On 21 November 2018, a caucus of women political aspirants who lost in earlier elections warned that it would head to court if Parliament failed to pass the Two-Thirds Gender Bill.
The group, which says it draws members from all 47 counties, is led by Agnes Awour, who ran for the Siaya Senate seat in 2013. Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, Awour said she was “70 per cent convinced” the Bill would pass, but added that court action would be the next step if it collapsed.
The women want the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to take charge of nominating women to Parliament rather than leaving the process to political parties. They argued that IEBC should give priority to women who have shown interest in politics and those who have contributed to community development and women’s rights advocacy.
Awour said leaders such as Martha Karua, who has long pushed for women’s representation in leadership, should not be excluded from the process. She also said party-controlled nominations often reward “daughters, sisters, relatives and slay queens who offer nothing.”
Among those who joined her were more than 10 members, including Purity Gikunda, who was a 2017 MCA aspirant, and Aisha Dafalla, who contested the Women Rep seat in 2017. Also present was Peace Society of Kenya ambassador Jared Onyari.
Onyari said the constitutional principle behind the Bill could not be ignored because the Supreme Court had already pronounced itself on the matter. He said the issue was about equality and fairness, and not only about women. He also argued that the world was moving toward 50-50 representation in leadership.
Gikunda said the group was not demanding “free seats,” but argued that they only appear free when party leaders hand them to relatives and girlfriends.
The caucus said Kenya can afford the cost of adding more women through nomination. It also pointed to the numbers that would apply once the Bill is implemented: 117 women in the 349-member National Assembly and 23 women in the 67-member Senate. At the time, the National Assembly had 75 women, while the Senate had 21.
Awour said the current arrangement was not fair and should not be accepted, even if the country had made some progress.
