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{
    "id": 701880,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/701880/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 194,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Kanyua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 981,
        "legal_name": "Priscilla Nyokabi Kanyua",
        "slug": "priscilla-nyokabi-kanyua"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Let me start on a very positive note by greeting the students from Tetu Constituency, Nyeri County who are here today. Hon. Speaker, on the matter of two-thirds, we have never had a sadder day. Today we gather here to discuss a Bill seeking to postpone the promise of progressive realisation of the two-thirds gender rule that was made to the women of Kenya. We are seeking to remove it completely from the Constitution. It is, indeed, very sad. Let me start by declaring that we have a very good Justice and Legal Affairs Committee. As a Committee, we had a meeting today to vet and approve the nominee for the position of the Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya. However, on the matter of two-thirds gender rule, we have a male and a female Justice and Legal Affairs Committee. This is because the female Members of the Committee have never agreed to the Bill that is before the House. They did not accept it then and they do not accept it even today. The Committee has 25 male Members and four female Members. It is a Committee of 29 Members. Even the composition of the Committee should comply with the two-thirds gender rule. No matter how much we oppose these Bills, they always find their way to the Floor of this House. I want women in this House, and women of Kenya generally, to know that the Bill before this House today is nothing but a show of might; that the 25 men of the Committee were able to canvass, collude and do many things to bring this Bill here today. That shows how much we need more women in Parliament. The two-thirds gender rule matter is a live debate. We have come here before, and Members are aware. I thank all the Members who supported the first Bill (Bill No.4). We were able to get 195 Members, including Hon. Chepkong’a himself. Hon. Duale moved that particular Bill. This is a democracy and we attained 195 votes. We required 38 more votes for that Bill to go through. The answer is not to go back to the starting line but the answer is to rise up from the 195 votes. The Bill that we are discussing today should not be taking us back to zero but it should be giving us a position from the 195 votes. We had given those proposals. There are Members who wanted the two-thirds gender rule to be implemented in two cycles of general election through a process we call “staggered implementation”. If the staggered implementation proposal was included in the “Duale Bill”, the 38 Members who did not vote for it would have voted for it. We 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."
}