GET /api/v0.1/hansard/entries/638947/?format=api
HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 638947,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/638947/?format=api",
"text_counter": 196,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Mbarire",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 78,
"legal_name": "Cecily Mutitu Mbarire",
"slug": "cecily-mbarire"
},
"content": "It goes further in sub-article (6) to say:- “(6) To give full effect to the realisation of the rights guaranteed under this Article, the State shall take legislative and other measures, including affirmative action programmes and policies designed to redress any disadvantage suffered by individuals or groups because of past discrimination.” Finally, in sub-article (8) it says:- “In addition to the measures contemplated in clause (6), the State shall take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender.” It is on that basis that we are today debating this very important legislation. I want to thank the Leader of the Majority Party for the support that he has shown from the time we put this Bill together and the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs led by its Chairman, Hon. Chepkong’a, who has gone through this Bill. We have had many meetings together. May I also thank the very many supportive men of this House who have sat with us at breakfast meetings, dinners and lunches to discuss this important Bill. Therefore, I want to plead with this House that as we debate this Bill today, please, remember that it has been a long walk to get the women where we are today. If it were not for affirmative action as enshrined in the Constitution, we would only be having a maximum of 21 women in this National Assembly today. Why? It is because we only have 16 women elected at the constituencies for reasons that we understand; reasons of economic challenges, cultural challenges and many other factors around elections that impede women from participating actively in politics. But because of affirmative action in the Constitution, we are lucky today that we have 47 women coming from the counties. You will all agree with me that the voices of those women have made a difference in the laws that we have passed in this House. So, I urge Members of Parliament today, the great men of this House who come here mainly because of the women vote, to pass this Bill because of the women vote that they get. Also to remember that the reason we are passing this Bill is because the environment is such that it is impossible to bring women here without affirmative action; a number that is critical enough to make a difference. In the last Parliament where we had the luck of having Hon. Mbadi here, we were only 22 women in a House of 290. We were unable to pass crucial Bills that affect women because we were very few voices. In this current Parliament, you will agree with me that we have passed four critical laws that touch on the women of this country because we have a bigger voice. We are asking for a much bigger voice so that we can even bring more laws that would not only touch on the women of Kenya, but also the men of this country. As we continue debating this, we are asking the men not to just look at the women who are seated here today but to remember - like the Leader of the Majority Party and the Chairman for the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs have said - that you have left many women back home. You have left your mothers at home. You have left your daughters. You have left your sisters who are looking up to you to see whether you will stand with them today. We are not doing this law for the women who are here today. We are doing it for the women of this country who are born and yet to be born. 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."
}