By Liz Mbula
NAIROBI, Kenya Feb 2 – As Kenya heads to elections in August, political parties have been urged to ensure they meet the gender quota so as to increase women representation in elective positions.
Kenya has lagged behind on the gender quota, with women remaining largely unrepresented for years despite calls from various players and stakeholders to have a balance.
President Uhuru Kenyatta ignored advise from former Chief Justice David Maraga to disband Parliament which, he said, remains illegally constituted for failing to meet the two-third gender rule as outlined in the Constitution.
And to ensure that the two-thirds gender rule is met in the next Parliament that will be constituted after the August election, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is piling pressure on political parties to ensure their nomination lists are gender-sensitive failure to which they will not be approved.
“The Registrar of Political Parties and the IEBC have made it very clear that they will not accept party lists that do not cater for the gender quota and it is now up to the parties to ensure that they are on the right side of this rule,” said Sammy Muraya, the Program Manager at Voice for Women and Girls’ Rights Kenya (VWGR-K), a project of Journalists for Human Rights (JHR).
Muraya is, however, worried that the gender quota may not be achieved through political parties because nominations are usually done based on aspirants’ popularity among other considerations.
“Pushing the responsibility back to political parties is very tricky because the party leadership can argue that they will go with the most popular leaders during nominations, however, they have the gender balance that has been tasked to them,” he told Capital News in an interview.
He urged political parties to subsidize registration fees for female aspirants to be able to attract more to seek elective posts in the August elections.
So far, only the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has announced subsidized nomination fees for female candidates who will pay half of what their male counterparts are required to pay.
In a notice published on Tuesday, presidential aspirants in the party will pay Sh500,000, Governors Sh250,000, Senators sH125,000, Women Representative Sh250,000, Member of Parliament 125,000 and County Assembly Members Sh25,000. Other parties are yet to outline their nomination rules.
In a letter to political parties, the electoral commission Chairman Wafula Chebukati said political parties must comply with the two-thirds gender rule which he described as a “significant matter in the realization of the provisions of Article 81 of the Constitution on the General Principal for the electoral system.”
Chebukati is categorical that nomination lists from political parties that will not adhere to the two-thirds gender rule will not be approved.
IEBC’s Vice-Chairperson Juliana Cherera said the commission has established a Women’s Coordinating Committee (WCC) for elections while the registration fees for women candidates has been reduced by 50 per cent.
Speaking Friday at a stakeholders engagement forum bringing together women leaders and organisations, IEBC Vice Chair Juliana Cherera said it was time women seized the opportunity to boost the number of elected women by registering and voting.
She said that the commission remains guided by the principle of inclusivity and has formulated goals for women, youth and People With Disabilities to help mobilise amongst themselves.
According to Cherera, if women exploited their numerical strength, gender balance representation in Parliament will be achieved.
“In 2017 General Election we had 19,600,000 registered voters of which 46.6% were women. If women were well-coordinated and exploited their numerical strength, they could have voted in their own candidates to reach the 2/3 gender rule in National and County Assemblies” she said.
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