MPs back Ruto’s House gender rule proposal
Deputy Speaker in the National Assembly Gladys Shollei. She urged women parliamentarians to take advantage of the political goodwill to actualise the bill, a bid that has remained elusive so far.
What you need to know:
- The Kenya Women Parliamentary Association said the President’s proposal is a worthy compromise.
- Ruto wants the rule pegged on only the 290 members elected from constituencies, rather than 349, which includes the nominated members and 47 women reps.
A section of parliamentarians have backed President William Ruto’s proposal that would see the nomination of 40 more women to Parliament to meet the two-thirds gender principle.
Through the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (Kewopa), they said that although the President’s proposal is a significant departure from the five previous attempts that sought that the rule be applied to all 349 legislators, it is still a worthy compromise.
Dr Ruto, in his memorandum to Parliament, wants the gender rule pegged on only the 290 elected members of the National Assembly, rather than 349, which includes the nominated members and the 47 women members elected to represent the counties.
If the President’s formula were to be made law and applied to the current National Assembly, which has 26 elected women MPs, it would mean the nomination of only 24 women will fulfil the requirements of the gender principle. Similarly, the Senate, which already has three elected women and 16 nominated ones, would require only 16 more women. This is assuming no woman is elected to the House.
Speaking during a consultative forum in Nairobi, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gladys Shollei urged Kewopa to take advantage of the political goodwill to actualise the bill, a bid that has remained elusive so far.
“It is better to get 50 per cent of something than to get 100 per cent of nothing; currently, we have nothing. If we take a tough stance and refuse to compromise on this, we will not get anything,” Ms Shollei said, citing five previous instances that failed.
Collective responsibility
She urged women leaders to also support the other proposals fronted by Dr Ruto. “If we attempt to pass the two-thirds gender rule on its own, members will not show up to pass the bill. I have tried before and it did not work. However, if the bill includes the other proposals that parliamentarians hold dear, then it would be possible to pass it.”
Besides the two-thirds gender bill, the Ruto memorandum also recommended the reintroduction of the office of the leader of official opposition; constituency development, Senate oversight and National Government Affirmative Action (NGAAF) funds; and parliamentary oversight of the Executive.
For her part, Ms Harriet Chiggai, President Ruto’s advisor on women’s rights, reminded women leaders that former Chief Justice David Maraga had advised that Parliament be dissolved for failing to uphold the gender rule, hence it was now time to pass the gender bill.
“We have to take into account that Parliament should make laws without violating the Constitution. However, Parliament since the inception of the 2010 Constitution has continuously violated it. Why do I say so? Article 3(2) of the Constitution states that, any attempt to establish a government otherwise than in compliance with this Constitution is unlawful,” she said.
She also informed women parliamentarians not to be dissuaded by claims that the proposed amendment would require a referendum, adding it would only affect the composition rather than the function of Parliament.
“We do not have to go through the popular initiative method. Let us take the shortest time possible through the parliamentary initiative. As we all know, we do not have the luxury of time. We all know where the original sin was planted, that is, the societal and cultural effect, which saw women being sidelined, but now it is time that ascended to power.”
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, who was in attendance, promised to assist to lobby House members to pass the bill.
