaults. We have become too complacent and tolerant of domestic violence. In the end, we are breeding criminals. Once we allow \"criminals\" to start beating their wives, children and husbands in their homes, we are accepting that criminals should thrive. When they go out into the society as criminals, it will be too late to handle the issue of breeding criminals. If we are going to fight the war against crime, we must address the issue of domestic violence. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if we are also to address the war on crime, we should seriously address the issue of access to justice. I am glad the President said he will introduce a method of hiring more judges. We are looking forward to The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill to be re- published, so that we can get more judges. That way, our people will have their cases heard much faster. When we talk about the war against crime, sometimes we need to talk about other simpler issues such as street lighting and access to police stations and police posts. As a person who comes from Nairobi, I think the conditions in the slums in Nairobi pose a great tragedy. The people who live in those slums have no access to justice and law enforcement agencies. That is something that we really need to look into. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Political Parties Bill and also a proposal for direct election of mayors will also come to the Floor of this House. I shall be one of the advocates for women to get their fair share. Women, as taxpayers, need to see what they will get in return for funding political parties. Therefore, the challenge will be to the political party leaders. We must see women in all the structures of political parties if, us women, will pay for the parties. Secondly, I think that we need to introduce a proposal in the direct election of mayors. We should introduce the ziba principle where, for somebody to run for those seats, his or her running mate must come from the other gender. That will ensure that we have \"man-woman, woman-man\" in any of those important seats. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would also like to talk about the constitutional review process. I would like to appeal to all my colleagues here, that it is time to address those issues with sobriety and with the seriousness that they deserve. Basically, we are saying that we are going to sit on a negotiation table. There are three things that we are going to address in those negotiations. The first two will be the Bills that have been published by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the third one is a Bill that has been proposed by the Departmental Committee on the Adminstration of Justice and Legal Affairs, which talks about essential reforms. We will be sitting down to discuss these three issues. I know that Members of Parliament know when to do politics and when to do business. I think that is something that we will sit down and decide. I think it is important for the political class to sit down, first, together, and come to an agreement, before we reach out to the civil society. I used to be a member of the civil society and I can assure you that the civil society 260 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 29, 2007 will be extremely organised before they come to meet Parliament. Could Parliament also not be organised before we meet the civil society? Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to talk a bit about the role and work of Members of Parliament. I agree with you that MPs are very busy. In fact, on top of the things that you described, I thought you should have also said Members of Parliament are also marriage counsellors. They are legal counsellors, financial advisers and also Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Any time somebody sees you, it is like inserting a card to get out some money. I think part of the problem is that people do not understand how Parliament works. Let me appeal to the Parliamentary Service Commission to get our Public Relations Department in order. I think it is time Parliament had a spokesperson to communicate to others about what goes on in Parliament. Such office should be able to organise Members of Parliament to know what we do in various House Committees. We have no opportunity to find out what happens in other Committees. We need to re-address the rule which says that we cannot anticipate debate. That is the rule that prevents us from conducting seminars or workshops that will brief us on the Bills and Motions that will come to the House. I think that will help wananchi to understand the work that we do better. Mr. Speaker, Sir, finally, I would like to talk about the issue of tribalism. It is disturbing me very much. I want to be known as a \"Nairobian\", if I can use that word. I am a person who was raised in Nairobi. I speak no vernacular. I have mixed race and mixed tribe ancestry."
}