Kenya will incur at most Sh500 million every year for 20 years starting 2022 to cater for Parliament's two-thirds gender requirement, finance experts have said.
Institute of Economic Affairs chief executive Kwame Owino said implementing the law will cost less than one per cent of the total government expenditure.
He spoke during a session to measure the cost implication of the Two-thirds Gender Rule Bill scheduled for the second reading in Parliament on Tuesday.
The meeting was convened by the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association and National Gender Equality Commission.
''The cost for implementation of this constitutional requirement is very little. It is not about women, but fairness to all genders, '' Kandara MP Alice Wahome said.
The National Assembly currently has 76 women members representing 21.77 per cent of total members, a shortfall of at least 39 to meet the required threshold.
The Senate, on the other hand, is only two members shy of the constitutional requirement of at least 33 per cent. The House has 67 members.
Parliamentarians have embarked on a fresh bid to pass the Gender Bill. The same has been frustrated in previous attempts owing to a quorum hitch.
In May 2016, MPs rejected the Bill despite intense lobbying by women parliamentarians and various party leaders.
The bill was supported by a paltry 178 members, far below the required 233 votes. Out of the 180 MPs present, 16 voted against the bill while five did not vote.
As many as 150 MPs out of the 349 did not show up.
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President Uhuru Kenyatta has asked MPs to pass the Bill "to pave way for women to rise to top government positions as well as bring an end to the gender imbalance.
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