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{
    "id": 575806,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/575806/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 261,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Muhia",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 968,
        "legal_name": "Wanjiku Muhia",
        "slug": "wanjiku-muhia"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Indeed, I was happy with my colleague who has just spoken for speaking very good about women though I was disappointed by the Member for Changamwe for considering women as being given favours by this amendment. I consider this amendment as not based on any gender. It is purely based on constitutional rights of individuals because even men can be a minority in the House to require nomination. I hope that is the where we are headed. This amendment is very good. It is unfortunate to be pioneers of any eventuality or occasion but it also comes with its own advantages. The current MCAs are the pioneers. There was no path and one has to be cleared. Some of the ways to make this path is to amend some Acts as we are currently doing. So, I want to commend the person who has come up with this amendment. In Nyandarua, we did not elect any woman MCA and we ended up nominating 17 MCAs. These are potential leaders in their own rights. They will possibly rise to become Members of Parliament, or great leaders in this nation. However, because of the fact that they were not given their democratic right to chair committees or elect the Speaker, they have not made any difference. In a case where the Speaker won with two votes, maybe if these women were given an opportunity that could have changed. There are circumstances where the Speaker is not leading the assembly in the right direction, but because these women are denied their democratic right, there are repercussions. With this amendment, these women will be given the opportunity to become leaders. We all know that chairpersons have added advantage compared to those who do not hold those positions. For instance, women who come from upcountry could get a lot of exposure by travelling to other countries. I believe that most of those who travel out of the country are chairpersons because they lead delegations. So, if these women got this opportunity, for instance, if a woman was elected the chair of a committee, by the end of the term that is already a capacity built. That will not happen because this opportunity was not given to the women MCAs. I also see this amendment in the spirit of equalisation and inclusiveness. That is if the assembly is in place every person in that assembly would have equal chance to contribute from day one. In that case, history would charge the assembly one way or another and all the MCAs would take equal responsibility. This is a very good amendment which will afford all MCAs justice because there is already injustice in the current assemblies. However, on the first page, I see injustice in four counties in this country, and my county is one of them. The drafters of this Bill or the persons in charge of the county governments have indicated the county headquarters and their physical locations, but they have left one column. For example, in Mombasa the location of the county headquarters is Mombasa City, but where is it? I take this opportunity to note that we have four counties in this country, Nyandarua being one of 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."
}