The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission will waive the nomination fees for special interest groups vying for various political seats by half.
Women, youth and people living with disabilities will be allowed to pay half the standard fees for nominations.
IEBC Vice chairperson Juliana Cherera said the commission understands the economic position of women and other special interest groups when vying for seats.
“As IEBC, we understand the economic position of women and the many things that we have to do in this society to help increase their numbers on the ballot,” she said.
Cherera was speaking at the launch of the Women’s Political Leadership Strategy by Action Aid Kenya on Wednesday in Nairobi.
The launch brought together women’s rights groups, women leaders, and aspirants to discuss how to overcome various barriers to their ascension to political leadership.
Among the challenges mentioned was insecurity during campaigning, both online and offline, as well as the cost of vying for various seats, which women aspirants said was expensive.
Cherera said for the presidential seat, men will pay Sh200,000 while women, youth, and PLWDs will pay Sh100,000.
For gubernatorial seats, men will pay Sh50,000, and women Sh25,000, the same charges apply for Senate seats.
“Male aspirants for a member of Parliament seat will pay Sh20,000, while women will pay Sh10,000 and male MCA aspirants will pay Sh5,000, women Sh2,500,” she said.
Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu said out of all the 86 registered parties in the country, only seven were led by women.
“Out of the 24.8 million registered voters, only 36 per cent were women while 64 per cent were men,” she said.
She said that the newly amended Political Parties Act plays an important part in enhancing women’s participation in elections.
“The distribution formula of the special interest group fund to political parties will depend on whether or not they have a 15 per cent composition of these special groups,” she said.
So, a party that has not met its two-thirds gender rule threshold will be locked out of the fund.
To protect women aspirants and people with disabilities during this election season, Cherera said the commission has partnered with political parties, the National Police Service, the Human Rights Commission, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to ensure their safety.
“What we are doing is to first curb the breach of the Code of Conduct. We will summon anyone, even the public who breaches the code," she said.
"We are also partnering with the Judiciary."
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
