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{
    "id": 669310,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/669310/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 69,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wangari",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13123,
        "legal_name": "Martha Wangari",
        "slug": "martha-wangari"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, allow me to congratulate Sen. Gwendo for laying this Report to the Table of this House. I also thank the office of the Speaker for always facilitating women in this House to attend these meetings. I have not attended a Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians meeting but we have hosted them at Safaripark Hotel. The experience shared in such a meeting is not anything you can exchange for anything else. I want to thank you and your office for facilitating this. The issue of women in leadership is a wide and contentious issue. When President Obama said that if we do not have women in leadership, it is like having half of your team in football and not having them play the game in the field. Despite being over 50 per cent of the population, we are still marginalized. In fact, as a country we are still struggling to reach the 30 per cent that we have put as a minimum threshold in the Constitution in terms of political leadership. It is not just limited to Parliament and political leadership; if you look at this report, you will actually see that the main thing was actually increasing women participation in decision-making structures. Sometimes, we over rate political leadership. In fact, we need to incorporate every other decision-making organ, be it in the church or in academic institutions. We must have women playing their rightful role in various institutions including county assemblies. This conference happened after Tanzania had held their elections and it was very significant to have it in Tanzania. It is the first time in history that we have a deputy president who is a woman in Tanzania. It was a timely conference to confirm that it is possible. We are also hoping at one point, we will get to the presidency as the women of this country whether as the president or the deputy president. We are headed there and we will get there. The Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians is the Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kedaga, the Speaker of Ugandan Parliament. I have heard the opportunity to listen to her when she recently came to join us in the national prayers at Safaripark hotel a while ago, she is full of wealth and inspiration to young women. So, we actually have a mentor and a role model in her. These conferences are not just limited to Members but they actually come with parliamentary staff. In terms of gaining experience, we are actually favoured to have the staff to contribute and be a part of that set up. In the tenth Parliament, the Kenya Women Parliamentarians did a study that was focusing on how possible it is for a woman to be elected in this country. It was quite interesting that every time a woman vies, she has a 50 per cent chance of being elected but the problem is how many are able to vie. That is when it becomes difficult; how do we get women out there. 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"
}