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{
    "id": 548319,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/548319/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 299,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "May 6, 2015 SENATE DEBATES 42 Sen. Sijeny",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, thank you for giving me the chance to contribute to this Bill. I wish to state from the word go that I support the amendment of the Parliamentary Service Act. This is because it will definitely enhance efficiency within our mandate, the entire Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), the National Assembly and the Senate. We know that the Constitution has given us unique roles, the oversight roles of the counties is not an easy thing. Many people still do not understand what our functions are. I know Kenyans do not have a culture of reading and they have not read the Constitution very well, so, there is need for sensitizing them on many issues. As it is, many Kenyans do not appreciate what the drafters of the Constitution had in mind. No sooner had the Constitution passed and promulgated than they already wanted to flush away the gains especially for the women. I am talking about the affirmative action. I am a nominated Senator and I am here on the strength of the Constitution. When we went to Kisumu for a devolution conference, our badges bore our names with the title “nominated women” Our constituency is definitely women. How do we oversight within the counties to ensure that women issues are protected? We have to oversight the gender policies and their implementation. They are unique and very delicate. There are many spheres which need our roles and participation as Senators and more particularly as nominated Senators. I will highlight on this because when I look at this Bill, I see an opportunity where the work of the nominated Senators can be seen. They can be facilitated and prepare their agenda through the various committees. As we have seen, committees within the Senate are very efficient. That is the most efficient way of performing our duties to monitor and account for everything. We have seen within the society and all over the country that there is need to protect the women. There is still a lot of discomfort and violence within the family, we have just seen a 16 year old girl who was brutally burnt, harassed and hidden by the husband. Nobody could reach them- as much as marriage is prohibited amongst children, it is still being practiced Madam Temporary Speaker, I am happy to report that with the help of the network of women leaders within this nation, they helped the woman and this is because of facilitation and networking. What programmes can we come up with? There are many other gender issues which, with the implementation and passing of this Bill, will enable the nominated women Senators to reach out to their clientele. We know that there is still need of gender mainstreaming within many aspects. There are many issues in education, we must ensure from the basic early childhood education to the highest institution within the universities that there is gender mainstreaming, we have accounted for our actions, followed up and protected them. In agriculture, women are the majority agriculturalists; they do a lot of farming. Are they protected or do they have some unique issues that need to be tackled? We know that we have our colleagues of the opposite gender but as Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale has just said, we have a way of bonding with them and finding out ways of how they can help. We can help them to open up to others and the way we relate to them is different. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}