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{
"id": 1555492,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1555492/?format=api",
"text_counter": 352,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. Today, 15th April, 2025, two years and three months after the internationally publicized accidents that I had here in Parliament, I am honoured to come before you and this House for the Second Reading of the Provision of Sanitary Towels Bill (Senate Bills No.7 of 2024). Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, before I make my submissions, I would like to inform the House that I want to do this in honour of Jackline Chepng’eno, a 14-year-old girl who committed suicide after a horrible incident of period shaming. As I was drafting this Bill, my thoughts were with the family of Jackline and many others who have suffered the severe consequences of period poverty."
},
{
"id": 1555493,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1555493/?format=api",
"text_counter": 353,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Orwoba, allow me to interrupt you. You need to introduce your Bill properly by stating that the Provision of Sanitary Towels Bill (Senate Bills No.7 of 2024) be now read a Second Time and then proceed to make your submissions."
},
{
"id": 1555494,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1555494/?format=api",
"text_counter": 354,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I stand guided. I beg to move that the Provision of Sanitary Towels Bill (Senate Bills No.7 of 2024) be now read a Second Time. I will proceed from where I had started. Today might not seem to be a big deal for many people and even to some of my colleagues in Parliament. For the short period of time I have served as a Senator and in the 15 years that I have worked in community service, it is such an honour for me to legislate on this pertinent issue of period poverty. I want to take the House and the public through the Bill, so that any confusion that was witnessed earlier on can be clarified with the facts, which is the Bill that is before us. The Provision of Sanitary Towels Bill (Senate Bills No.7 of 2024) is a Bill and an Act of Parliament to provide for the provision of quality, free and sufficient sanitary towels in public institutions and correctional facilities; establish the inter-ministerial committee on provision of sanitary towels; and for the connected purposes. I will start by explaining why we chose this particular name; The Provision of Sanitary Towels Bill. We had a lot of deliberations and feedback from the public. There were those who felt that the name itself is limiting. After deliberating with the legal team The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1555495,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1555495/?format=api",
"text_counter": 355,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "and those who have been involved in the space of menstrual equity, we came down to this particular name: The Provision of Sanitary Towels Bill for the avoidance of doubt. We did not want to have any confusion. Some people suggested that we should call it the Provision of Menstrual Products or Provision of Menstrual Management. I want to inform the House that many a time we legislate and create a lot of loopholes and gaps such that people are unable to implement the laws that we pass. Menstrual hygiene and menstrual management is not limited to the products that we have. If we called it the provision or something to do with menstrual hygiene or management, we would then be also talking about things like painkillers, hot water bottles and nutrition. So, I was deliberate on this particular title. This is because I am trying to compel the Government of Kenya to provide sanitary towels to all schoolgirls and all women who are domiciled in the prisons. We, therefore, settled for the title: The Provision of Sanitary Towels Bill. Part 1 of this Bill highlights the preliminaries. It cites what the Act will be called, that is, The Provision of Sanitary Towels. It also defines certain terminologies such as the committees, cabinet secretaries, sanitary towels, county interdepartmental committees and secretaries. This will help us not to have confusion when we go down to the details of this Bill. We had a huge debate on whether this Bill should be domiciled in the Ministry of Education or whether it should be domiciled as an Act under the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs. Some people were of the view that this is a public health issue thus this Bill should be domiciled under the Ministry of Health. I am giving us a brief history of what has been happening because this pertinent issue does not have a home. As we speak, it is being bounced off from Ministry to Ministry. It started off as an Act under the education laws. For a long period of time, the provision of free sanitary towels was domiciled under the Ministry of Education. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there have been many challenges, including issues with procurement, distribution and prioritizing the vulnerable girls who needed these products most. There were also concerns about the quality of the sanitary towels provided. As a result, this task was recently transferred to the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage by the Kenya Kwanza Government. Under the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage, I would like to acknowledge that the Kenya Kwanza Government has made significant strides in addressing the issue of period poverty. When we raised the matter of menstrual hygiene products accessibility with our party leader, he increased the budget for this initiative from KShs265 million to KShs1 billion. In the last financial year, Kshs1 billion was allocated to procure and distribute sanitary towels to schoolgirls. My Bill proposes that this mandate be domiciled in the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage. Although menstruation is a health issue and we are using the Ministry of Education through the schools to distribute menstrual hygiene products, the truth is that it is a gender issue. I believe placing it under the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage allows for collaboration with other ministries, such as Health and Education, to ensure effective execution of the free sanitary towels programme for schoolgirls and women in prisons. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1555496,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1555496/?format=api",
"text_counter": 356,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "This Bill makes proposals contrary to what has been happening, which is bouncing off the finances from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage. I understand that this is not a popular Bill among the Members of the National Assembly, particularly the women. Recently, there have been challenges in procurement and distribution of sanitary towels from the mother ministry, the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage. I am aware that there have been conversations to move that fund to the women representatives’ kitty so they can procure and distribute. I want to be honest with Kenyans that I anticipate the National Assembly might reject this Bill. However, they should understand that it is not because it opposes providing sanitary towels to vulnerable girls, but due to competing interests over management of the Fund. I urge the women representatives to set aside personal interests and look at the bigger picture of devolving this mandate to county committees. Devolution will enable grassroots engagement and better address the specific menstrual hygiene needs of each region. This Bill proposes that the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage oversee the procurement, monitoring, evaluation and distribution of sanitary towels through grassroots champions of period equity. It is time we moved beyond centralizing decisions in Nairobi and engaged grassroots communities in determining their preferences. For instance, some counties might prefer reusable pads over disposable ones. I needed to clarify that. Additionally, in Part II on the administration