Aug 9 polls: IEBC wants gender-compliant nominees, but what does the law say?

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has threatened to reject parties’ nomination lists that won’t adhere to the two-thirds gender rule.

The electoral board says it bears the responsibility of ensuring that the two-thirds gender rule is observed.

In a letter dated April 27, and addressed to all political parties, IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati said: “You are hereby reminded that all political parties participating in the upcoming general election must comply with the existing statutory obligations and ensure all lists of nominated candidates for the 290 constituency-based elective positions for Members of the National Assembly and 47 County-based positions for the Members of Senate must comply with the two-thirds gender rule.”

Chebukati said political parties will be allowed 48 hours to revise their lists before being received.

April 28 (today) is the deadline for the submission of nominees for the positions of MP, Woman Representative, MCA and Senator.

“Do note that a revised list that does not comply with the two-thirds gender principle, will be rejected in its totality and all candidates on the list cannot stand for election on August 9, 2022,” said the electoral board boss.

The question, however, is: does the IEBC have the power to reject nominees based on their parties’ failure to adhere to the two-thirds gender rule?

Constitutional lawyer Bobby Mkangi says political parties have two options: either to comply as directed by the IEBC, or file a petition in court seeking the Judiciary’s intervention.

The IEBC, while justifying its decision, said it was guided by the High Court ruling in the Katiba Institute vs. IEBC Petition Number 19 of 2017, where the Court ruled that political parties were bound by the Constitution to ensure that the nomination process for candidates for MPs had to comply with the gender equity provisions.

The IEBC said the Court placed the responsibility of ensuring gender equity is achieved at the nomination stage on the electoral agency.

Bobby Mkangi says political parties “cannot blame the IEBC for enforcing a High Court order”.

“The parties should either comply or seek intervention from the courts,” Mkangi told The Standard.

“They can re-check the list and come up with a strategy to ensure gender balance is achieved. The IEBC is just reminding parties to ensure compliance.”

Mkangi advises parties to try and nominate more women should they fall short of gender equity after the primaries.

IEBC says it’s aiming to ensure that not more than 193 MPs are of the same gender.

In the Senate, the IEBC says not more than 31 seat-holders should be of the same gender.

The two-thirds gender principle continues to be a headache for agencies mandated to ensure its compliance, with critics arguing that elective seat composition should not be policed as that would water down the whole purpose of democracy.