HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 247107,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/247107/?format=api",
"text_counter": 198,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mrs. Mwendwa",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 275,
"legal_name": "Winfred Nyiva Mwendwa",
"slug": "nyiva-mwendwa"
},
"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stand to support the Motion and congratulate the Leader of our delegation. As you can see, for once the Pan African Parliament is doing very well. We represent this Parliament on 50-50 basis; we have two gentlemen and two June 14, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1381 ladies. This is how parliaments and other institutions should be represented. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our group leader has talked, quite in detail, about how the Pan African Parliament operates. My other colleagues talked about the same and I do not wish to repeat anything that has already been said. However, I wish to urge the party which has not nominated its Members, that is, KANU, to nominate a lady Member of Parliament. Other countries which are Members of the Pan African Parliament have more than 50 per cent lady Members of Parliament representing their countries. The Pan African Parliament is new and, like all new institutions, it is faced with quite a number of problems. One of the problems that we have faced is interpretation. If I speak in English in the Pan African Parliament there will be interpreters to interpret the English language into French, Portuguese, Arabic and Kiswahili. Sometimes we are short of translators and we find that to be a big problem. When we break into Committees it is even worse because we do not get as many interpreters as when in the plenary. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have been very much impressed by the Pan African Parliament because it is actually involved in the wellbeing of Africa. I must commend the Committee which was sent to Darfur to investigate what was going on. We had been given different reports from the UN and other quarters. However, when we sent Members of Parliament from the Pan African Parliament to go on the ground and investigate, we got the proper information with regard to the fighting in Darfur. The information we got was much clearer to us compared to the reports we were getting from the UN and elsewhere. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also have situations whereby Members of Parliament go to observe elections in other countries. I have been very proud as a Kenya; unlike yesterday. When in the Pan African Parliament, we actually boast like fools, although properly. Why? It is because here in Kenya we conducted our last general elections better than any other African country that I know of. So, we always tell them to come over to Kenya and get people who can show them how to run an open and fair election. If you hear what some countries do, you will realise that they are worse than what we used to be in the 1960s and beyond. They literally pick leaders and say that they have conducted elections. So, we have set a precedent with regard to conducting proper elections. We should be proud of that and share our experiences with other African countries. It is commendable that, after many years in power, our former President did not say that he wanted to change the Constitution so that he could go for another term in power. Hon. Mwancha did not mention that, but it is true that the Ugandan President has been in power for close to 20 years. For him to go for another five years was quite interesting. I am sure he could have done what he expects to do in the next five years during his previous terms in power. The Pan African Parliament actually stands for good governance, democracy, the rule of law, peace and development in the continent. Therefore, we have in place rules that bar us from going against our own respective constitutions. You know that when you want to change things for yourself you can justify almost anything so that you try to make it legal when it is actually illegal. We were very upset when Heads of States in Africa went to celebrate the installation of a person who had extended his term of office. However, we were happy when the intention of doing the same in Nigeria flopped. We can see the rule of law, acceptance and respect for the constitution being applied. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to talk a bit about the Committee in which I serve in the Pan African Parliament. I am on the Committee on Trade, Customs and Immigration. In this Committee, we work towards harmonising trade, customs and immigration in Africa so that at the end of the day---"
}