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{
    "id": 443148,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/443148/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 132,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wako",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 366,
        "legal_name": "Amos Sitswila Wako",
        "slug": "amos-wako"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to speak on this very important Bill brought by Sen. Wangari. I must say that this is one of the very first Bills that we received as a Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. She was so hot on the issue; that the gender issue was not being considered in the county assemblies. That is why she drafted this Bill. At that time, I felt that because it was just two paragraphs, it should have come under the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill which we will move after this Bill. But on hindsight, I then felt that we should let it go. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to take this opportunity to inform my fellow Senators that maybe, in future, if you have an amendment which touches on one or two sections of a Bill, bring it to the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee, so that it is part of the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill. I gave permission for this to go ahead because I thought it would go faster than us. However, we have now arrived in the Senate more or less at the same time. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, my colleague Sen. Murkomen who is the Chairperson of the Sessional Committee on Devolved Governments has actually said all that I wanted to say because this very morning we were sitting in that Committee where many issues which are going to be corrected by this amendment, were brought up. In fact, we mentioned to everybody that the Senate has gone ahead. We are going to enact this Bill this afternoon because of a an omission in the interpretation of the Constitution; that it was not very clear on when the County Assembly can be properly constituted for the purpose of electing the Speaker; that was a misconception. Many county assemblies went ahead and did so. Therefore, this Bill as I know it is now for the avoidance of doubt; that this is what must happen. Since it went ahead, it has undermined very many provisions of our own Constitution. It has undermined the proper functioning of county assemblies. It has also undermined the proper functioning of county governments. We were given figures that because the nominated Members did not take part in the election of the Speaker, only three ladies out of 47 were elected as Speakers. Because the nominated ladies were not involved at all at that point in time, none of them were elected as leaders in their respective county assemblies. Only two are Leaders of Minority. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, more importantly, when it comes to constituting committees where according to the modern parliamentary practice, most of the work is done, and not merely on the Floor of the House, nearly all the nominated Members are not represented whatsoever. I want to take the Floor of this House now to appeal to the county assemblies that although they were elected, they should take some corrective measures in ensuring that the committees are reconstituted to take into account the"
}