Nguli criticises President Kibaki over county jobs

Water minister Charity Ngilu has criticised President Kibaki over the appointment of the 47 County commissioners saying the President has been disregarding the new constitution. She said though the constitution has given women a considerable deal on their role in holding both political and other public offices, the leaders have continued to deny them their rights.

Ngilu was speaking during the official opening of a three-day gender conference at St Paul’s University in Limuru yesterday. At the same time, the minister applauded women's role in shaping society saying even the Bible such women existed. She accused President Kibaki of giving women a raw deal in public appointment in total disregard of the new constitution. “We need to know why women issues are relegated to the back seat. We have very many qualified and ratified women who can serve. Today, even after we promulgated the new constitution in 2010 where it is clear how the appointments should be made in the country, you still find the President forgetting,” said Ngilu.

She added, “and the people who are advising the President over the appointments make him forget and he appoints more men than women and he can see that he is not allowed by the constitution to appoint more men in the sense that he is going to have two thirds in the gender in any commission of committees that he appoints and goes back doing business as usual forgetting women.”

Ngilu said Kibaki dishonored the constitution when he appointed the Director of Public Prosecutions’, the Chief Justice and the Attorney General noting that there was a need to appoint at least one woman in one those three top seats. She said, “we saw this last year when he appointed Chief Justice, when he appointed the Attorney General and Director of public prosecutions forgetting that he needed to appoint a woman in one of those positions. We also so a repeat again when he appointed the commissioners, him disregarding the constitution.”

The Minister noted that they want to continually put pressure to ensure that they create awareness on the constitution rights so that nobody forgets that women are in the constitution without demanding because they are there by right. Ngilu praised women heroines like Mekatilili wa Menza who frought alongside men for the freedom of the country, Wangu wa Makeli, Mary Thuku and more recently during the second libearation like Professor Micere Mugo who is still in exile and the late Wangari Maathai.

She said that other women who have prayed a major role in forming foundation of today in the bible are Mary Magdalene who was nicknamed the apostle of apostles after the rising of Jesus Christ, Queen Esther niece to Modeccai, Deborah and Mirriam. She said that out of the zeal of Kenyans women there has been a formation of women councilors, Mayors, MPs and Ministers. “Out of these efforts, we now boast of women councilors and mayors, 22 woemn MPs, sisx women in the cabinet. We also have women leading political parties which were previously a male dominated arena,” said Ngilu.