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{
    "id": 575164,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/575164/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 315,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I am glad that this Sessional Paper is before the House. Ordinarily, policy papers should come before the law, but the Bill came ahead of this. I am very glad to note that I was the Chairperson of the sub-committee that worked on the Bill. I did a lot of work and we visited very many countries when we were developing it. Before I came to Parliament I worked hard in Kenya and Africa on issues of equalisation of opportunities based on gender, race, age and disability. So, this is a matter that is very close to my heart. In the last Parliament I served in the Committee on equal opportunities. This year I was tempted to go back to that Committee save for the reason that I had opportunity to serve in only one Committee. So, I chose to serve the people of Mbita in the Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Co-operatives. Serving the people of Mbita is a matter of equalising opportunities because I serve a people that are historically marginalised. I am partially a minority. As a Luo I am a majority, but as a Suba I am a minority. So, I do not know how I would be classified. Some Members are telling me I am a Luo-Suba, but if I had my husband that would change. I have said before that I am a citizen of the world as my husband describes himself. I am very happy that this Sessional Paper is coming shortly after the visit by the President of the USA, Barack Obama. It is sad that sometimes we have to wait for people from elsewhere to come and tell us the ills that bedevil this country such as ethnicity, exclusion and discrimination. I know he is our son, but in a way he is also an outsider. There is something that he spoke to that many people took negatively until he threw what was purported to be a jibe at the Opposition. He talked about the disparities between the vulnerability of a child from Nyanza dying than a child from central. We do not want to talk about these issues. Until we reach a level where we talk about the issues that divide us instead of the issues that include us, this country is travelling the wrong path. I know we have made strides in many other areas, but we will be cheating ourselves if we think we are making strides in bringing unity in this country. We may have made strides in building infrastructure and everything but we are doing very badly in values and principles that unite this country. I hope that part of President Uhuru’s legacy will be in unifying this country. He comes from a younger generation and despite the fact that I am in the Opposition, I will 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."
}