MPs want to get rid of 47 Woman Reps

A showdown looms in Parliament between female MPs and their male counterparts over a radical proposal to scrap the 47  woman representative seats.

Introduced in the 2010 Constitution as an affirmative action strategy, the position has become controversial. Critics, overwhelmingly men, have called the position useless and said it simply swells the country's wage bill.

The Star has established that the Committee on Implementation and Oversight of the Constitution (CIOC) seeks to introduce a ‘sunset clause’ rendering the seat obsolete after the next general election.

However, the proposal has drawn the wrath of women leaders who have vowed to shoot it down.

The proposal comes only five months after male MPs ganged up to frustrate the enactment of a bill intended to put more women into Parliament.

The two-thirds gender bill has failed for a record four times, more than any other bill. The National Assembly in each case was unable to muster a quorum of 233 of 349 MPs. Men overwhelmingly stayed away.

Jeremiah Kioni, chair of the CIOC, exclusively told the Star the reintroduction of the sunset clause follows the uncertainty about the length of time it would take to terminate affirmative action.

The clause was contained in the revised harmonised draft Constitution, popularly known as the Naivasha Accord, but it was later dropped by a parliamentary committee.   

The initial draft stipulated that the election of woman representatives to the National Assembly would end 20 years after the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution.

The current Constitution is silent on the matter.

Kenyans have elected woman reps since 2013, meaning 2022 will be the 15th year.

In Naivasha, the parliamentary select committee dropped a number of proposals at that time, including scrapping the Prime Minister’s post in preference to a presidential system.

Lawyer Nzamba Kitonga, who chaired the committee of experts (COE) that midwifed the new Constitution, yesterday advised against the proposal to eliminate woman lawmakers' posts.

He criticised the MPs saying the very issues they now want to reintroduce were taken care of in the Naivasha draft.

The lawyer said the proposal should have waited for, or be included in the Building Bridges Taskforce report.

“We need a coherent approach. They (MPs) should wait for the BBI initiative to bring its report; otherwise, we will end up mutilating the Constitution,” Kitonga told the Star on Monday.

“Within the report, if there are any additions or subtractions, then we can make them, considering people’s participation,” the ex-CoE chair said.

Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, who was also a member of the CoE, said scrapping the seat is no walk in the park as it requires a referendum to change the current structure of the government.

“The question should be whether the objective of the affirmative action clause has been fulfilled,” he told the Star.

But women lawmakers are already up in arms.

Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo asked, “How do we create a sunset clause for what is not existing?”

“There is no one third. If we had achieved this, I would have supported the bid to remove the Woman MP seat.”

The seat was not to be permanent but a platform for women to train, learn politics, and for the public to see that women have potential.

Odhiambo said any attempt to change the scenario is premature, as this was the reason the sunset clause was dropped from the Naivasha Accord.

“The few women who came to Parliament through affirmative action have vied for seats and won. This is an indication that women have learned and are now bidding for posts on their own,” she said.

Taita Taveta MP Naomi Shaban, who is also a member of CIOC, equally opposed the proposal, saying the bill should instead restrict woman reps to serving two terms.

“We know it's not easy for women to win an election in the current electoral setup. I will, therefore, push for the bill to be published with provisions for two-term limits,” she told the Star.

Proposals to do away with the Woman MP seat have been floated before.

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria recommended the same in his memorandum to the Building Bridges Taskforce.

Third Way Alliance Punguza Mzigo referendum is also pushing to abolish the seat.

Last week, the Star exclusively reported that CIOC has published a separate bill that if enacted would compel political parties to nominate for elections at least a third of women before the polls.

According to Kioni, the Representation of Special Interest Groups Bill, 2019 would ensure there is movement to achieve gender equity.

The bill posits that political parties would have to ensure that at least a third of its candidates for parliamentary and county assembly elections are of either gender.

The amendments would also make it mandatory that at least five per cent of the nominees are persons living with disability.

The proposed law bars the IEBC from accepting lists of candidates from political parties that do not meet the gender rule.

The new bill proposes to amend several laws including the Political Parties Act, the Persons with Disability Act, the National Gender and Equality Commission Act, the Election Campaign Financing Act and the Election Offences Act.

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati is expected before the committee on Wednesday to give his views on the law seeking to achieve gender balance through the ballot.

As Parliament has for four times failed to enact the two-thirds gender bill, this begs the question of how Kioni would navigate the hurdle with his proposal to scrap the woman MP seats.

Already, legislators privy to the plan say it would be an effort in futility as the committee would be working against the very Constitution they want to fully implement.

CIOC is also working on an amendment to the Constitution to allow a referendum to be held alongside the general election.

The change is being pushed in the belief that the Building Bridges Taskforce report may introduce clauses requiring constitutional changes.

Kioni said the change would save the country Sh20 billion, money it would require to conduct a national election.

“This will bring a little sense of responsibility. During campaigns, people will align themselves to the referendum question,” he said.

The CIOC is also discussing a change from the presidential system to a parliamentary system to allow MPs to sit in the Cabinet and MCAs to be in County Executive Committees.