and provision of sanitary towels, my Bill proposes that there is established an inter-ministerial committee on provision of sanitary towels. People have questioned the necessity of so many committees. In the past, when funds were domiciled in the Ministry of Education, the framework for executing the provision and distribution of free sanitary towels was left entirely to the officials within that Ministry. Let me provide an example: When the Ministry of Education managed this Fund, a desk officer, who had no knowledge about period poverty, no statistics on vulnerable schools, and no expertise in menstrual equity, was responsible for decision-making. This desk officer would review the database of schools in their region and based on arbitrary factors such as personal connections with Members of Parliament (MP), decide which schools received sanitary pads that year. There was no thought process or expertise involved. The Government funding for sanitary pads ranged from Kshs265 million to sometimes Kshs400 million, but a desk officer would make decisions on the beneficiaries. Without proper monitoring and evaluation, we have failed to have the desired impact although we have been pumping money into this initiative. The establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the provision of sanitary towels aims at ensuring that stakeholders managing these funds make informed decisions that align with the menstrual hygiene management policy in Kenya. The ultimate beneficiaries must be vulnerable girls and women. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I would like to inform this House and public on the committee. The committee shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and shall, in its corporate name, be capable of- The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1555497,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1555497/?format=api",
"text_counter": 357,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(a) suing and being sued; (b) purchasing or otherwise acquiring, holding, charging and disposing of movable and immovable property; (c) borrowing and lending money; and (d) doing or performing all other things or acts necessary for the proper performance of its functions under this Act which may lawfully be done or performed by a body corporate. The inter-ministerial committee shall comprise of- (a) The chairperson; (b) The Principal Secretary responsible for gender or their representative designated in writing; (c) The Principal Secretary responsible for basic education or their representative designated in writing; (d) The Principal Secretary responsible for finance or their representative designated in writing; (e) The Principal Secretary responsible for correctional facilities or their representative designated in writing; (f) The Principal Secretary responsible for higher education or their representative designated in writing; (g) The Principal Secretary responsible for vocational and technical training or their representative designated in writing; (h) The Principal Secretary responsible for public health or their representative designated in writing; (i) The Attorney-General or their representative designated in writing; (j) The Chairperson of the National Gender and Equality Commission or their representative designated in writing; (k) The Director General for Health or their representative designated in writing; and The Provision of Sanitary Towels Bill, 2024 73 (l) Three persons, not being public officers, of whom— (i) One shall be nominated by the Council of County Governors; (ii) One shall be nominated by a public benefit organization concerned with matters related to gender; and (iii) One shall be nominated by the umbrella body representing the largest number of organizations in the private sector. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, after thorough public participation, it was noted that while an inter-ministerial committee is necessary, it should be lean to align with austerity measures. Therefore, (f) and (g) will be brought back to the Floor of the House, hopefully to propose their removal through an amendment. Additionally, through the proposal of making the committees lean and reducing the membership from 14 to nine, we hope to bring to the Floor of the House an amendment to propose removal of (i), (j) and (k). We had proposed amendments that we hope will come to the Floor of the House. We agreed to remove it because we had proposed the Attorney-General, the Chairperson of the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) as well as the Director The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1555498,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1555498/?format=api",
"text_counter": 358,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "General for Health or a representative. While we were looking at the mandate of this committee, it was clear that these three particular seats were well represented in terms of those who are above there. There has been a lot of pushback in terms of the committee because there was no clarity on committee members who are going to sit in this particular committee. When you look at Clause 5(1)(l), I have proposed that we should have three persons not from public offices. One shall be nominated by the Council of Governors (CoG), another one shall be nominated by a public benefit organisation concerned with matters related to gender, and another one shall be nominated by the umbrella body representing the largest number of organisations in the private sector. Why did I come to this conclusion? I have been a champion of menstrual hygiene since 2007. It is only during the past three years that perhaps my work has come to the limelight due to the position that I hold as a Senator in the Senate of Kenya, which is the “Upper House”. I would like to say that there have been many other champions who have gone down to the grassroots and done the heavy lifting for more than 10 years, if not longer. They have carried that mantle to ensure that the fight to end period poverty does not die."
},
{
"id": 1555499,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1555499/?format=api",
"text_counter": 359,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "When I proposed members of the committee, it is my opinion that when we go wrong, it is because perhaps we are a group of church choir members preaching to the choir. For this particular provisions in Clause 5(1)(l) that is the nominee by the CoG, nominee by a public benefit organisation and another one from the umbrella body representing the largest number of organisations, it is my opinion that these menstrual equity champions and ambassadors find the opportunity to be absorbed within the committee."
},
{
"id": 1555500,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1555500/?format=api",
"text_counter": 360,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "I can see Sen. Chimera wondering what I am talking about and who is a menstrual equity champion and things like that. These are people who before you even knew about period poverty have been working in the grassroots to make sure that all women and girls menstruate with dignity and have access to menstrual hygiene products."
},
{
"id": 1555501,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1555501/?format=api",
"text_counter": 361,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "If you allow me, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I can name a few of them. We have a very passionate lady out there called Mamake Bobo. You might not know her by name but she has been championing what we call period parties even before I joined the Senate. A period party is where you send your daughters who want to be educated on menstrual hygiene and sexual reproductive health and rights and they are told how to carry themselves and what is required of them in case something happens and what to do. Basically, they are sensitised on what is happening to their bodies and how they should manage themselves. That lady has been organising what we call period parties. In those parties, schools have been sending young girls to be educated on what they need to do to manage their menstruation."
}
]
}