Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 701999,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/701999/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 313,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Mbarire",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 78,
        "legal_name": "Cecily Mutitu Mbarire",
        "slug": "cecily-mbarire"
    },
    "content": "We campaigned for our candidates and parties and found ourselves here. To show you how important it is to get that affirmative seat, we moved on. We have been able to go on, run for seats and come back to this House. Therefore, let nobody belittle affirmative action. Had I not gotten that one opportunity to be here for five years as a nominated Member of Parliament, I would not be seeking the seat of the governor of Embu County. It is because I got a chance where my capacity grew. Like Hon. Soipan has said, that is what we want to offer the women of this country because the playing ground is not level between men and women in the political arena in this country. So, I wish to state that, as women Members of Parliament in this House, we shall oppose this Bill and we will demand that the right thing is done. We also need to be consulted before any Bill comes before this House. We shall go to the courts to stop the next Parliament from sitting until this issue is heard and truly implemented. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, time has come when we cannot keep making noise all the time about issues that are constitutional and that were passed. Some of the people opposing them were on the frontline telling Kenyans to pass this law because it is good for women and that the Constitution is the most progressive for the women of this country. But when it comes to implementing those provisions within the Constitution, it is always a fight. We need to be heard loud and clear. It is unfortunate that the proposed judge of the Supreme Court is of the male gender. That means at the Supreme Court level, we have also failed the two-thirds gender rule that is the Constitution. More than ever before, the women of this country ought to speak very loudly and make it very clear that we cannot go for anything short of what is provided for in the Constitution. I want to urge all the women Members of Parliament and the male colleagues that supported us on the two-thirds gender rule of Hon. Duale to, please, ensure that we send this retrogressive law out through the door. Time has come when we must speak in one voice. I urge our male colleagues that we are not seeking for favours. It is not a privilege to pass that which is in the Constitution, but it is a right. You cannot speak here and say: “Hon. Cecily Mbarire, from now on you are a man”, if I do not go through the necessary surgical processes that will make me a man. That is what this law is doing. This law is saying that we shall provide the two-thirds gender rule progressively without stating how it will be done. We must be very clear on the numbers, timeframes and the formula that we shall use. We are willing to negotiate. There must be some goodwill by providing the numbers and how they will be achieved over a certain period of time. I want to encourage the women Members of Parliament and the male colleagues that have been supporting this process that, indeed, it has never been easy to pass these things. If you look at the battle that has been fought by those that were before us like Hon. Phoebe Asiyo and others, it was never easy. We should not give up. We must keep our eyes on the ball, but we must not allow retrogressive laws that will take the women movement backwards to be passed on this Floor. With those many remarks, I wish to vehemently oppose this legislative proposal."
}