HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 964533,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/964533/?format=api",
"text_counter": 331,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Suba North, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
"speaker": {
"id": 376,
"legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
"slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
},
"content": "rights, especially on issues to do with gender and human rights. That was just by way of conveying, in summary, some of the things we have done. I also wish to tell you that I was elected to the international Executive of the body. So, I am carrying the flag of Kenya very high. I had the highest number of votes. I can see you are smiling congratulating me. I want to say that I support this Bill. In doing so, I say it is not new Bill. It is a successor to the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act. What is seeks to do is align it to the Constitution, improve it. One of the things I see this Bill going to do is do away with the constant amendments that we have to do all the time with betting and gaming. So, the sort of a certainty it will bring is very good. It will also clear roles between the county governments and the national Government. This is one area of law that reminds me of humanitarian. When I was studying humanitarian law at university, I often asked whether we really should be studying humanitarian law. It is because humanitarian law is a law of law yet we have a law that tells us how to wage war and how not to. For some of us, from the natural school of law thought, we would rather have no law on war because we should not be fighting. It is the same thing in this case. We should not have a law on gaming because of what we know it does to our young people. Unfortunately, because of our current modes in the society, it is one of the sins that we have accepted. Sometimes I really wonder because whenever it comes to what our churches, communities or religious people see as a sin touching on women or sexuality, there would be so much noise. I do not hear any noise now from religious leaders on the Gaming Bill, yet the Bible is very clear that gambling is a sin. There is no noise about it. Sometimes we must also be clear, as Christians, whether it is an issue of our faith or it is just an issue of controlling women. If it is an issue of our faith, there should be much noise on this Bill as I see on other issues to do with women. Now that we have it here, and it has been accepted in the society, we must regulate it. One of the positive things I have seen is that the Bill outlaws betting among children. However, one of the things I would encourage the Committee dealing with this Bill to consider is to define “child”. I have looked at the definition section and there is no definition of “child”. A child should be a person up to the age of 18 years. In my own constituency, many times in the past, when bursary was not sufficient, most of us used to get money from our own pockets and give it to people who were needy to augment the bursary kitty. A woman from Lambwe Ward gave her child money for school fees. The child went to Homa Bay Town, bet the entire school fees and the woman went nuts. She is just recovering. She actually went mental. Because of those things, we need to be very clear, especially on what a child is, so that it should be up to 18 years. We must also have a proviso that even if it is a person above 18 years, but is still a student, they should be completely precluded from gambling and betting because we are destroying the future of many of our young people. One of the things I like is that the Bill also suggests that one-third of the secretariat shall be of either gender. I know that sometimes the Leader of the Majority Party argues with me that it is clear in the Constitution yet when we do not provide it in Bills. Most of the authorities do not respect that rule. The Bible tells us that we remind them even when they know. We know that these provisions are in the Constitution, but because we respect them, I want to encourage everybody who brings a Bill to the House to restate them. There can be no sin in restating what is in the Constitution. It may only be a sin to state a different position. So, let us restate, especially when it comes to issues touching on gender. Finally, I celebrate my brothers and sisters even as we mark 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. I hope we will be true to our women. There have been so many reports The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}