Even with a new constitution, the Kenyan woman remains sidelined

By Lillian Aluanga

Kenya: The country’s first General Election under the new constitutional dispensation appears to have borne mixed fortunes for the Kenyan woman.

That the March 2013 poll produced the highest number of women legislators since independence is not in doubt as the supreme law sought the participation of women in politics and governance. 

Although no woman was elected as governor or senator, 16 made it to Parliament as single constituency MPs, while another 47 were elected on Affirmative Action seats.

 Another 16 were nominated to the Senate, as required by the Constitution, and at least five more to Parliament. Elected MPs include Peris Tobiko (Kajiado East), Hellen Sambili (Mogotio) and Esther Murugi (Nyeri Town).

They defied cultural prejudices, political party waves, and the jinx that consigned other MPs to single term legislators, to clinch the coveted positions.

Although unsuccessful in her bid, Sophia Abdi Noor of Ijara constituency also stood out for breaking cultural barriers to seek an elective position in the North Eastern region.

But then there were also political heavyweights such as former Kitui Central MP Charity Ngilu, Sally Kosgey (Aldai) and Margaret Kamar (Eldoret East) that lost the elections.

Chaotic party primaries

Prior to the elections, women candidates fought to clinch party tickets but several were knocked out of the rather chaotic party primaries across all major political parties. At some point, the women’s movement wrote to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), protesting what it termed attempts to ‘bar’ women candidates in certain areas.

But it is perhaps at county level where women scored big, with more than 600 nominated to county assemblies in line with the one-third gender rule. A year after the elections, at least one-third of positions in Cabinet are now occupied by women, with several others appointed as principal secretaries, members of constitutional commissions and county executives.

“The Constitution has forced this change but we also know that change cannot be effected by law alone; it also requires political good will,” said National Women’s Steering Committee co-ordinator Daisy Amdany.

But beyond the increased numbers registered in last year’s elections, there are still issues to be addressed. Key among them is implementation of the gender rule that stipulates that no more than two-thirds of members in the Senate and National Assembly be of the same gender.

While women welcomed the provision, its implementation has been anything but easy, with the matter finding its way to the Supreme court just months to the March 4 polls.

An advisory opinion of the court, however, declared that the gender rule should be implemented progressively. The advisory called for legislative measures to ensure the rule is effected by 2015. Over a year after the verdict, there is still no mechanism to implement the provision.

County women representatives have also been struggling to define their role under devolution and are currently pushing for implementation of an Affirmative Action Social Development Fund to facilitate their work.

In fact, in some ways, the position was viewed as having posed a challenge for women seeking other elective posts, given the misconception that women candidates already had seats reserved for them.

Amdany, who also chairs the Women’s Political Alliance, says women who have benefited from the spaces created by the Constitution still have a responsibility to the women’s movement that agitated for affirmative action.

“There has been a disconnect between those who benefited from affirmative action and the movement. We need to reconnect,” she says.

Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) Country Director Felix Odhiambo says although the numbers of women in both the National Assembly and Senate increased, the figure is still far from the two-thirds that had been projected.

Drawn support

“The Supreme Court’s decision, while noting that the two-thirds gender rule should be progressively actualised, fell short of giving direction on how this should be realised,” he said.

Several options have been proposed to ensure at least one-third of members elected to the National Assembly and Senate are women. So far, none appears to have drawn support. Among them is to provide for a ‘gender top up’ as happened in county assemblies, with the resultant risk of running a bloated House.

The other options include reserving elective positions in selected constituencies for women and changing the electoral system altogether to a proportional representation similar to those in Rwanda and South Africa.

But it has been argued that as things stand now, nothing short of a constitutional amendment will guarantee implementation of the mandatory one-third gender rule.

East African Legislative Assembly member Mumbi Nga’ru (ODM), says were it not for the Constitution’s provision for affirmative action in the last elections, the number of women in the National Assembly, Senate and county assemblies would have much been lower.

But even as she hails the improvement in the number of women legislators, Ng’aru says recent appointments have disappointed her.

“The Government does not seem convinced that it is important to appoint more women. Some positions appear to be given to women reluctantly, with many settling for deputy slots,” she says.