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{
    "id": 575776,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/575776/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 231,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Kajuju",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 840,
        "legal_name": "Florence Kajuju",
        "slug": "florence-kajuju"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I thought the Chairman would have referred to me as a ranking Member because that is what you have been saying since morning. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I will speak from experience because I have seen what happened after the 2013 elections. Many counties did not elect women representatives in the county assemblies. At the time of electing the Speaker of the county assembly, the Deputy Speakers, the chairpersons of the various committees, we did not have gender representation. There is a reason why in the Constitution we stated that we should have one-third gender obligation in elective and appointive positions. This has to apply within our county assemblies. This amendment is quite in order. As we have said time and again, the Constitution might not be 100 per cent good but as we progress towards the implementation, these are some of the gray areas we will look at and see how we can amend. This includes the subsidiary legislation. This is because the County Government Act is one of the legislations or statutes that operationalise county governments. The county assembly is a key player towards ensuring that county governments operate. Therefore, we believe that if the county assembly at the first instance was to proceed in the manner that we see Kenyan elections being undertaken and one gender is disadvantaged, we shall have the political voice of the female gender lacking in most of the county assemblies. From the first instant, it is very important to state that any county assembly must await nominations so that if any gender is disadvantaged, at the end of the day, we shall have nominations and a properly constituted assembly that will take care of the interests of the 50 per cent of the population which in most cases would mean the female gender. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we are going into elections in 2017, and if we do not legislate now, we are going to have a repeat of what we saw in the last elections. It is important to do it now, just as we are doing in other amendments to ensure that in the next elections, there is a smooth transition and composition of the various bodies comprised in the Constitution as by law established. I beg to second. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker."
}