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{
    "id": 674450,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/674450/?format=api",
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    "content": "composition of women is fairly balanced in the Executive and complies with the constitutional requirement. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is no reason why Parliament which is the House that is supposed to represent the will of the people including the will of the women of this country should fall behind in implementing this, yet we have already required the same of the county assemblies, the Cabinet and every other time there are appointments to the public sector. The top up formula that is proposed in this Bill might not be the most elegant approach to solving this problem. However, in the absence of a better formula, this is what we must go for. There have been very many suggestions on how to achieve the two-thirds gender rule within Parliament. Some people have even proposed that some constituencies should be ring-fenced for women. This is a very impractical proposal if you were to ask me. Some people have even gone ahead to suggest that parties should deny men nomination certificates and give to the women which would further entrench the problem of discrimination. This top up is what has been used in the county assemblies. I do not think that anyone in their right senses would oppose this unless they come up with a better formula for seeing to it that two-thirds is not of one gender in this House. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are certain countries where such formulae are no longer necessary because society has got to a level where the role and influence of women has been recognized and appreciated. They do not need to go back to legislation to enforce the rights of women. There are those who have talked about additional cost of implementing this. It is true that our Constitution came up with so many structures and as the Senate Minority Leader keeps saying, it is important that we audit the Constitution and ascertain whether everything in it still remains sacrosanct. As it is right now, if we do not come up with a mechanism to go for a referendum or amend certain parts of it, then we are stuck with the cost. Therefore, those who are talking about the cost should relax because this is what we wanted. The pain that we suffered as a nation prior to this new Constitution was too great that the cost that we have to pay to have it implemented should be something bearable. Until and unless we conduct an audit of the Constitution, I believe that the additional cost of having more women in this House should not be an issue. If we are looking at the cost in terms of salaries and maintenance for the additional Members, that is the wrong way of looking at it. We would rather look at the opportunity cost of having women outside this House. The cost of maintaining them is a smaller price to pay as opposed to the cost of having women not being represented in Parliament and the upper echelons of power in this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are certain areas that I wish we could look at to see to it that we entrench the representation of women in leadership. For example, could it be an idea that one day we consider that when we have people running for the office of the governor, we make it an obligation that one of the two, between the governor and the deputy governor shall be a woman and must be of alternative gender. That is the only way to ensure that we have at least 47 male or female governors and deputy governors. That will give women an opportunity to see how things are done at that level. 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"
}