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{
    "id": 572778,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/572778/?format=api",
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    "content": "very hard to bridge the gap between all of us, whether tribal or coalitions. He really inspired us, as a generation, that a man who was taunted as a child with a funny name can rise to the point of becoming the most powerful President in this world. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, let me pick a few issues that he rode on. One is the issue of women in this country. As a father of two girls and, of course, a wife, he definitely was inclined to support women. He was very categorical that we, as a country, must realise that not encompassing women in leadership and other powerful positions in this country is like having half of your team not playing. In fact, he said it very clearly that when half of your team is not playing, you cannot expect a win. Women and girls comprise over 50 per cent of the population of this country. We must not joke with these numbers. He said this at a very critical time when we are dealing with the two-thirds gender rule in Parliament. As you know, the National Assembly has not even reached 30 per cent in terms of women representation. It is time we cracked our heads to know how to cater for it very well. President Obama went ahead to demonstrate to the country and the world that it has to come from the upbringing right from where you give an equal chance to every girl who is born in Rift Valley, Samburu or Marsabit. He said that if you educate girls, then they are bound to become better mothers who will bring up children who will go to school. If we do that as an affirmative action, then we will not have a problem in this country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, he also spoke to the cultures that unite us and those that we should do away with like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). I was very happy to hear him pronounce himself very clearly that there were slaves in the yesteryears, but do we now still go back to it just because it is our culture. If we practiced FGM, does it mean that we should still do it now because it was in our culture? He said very well that we must choose what works for us now in this century. In fact, FGM has no place in the 21st century. As a mother of boys, empowering girls does not mean that we forget boys. Today, I visited a place where I was dealing with adoption issues. I noted that there were so many boys in children’s homes who were not being adopted because the law does not allow single women to adopt boys. That means that girls are being adopted very fast while boys are stuck in children’s homes. We must put resources together and ensure that the two genders are equally taken care of. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the other issue that he spoke about is on changing goal posts. We must also realise that when you are in or out of power, we must always be consistent. We should remember that what we say, the internet does not forget; whatever I am saying here will be remembered 20 to 30 years down the line. Therefore, I must be accountable for what I say today because in the next general elections I might find myself in the opposition. That is how it has been. We had Members who are in the opposition right now in government. We must be consistent in whatever we say because these things will always come back to haunt us. 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."
}