• The report proposes the Senate be composed of 94 members, one man and one woman elected in each of the 47 counties.
• The report will be officially launched on Monday at the Bomas of Kenya
Women leaders from the Common Women Agenda have expressed their full support for the Building Bridges Initiative report.
They say it contains many gender gains. Speaking in Nairobi on Friday, the women, led by Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu, said they expect the BBI process to determine some of the long unresolved gender issues.
"In our preliminary assessment, we celebrate the many gender gains in the BBI report, among them the Senate that has a balanced 50:50 representation of elected men and women, and offering equal power, especially to determine county allocations," she said.
The report proposes the Senate be composed of 94 lawmakers, one man and one woman elected in each of the 47 counties.
Another gain is a governor and deputy must be of the opposite gender. Further, political parties will provide the IEBC with a two thirds gender compliant and inclusive list. There will also be prioritisation of health, housing, food, water, education and social security in public finance.
Others are protection against sexual and gender-based violence, including during elections, from teenage pregnancies and early girl marriages and the establishment of the Health Services Commission to address health human resources.
Senator Gertrude Musuruve said women should not be left behind and that the Common Women Agenda is at the centre of this national conversation.
"We recognise that for a fully inclusive nation, the BBI process should not only focus on building ethnic community bridges but also gender bridges," she said.
The leaders, however, noted that despite the many gains, a major gap presents itself in the National Assembly where women have no guaranteed seats.
"As the conversation continues, our expectation is that this matter of the two thirds implementation mechanism in the National Assembly will be firmly, explicitly and finally be addressed to ensure full implementation of the two thirds gender rule in both houses," Ngilu said.
The BBI report will be officially launched on Monday at the Bomas of Kenya, Nairobi.
Speaking in Kisii on Wednesday as he received the report alongside ODM leader Raila Odinga, Uhuru said experts should make it simpler for everyone to understand.
"Today we receive that report but we will get a chance on Monday at Bomas to be taken through it line by line," he said.
"I am requesting them that between now and Monday, they should ensure the document is understandable... If you have a simple version put it in all or dailies so that they can see it ."