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{
    "id": 702017,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/702017/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 331,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Muhia",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 968,
        "legal_name": "Wanjiku Muhia",
        "slug": "wanjiku-muhia"
    },
    "content": "seat, I would not have won it. To speak the truth, there were two ladies from Kinangop Constituency who contested for the seat. None of them got 1,000 votes. Therefore, affirmative action comes with great opportunities for women and other affirmative action groups in this country. As a result, I have since gained confidence and strategic capacity. I can now stand in any of the constituencies and dare the other candidates. Because of affirmative action, I can now contest and come back to this House as a member of a constituency. It is very unfortunate for Hon. Jakoyo and other colleagues to compare women to roads. This is pure incitement of Kenyans. When Hon. Jakoyo stands here and says that we need roads, and not to increase the membership of this House, he should appreciate that we are not talking about increasing the membership of the House. There was a time when this House had 210 Members from 210 constituencies. When we increased the constituencies to 290, the issue of roads did not arise. It is always very important to realise that women are the majority in this country. They contribute immensely in terms of revenue generation. They contribute to nation building because they are the majority. There should be no reason for women issues not to come on board. As women, we have to negotiate. When there are other issues to be taken on board, we do not have to negotiate. We have to get rid of this perception. As Members of Parliament, we do not need to incite Kenyans by telling them that women want free parliamentary seats. We are saying clearly that the 47 women who came to this House as a result of affirmative action have built the capacity and can now go for other seats, be it gubernatorial or Cabinet Secretary. The Bill that was previously brought here to address this matter failed because we missed 38 Members to vote for it. Could there have been a better way forward? Even if we speak until cows come home, at the end of the day, we need a solution. When we talk of “progressive”, we mean progressive of what? Are we going to wait for Jesus to come? Are we going to wait forever? The word “progressive” has no clear meaning. We are not speaking of any solution. We need a solution. We need to get rid of this cultural ideology because the time has come. We are in the 21st Century. We should get rid of the cultural ideology that women do not vote for one of their own. It is time we started distributing equitably the positions and opportunities that come along with these things. We can also speak of reducing our salaries, if the size of Parliament is really big. This would be a better option, and not the first option. Some people are saying that this House is so big and, therefore, we need to do away with the 47 women representatives. According to them, we do not even need to think of the two-thirds gender rule because we will increase the numbers. As I finish, this House has a capacity. We have dealt with serious issues before. We have strategized and negotiated. We need a fair game for each gender. Today it is women; tomorrow it can be men. In order for us to be good Kenyans, we need to sit round a table, where no party should feel like the other party has taken the opportunity. With those few remarks, I wish to oppose and oppose this Bill."
}