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{
    "id": 600718,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/600718/?format=api",
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    "content": "to the IPU report. That means that we are far below a country like Rwanda who is first in the region with about 64 representations of women. Madam Temporary Speaker, there is absolutely no reason why women cannot take up the representative positions. Women should stand up and be counted because the time is now. The space has been created because the Constitution has given us the space. It can be possible and it is possible. We just have to put our act together. As Sen. Murkomen has said, we should start with the nomination because it gives us the space for us to test the job and then go for it and seek election to various positions. Madam Temporary Speaker, the Motion that you brought is important because it shows the support that IPU has given to the initiative of Kenya to achieve the two-thirds gender rule. I am impressed by the fact that even when IPU started its negotiations, it was not from the point of imposing a formula on how best it should be done. They came and studied the provisions that we have had as Kenyan women in terms of the proposals that we have made. You will remember that when we started this conversation, it was by various proposals from hon. Members. I remember proposals from Messrs. Soipan, Neto and Chepkonga. There were also proposals by the women caucus; KEWOPA and KEWOSA. This has been a concerted effort. All of us worked and walked that road. A very important task force was also put in place to come up with recommendations of how to achieve the two-thirds gender rule. The IPU report acknowledges this and the process that was put into place. The task force started by looking at almost eight different formulas that would ensure the two-thirds gender rule is implemented. Some of the proposals included twinning of constituencies while others suggested that for the Senate, we should have 47 elected male Senators and 47 elected female Senators that would result into gender equality. As much as the debate is on two- thirds gender rule, it should finally move to gender equality because women comprise half of the world’s population. Madam Temporary Speaker, moving forward, we need to get to a point where we achieve equality. The task force made a proposal that all the stakeholder groups agreed to consolidate behind. The proposal was to simply shift the provisions given in Articles 177, 178 and 179. The reason for doing this was because a mechanism had already been put into place in the counties that after elections, look at the number of women who have been elected, compare it with that of men and then find ways of including the women through nomination. The county assemblies were able to do that. As the Constitution was being prepared and crafted, the provisions for the National Assembly and the Senate had not been put in place. The provision for the Senate was a little bit better because we already have 16 Senators who came in to specifically create that gender balance and to bring value. That pushed the population of women and their percentage in the Senate to about 23 per cent. However, at the National Assembly, it is much lower at 20 per cent. Therefore, the various proposals that had been put in place were to do that. After a lot of soul searching and discussions, moving forward and backwards, a position that was taken that: “Let us go and lift that provision so that at the end of the day, we can get more women into both Houses.” 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."
}