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"id": 600631,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Ongoro",
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"legal_name": "Elizabeth Ongoro Masha",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. THAT, AWARE that the Parliament of Kenya is an active member of the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) which is the international organisation of national Parliaments; FURTHER AWARE that the IPU provides support to Parliaments in areas such as law and policy-making, as well as representation; NOTING WITH APPRECIATION that, upon a request by the Speaker of the Senate, the IPU sent an expert delegation to Kenya from 12th to 16th July, 2015 to offer advice on the way forward in implementing the constitutional requirement on the two thirds gender rule; NOW THEREFORE, the Senate notes the Report of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Expert Mission to Kenya on the framework to implement the constitutional provision of the two-thirds gender rule laid on the Table of the Senate on Thursday, 8th October, 2015 and extends its appreciation to the IPU for support on the matter. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, statistics globally and here in Kenya indicate that women constitute about 51 per cent of the entire global population. This same scenario is here in Kenya. Interestingly, this 51 per cent has been under-represented in all spheres of life. In the legislature, for example, women represent less than a quarter of all the legislative seats. The Senate is in a pathetic situation. All the women in the Senate are nominated with no voting rights unless and except appointed by the leaders of their respective delegations. This puts the women of Kenya in the Senate representing more than 51 per cent of the entire population at a disadvantaged position. However, all is not lost. When we promulgated the Constitution in 2010, it was a major milestone for the women of Kenya in the fight for gender equality. The Constitution opened and gave us enhanced space in terms of political representation and all other spheres, including the executive arm. The Bill of Rights, Article 27(6), 27(8), and 81(b) provides and addresses the needs and issues regarding equality and affirmative action. I am aware everybody has read those provisions. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in view of this emotive debate we have had in the recent past, aware that we have to suggest a firm position on that, and considering that Kenyan women had to seek views from all the stakeholders and had to go all the way to create strategic partners in a manner that we can come to an amicable solution, we had to learn from neighbouring countries, especially because one of the most popular proposals that was being put on the table was the issue of gender quotas. Therefore, we went out of our way to learn from our sisters from other countries, especially countries where constitutional gender quota issues have proved critical. This is towards ensuring enhanced political participation for women. We benchmarked with countries like Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa, among others. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, interestingly, after all these benchmarking, we realise that all the women globally face the same challenge. Therefore, all these 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."
}