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{
"id": 904460,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/904460/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 129,
"legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
"slug": "james-orengo"
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"content": "applicable laws or regulations with regard to discrimination. In the current Act, there is no provision, like I have seen in this Bill by the distinguished Sen. Pareno, that provides for gender parity. When you look at clauses dealing with discrimination, you will find that any appointments made in pursuance of affirmative action will not be considered to be an act of discrimination. That specific statement in this Bill is a great achievement. There are exemptions, for example, when it comes to employment, where there are issues of special skills or where there is need to employ people of a certain category or from certain communities. You will find that in the current statute, when it comes to the question of affirmative action, I have not seen those provisions. In this Bill, there are specific provisions which relate to exceptions in relation to affirmative action. That is found in Clause 40(1), which states that- ―Nothing contained in this Part shall render unlawful any act done— (a) to afford persons of a particular ethnic group access to facilities or services to meet the special needs of such persons in regard to their education, training or welfare, or other ancillary benefits; or (b) on grounds other than race, ethnic or national origin for the benefit of a person who is not a Kenyan citizen to afford the person access to facilities for education or training or other ancillary benefits, where it appears that the person in question does not intend to remain in Kenya after the period of education or training.‖ Madam Temporary Speaker, Clause 40(2) deals with particular racial groups and gender so that women find space in this country called Kenya. I applaud Sen. Pareno for this, because when we talk about gender parity, people think it cannot be achieved. Our neighbours in South Africa – I am figuratively talking about ‗neighbours,‘ although they are a distance away – have effectively dealt with issues of mainstreaming women into positions of leadership. Madam Temporary Speaker, allow me to go into a bit of history before I come specifically to the Bill. If you look at the current Act, when it talks about discrimination – those are found in Part 2 – they commence with discrimination by way of victimization; comparison of persons of different ethnic groups, harassment on the basis of ethnicity, discrimination in employment and so on, and so forth. You will find that acts of discrimination even in organizations or agencies are outlawed by dint of this Statute. Even discrimination in terms of access to public resources, discrimination by way of ownership of property and all that, was outlawed by the current Statute. Madam Temporary Speaker, if you now go back so many years from 2008 to what this Commission has done in order to give life to this very good provisions which were in this particular Statute, which have been improved by this Bill that has been brought to us by Sen. Pareno, you will find that absolutely nothing has been done so that people would be happy to think positively about this Commission. I, therefore, commend Sen. Pareno for seeking to repeal this Act and come with a new Bill so that we can have a new beginning. That new beginning does not just begin and end with the setting up of the Commission, but by elaborating more particularly and in specific terms, the functions of the Commission. The functions of the Commission were there under the old Act, but as I said, they were as good as water in the sand. I, therefore, hope that in enacting this Bill, we are The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}