Women vow to ensure constitutional 2/3 gender rule in Bunge is attained come 2022
By Mourice Seretta
With the shared agenda of advancing the participation of Women in Kenyan Politics, the Common Women Agenda [COWA] and affiliate partners on Tuesday held a high-level stakeholder meeting.
The hybrid event’s aim was to unpack the roadmap to achievement of the two-thirds gender rule in the upcoming elections, highlighted on media engagement for equal representation and review women’s preparedness for the 2022 political process.
Participants in the event who included veteran women in politics, women in influence and women aspiring to join elective posts in the coming general elections asked that they need to be given amongst others equal playground and a conducive political environment like their men counterparts.
They asked that political parties should actively engage them in the nominations process and that they need the required numbers to guarantee a gender balanced Parliament (both the Senate and National Assembly) is attained.
They also want political parties to ensure that they allow women get nominated and vie in the respective strongholds of the said political parties.
‘We are not going for less than ensuring that we field more than 5, 000 women in the forthcoming general election. This then will enable us ensure the constitutional two thirds gender rule of parliamentary composition is attained,’ one of their resolutions read.
Suba East Member of Parliament Millie Odhiambo who graced the event said that women will not at nothing this time around but to give money a run for their money come the 2022 general elections.
‘This time we are going to ensure that we deal with them politically perpendicularly!’ thundered Millie to the cheers from participants.
One participant, Ivy Wambui, a Youth Programmes Coordinator at the Kenya Agribusiness Alliance, said that the event was timely and amazing as it not only helped many aspiring young women get encouraged to join active politics but also helped them network. She aspires to be an MCA in Nyeri County.
She added that it was more of a get together of women in politics.
Other notable political figures at the event who also said they will not only encourage, mentor and ensure that more women are elected into Bunge were vocal politician and Youth and Gender Chief Administartive Secretary Racheal Shebesh, Chief Administrative Secretary Public Service and Gender Beatrice Elachi, Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris, Busia Woman Representative Florence Mutua, Muranga Woman Representative Sabina Chege, Ombudsman’s Priscilla Nyokabi, Politician Rosemary Odinga, Water Sector Trust Fund Chairperson Amb Dr Mary Khimulu amongst many others.
They also asked the media to ensure that it puts more focus on women matters before, during and after elections to ensure their interests are well articulated and not given a back bench as before.
The event was organized by MePAW, Mechanisms to Promote the Advancement of Women, a program formulated to support women and girls across Africa realize their potential, Mzalendo Trust a Kenya’s non-partisan premier parliamentary monitoring organization whose mission is to “promote the realization of open, inclusive, and accountable parliaments across Kenya and Africa” and The Common Women Agenda, COWA, a space to empower women and ensure Kenyan women access equal opportunities in every sphere of their lives.
Spearheaded by the Ministry of Public Service and Gender together with civil society partners, COWA provides a platform for women from various sectors to discuss and agree on a common ground to advance gender equality. As we approach the General elections, women leaders have come together under the Common Women Agenda for yet another attempt to get the Two-Thirds Gender Rule achieved in the 2022 General Elections.
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