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{
    "id": 443111,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/443111/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 95,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Elachi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13115,
        "legal_name": "Beatrice Elachi",
        "slug": "beatrice-elachi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I also rise to thank Sen. Martha, knowing very well that, indeed, I was also the Secretary General of “Level 30”. I know what we went through in terms of ensuring the lists are taken care of; not just by the IEBC, but also within the counties where we had these nominations. As I speak today, due to the process we had in court, you will find that most of the counties did not even respect the court process and wait for the nominated members to join them, so that they can constitute an assembly that is legal. What happened is that they went on and constituted the assemblies. Today in many of their committees, they do not have the nominated women even representing themselves either as Deputy Chairperson or even a Chairperson of any of those committees. The Constitution is very clear on what should be done. The reason we made it clear at that time is that we knew the challenges we would face, especially in the county governments because not many women would understand their rights. Therefore, there is need for inclusiveness. Mr. Speaker, Sir, today, we had a very interesting meeting in the Committee on Devolution. It is important to raise it, not just through the Senate, but also for the county governments, especially to the Governors and also the county assemblies. While we ensure we want to see progress, if we do not start to appreciate from the county level that we are all Kenyans in that county, regardless of how marginalized we were – either as a minority group or tribe is - that we cannot be accepted or they cannot involve you in terms of the growth of that county, we shall still have the challenges of cohesion. When we look at this amendment, we are saying let us ensure the county assemblies start on the right foot so that when we are talking about development, we are not talking about development in terms of the biological status of either the male or the female. We are talking about the development of a county based on each and every person whether a woman, marginalized or disabled, must be involved and you understand your target group. That is why you are there. This is one thing that we lost in the last 50 years. We have now fought for it. We thank the new Constitution. However, if we are not also careful, we may lose it from the counties and we will only manage it at the national level. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of ethnicity is a major challenge we are facing in this country. We understand majority of people in a county will be the locals of that county. However, they must embrace the minority tribes who live in that county. It is important for the Senate to come out clearly and say “we are from a county; let us look at who is who within our counties.” We want to see where a majority that ensures the minority tribes are also part of what is happening in their county. When you look at the CPSBs, you will realize that a majority of them are constituted by the major communities or tribes in that particular county. But the challenge, again, is that most of the Governors and the rest of the leadership will look at this issue politically and say “for those who"
}