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{
    "id": 740641,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/740641/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 235,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Okoth",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 12482,
        "legal_name": "Kenneth Odhiambo Okoth",
        "slug": "kenneth-odhiambo-okoth"
    },
    "content": "Neto and the Leader of the Majority Party, Hon. Duale were remarkable for what they said this afternoon. If they will go down in history… My good friend, Aghostinho thinks he will come back here in October as an independent Member. He said when we talk about the definition of spouse, we should expand it. This was a constitutional issue that was debated at that time. We have had time in the last five years, without too much pressure to fundamentally put these issues down and question them. What is the direction that Kenya will take on the 20 per cent of the issues? I belong to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the party was among a group of parties and civil society that came up with Okoa Kenya Movement. People seem to have forgotten that there was an Okoa Kenya Bill which went and collected signatures to amend the Constitution. That Constitution (Amendment) Bill that was proposed by Okoa Kenya included issues of how much funding should go to our county governments. It had a forecast on devolved functions. It looked at the proper formula, reviewed the nature of the Provincial Administration, what used to be former and now a branch of the national Government administration. It looked at the wage bill in line with the county governments. County governments have now duplicated roles. You find that we have a ward administrator, sub-county administrator yet the national Government has the same people. You wonder how many of these people we need and whether we could use them jointly. The Okoa Kenya Bill, unfortunately talked about a ward fund in place of National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) which were very important issues. We must devolve utilisation of resources and bring them constitutionally to the lowest level in a manner that is predictable. It did not talk about the two-thirds gender rule. The two-thirds gender rule must be accomplished. We all agree on that but some people are opposed to it. I think it is a good thing. To the women of Kenya, it is to tell you that your hope will not come through the 11th Parliament. This Parliament in which I serve has done many good things, but there is one bad thing it has not done, and which will remain as a stain and an opportunity we had. We did call for quorum a couple of times here. I remember a time when Hon. Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka and Hon. Raila Odinga were in the Speaker’s Gallery while we were debating amendments on the two-thirds gender rule and it did not pass. Now we are left with three days next week for this House to meet. Therefore, I am telling the women of Kenya that your hope is not here, not in this 11th Parliament. It is a sad thing, but I must break the news to you. Number two, the women of Kenya must be ready to collect signatures because there is no guarantee that the 12th Parliament, with the attitude of chauvinism and entitlement, that when it comes to spending public money to engage a few more women to participate in our leadership, we are quoting the wage bill. But the amount of corruption that goes on in this country, just a fraction of that would be enough to pay for the salaries of any women we bring in here, whether we nominate 90 or 100 more. While I am talking about the wage bill, let us go to the reality of the matter and say we must bite the bullet and face some hard choices. Hon. Aghostinho Neto, at the beginning of this Parliament in April or May 2013, brought to the Budget and Appropriations Committee a very clear and simple Bill, proposing to reduce the size of the National Assembly and the Senate to make it affordable. So, we cannot speak from the two sides of our mouths. On the one hand, when you want to frustrate women, you tell them about the wage bill. In the first instance, Hon. Aghostinho Neto had brought a legislative proposal that was stopped as a money Bill, proposing to reduce the size of elected officials so that we would have a smaller Parliament that accommodates and meets the two-thirds gender rule. It was rejected. What is our stance really? 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."
}