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{
    "id": 56373,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/56373/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 341,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kinyanjui",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Roads",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 48,
        "legal_name": "Lee Maiyani Kinyanjui",
        "slug": "lee-kinyanjui"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing me to contribute to this very important Motion. I also want to thank the Mover of the Motion, hon. Kapondi. We know him for his work in the Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations. We thank him for coming to the defence of innocent girls in this country who have, for many years, been victims of culture. I want, from the onset to say that it is, indeed, true that women in this country and in this continent have for so many years been subjugated by culture and religion. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is just one example of that subjugation. It will be remembered by those of us who practice Christianity that even in the first Cabinet which had the 12 disciples of Jesus, it did not have the one-third that we now have in the current Constitution in Kenya. When you look at the Trinity in the Bible, it is about the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the place of women, if you look at it from a religious point of view, even in Islam, the place of women has, for many years, been that of supporting their men. It will also be remembered that in the Bible, when you look at the birth of Jesus, there is very little documentation regarding who the mother of Jesus was. It mainly focuses on the womb and the womanhood that brought Jesus to birth and it ends there. We also read the story of Jesus where, on the eighth day, he was circumcised as it was the tradition in those days. However, very little is said about women and what used to happen to them. Therefore, this is really one thing that goes back and has been said to us in many ways through tradition and religion. It has almost become accepted. I am happy that today, we are here to correct that malpractice. I also would like to remind this House that, over the years, many of our girls who undergo that operation, sometimes from a tender age of eight or ten years, it gives them a gateway to practice sex from that tender age. They can no longer be able to participate in their academic endeavours. Therefore, from the age of ten to 12, they are married off to go and start their families. That is not acceptable. As a House, I think this is one of the most important Bills that we will be passing today. I hope that we will follow up the passage of this Bill so that it does not become like many other Bills that have been passed, but have not been followed up with thorough action. Lastly, we know that there are many communities today which continue to practice that particular vice. I think it is not important for us to come here and condemn it. We must go to the grassroots. Many times, when we enact laws, the practice goes underground, but it still continues. So, we need to go to the next level, which is the most important level, and talk to people and communities, sensitize them and ensure that the practice is eradicated. I support."
}