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{
    "id": 654073,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/654073/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 15,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "issues because we came here yesterday, as a House, to discuss a matter that is of national importance which is the matter to do with the two-thirds gender rule. The roles of Parliament are as I have mentioned. The unwritten law is that we exercise those roles without threats, coercion, undue intimidation or any form of undue pressure. Yesterday, we sat here and agreed to pass the two-thirds gender related Bill. I said that my conscience convinces me that enacting the two-thirds gender rule law is important for this country. I said I would do it. I want to do it because I believe it is the right thing to do. I do not want to do it because somebody from outside feels that I risk my political position if I do not do it. It is on that basis that I am very concerned about a message which was sent to Members of Parliament by the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA-Kenya), which reads:- “Dear Hon. Member of Parliament, The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) (No. 4) Bill is coming up for voting on Wednesday, 27th April 2016. Please, note that voting for constitutional Bills is public. We will be watching and counting on you to vote the Bill”. The wording of this message is not lobbying in as much as I know people are supposed to lobby for Bills. This is coercion and trying to threaten Members of Parliament to vote in a particular way. This is intimidation and is not acceptable. I have said before that some of us want to vote for this Bill. We are prepared to vote for it because we believe it is the right thing for our country. That resolve notwithstanding, nobody in this country has the right to intimidate, coerce or arm-twist Members of Parliament to vote in a particular way. This is wrong. It makes those of us who believe in it find ourselves in a dilemma. When we finally vote for it, will we have voted because our conscience says so or because we are feeling that people like FIDA-Kenya are wielding a big stick over our heads? Where will we find ourselves? This is important because there are people out there who feel we are not concerned about the affairs of our female colleagues. This is wrong. Recently, I saw an advert in WhatsApp of a man called Joseph Githinji. He wants to take the seat of my friend, Hon. Rachel Shebesh, which is the Women Representative for Nairobi County. Perhaps, what he is trying to express is that he may represent women more than a woman can. It is these issues that FIDA-Kenya is dealing with. I want this House to really express itself on this matter. Are we going to sit here to be coerced and arm-twisted to vote on a matter which ought to be of conscience? Is this not a matter we ought to deliberate on because we believe it is the right thing to do? Hon. Deputy Speaker, I ask for your guidance. I request you to give a chance to a few Members to express their position on it."
}