President William Ruto’s nomination of 11 women representing 21 per cent of his appointments to the Permanent Secretary role falls short of the constitutional two-thirds gender rule. This is despite the President promising women a 50 per cent stake in his new administration.
The 11 women nominated represent a step in the right direction but evidently, more was not just expected but could be done.
This follows the appointment of Cabinet secretaries in late September where women scooped slightly more than 32 per cent of all the cabinet slots, seven out of 22.
Cumulatively to date, the President's appointments fall short of the one-third gender constitutional threshold and his pre-election promise of ensuring a 50:50 gender balance in government appointments.
The 2010 Constitution stipulates the need for gender balance to bridge the gap on exclusions of women in leadership. Article 81 (b) 2010 says “Not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender”
If Kenya is going to move forward as a society, all citizens – male and female – must participate fully in their governance. Women, who have previously been marginalised, are to be included in the affairs of the republic.
Women have historically and systematically been marginalised through distinct social and legal imperfections that relegated them to the periphery of public political life. Although women make up at least 50 per cent of the population, their representation in public service has been at less than 20 per cent for many years.
The days of consigning women to domestic chores while men dominate the public and productive spheres, including decision-making organs, are long gone.
The days of gender-neutral laws, in a patriarchal society characterised by historical and societal prejudices that systematically marginalised women and actively suppressed them in all spheres of public life are behind us. The Constitution makes special provisions to cushion them from electoral and political vagaries.
It is important to remind the new administration that Article 27 of the Constitution states, “Every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law; equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and fundamental freedoms; women and men have the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres."
The state is thus expected not to discriminate directly or indirectly against any person on any ground, including race, sex, pregnancy, marital status, health status, ethnic or social origin, colour, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, dress, language or birth.
It’s incumbent upon the state to “take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender”.
Article 38 states that, not more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender. Article 100 reinforces the above by requiring enactment of legislation to promote the representation in parliament of women and other minorities and marginalised communities.
Kenya is a signatory to various international, regional and sub-regional instruments. They include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, The African Union Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa.
It, therefore, has to uphold these principles and pull up its socks to attain equitable gender representation in public service.
Peace and media practitioner. [email protected]
