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"id": 509425,
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"speaker_name": "Hon. Aden",
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"legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
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"content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. This is a very important Report. As required by the Constitution, this Report should be tabled before this House by His Excellency the President, so that this House can debate it. The fact that, that is happening now is very important. It is important for Kenya to respect the existing international conventions. Article 2 of our Constitution provides that these conventions as they are signed and approved by Kenya, form part of the laws of our land. For that reason, a regular update on the same to understand the status of each and every one of the conventions and treaties that Kenya has signed is an important obligation which, as leaders, we must support to ensure that these treaties are respected. It is a very voluminous document and I may not be able to address all the issues in here, in the short period of time that I have to debate this issue. However, one of the key issues is the elimination of racial discrimination, which this Report has detailed very much. The obligations herein, for us as a country, to eliminate racial discrimination as required by the protocol that we have signed is one that we need to do a little bit more as a country. Much as we are a developed economy within the context of African Continent, we continue to see issues of racial discrimination being targeted to some parts of the country. I want to be very specific here that in the northern Kenya region, indeed, the issue of discrimination is real. This is evident from even the processes applied of acquiring citizenship. As a person from the northern Kenya region, I am subjected to rules and regulations different from those which are subjected to the rest of Kenyans. For example, the simple process of getting a national identity card even when you are born in Kenya, as long as you are from the northern region, you have to go through a very elaborate process which not any other Kenyan is expected to go through. That is one of the areas of discrimination which this international agreement and treaty says must be eliminated. Kenya, being a member of the same, must live within the values of the treaties that we have signed. Our Constitution, also envisages under the Bill of Rights quite a lot. Indeed, what I have just explained is a discrimination which is not allowed under the international laws and under our Constitution as well. The problem of gender representation continues to be an obstacle to us as Kenyans. Indeed, gender disparity in various areas, be it employment or leadership, is evident. It is a nightmare in terms of implementing the constitutional requirement. By August, next year, this House is required to comply with the one-third gender rule. Unfortunately, it does not appear that much progress has been made in terms of ensuring that, that has happened. So, we are likely to hit some difficulties not too long from now. Less than a year from now, we may not have achieved that. This is a challenge that Kenya must live up to. We have signed this treaty to say that we will ensure one-third gender representation and we must live it. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the implementation or lack of implementation of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) Report is another very big failure of the Government. That Report has recommended a number of issues with regard to discrimination and violations of human rights that have happened in this country. That The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}