Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 674441,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/674441/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 244,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wangari",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13123,
        "legal_name": "Martha Wangari",
        "slug": "martha-wangari"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I congratulate the Mover of the Bill, Sen. Sijeny. This Bill talks to the Constitution that Kenyans voted for overwhelmingly in 2010. Under Article 81 of the Constitution on the general principles of the electoral system, there is a clear provision, under (b), on how the electoral system should be. It says:- “The electoral system shall comply with the following principles- (b) not more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender.” The issue of the gender parity and equality in this country in terms of leadership has come a long way. We have graduated from a moment when Parliament had only one, three or ten women. Today, we boast of improved numbers. In fact, in the National Assembly we have 68 women Members, inclusive of the 47 in the affirmative seats. In the Senate, we have 18 women out of the 67 Members. This also extends to the county assemblies. We are not lucky to have elected many women Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs). The current women membership in the county assemblies is about 4 per cent. Most of them were ‘gender top-ups,’as stipulated in Article 177 of the Constitution. This has both the good and the bad, even was we boast of these numbers. In the 10th Parliament, out of the 210 constituencies, there were 18 women Members. That was a better percentage compared to today, when we have 290 constituencies, yet we only speak of 16 elected women. Therefore we are moving two steps forward and two steps backwards; the gains are not absolute. We have had challenges as demonstrated in the 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"
}