Things are looking up for women in government after three influential Kenyan leaders have joined the band wagon in support of the two thirds gender rule. After President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto publicly announced the Bill proposed by National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, Raila Odinga has now announced his support of the Bill.
Former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga has today urged Members of Parliament to support the two thirds gender rule Bill set to be tabled before the House on Tuesday.
The will be the second time the Bill will come before the House after it was shot down the first time in a well-calculated move where male MPs stopped the vote thereby denying the obligatory numbers to have it passed.
In a statement sent to newsrooms today, Mr. Odinga joined President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto in rallying support for the Bill.
“Raila Odinga urges all members of parliament to stand up for the Constitution and for women by voting for the Bill when it comes up this week,” reads the statement sent by the former premier’s spokesperson Dennis Onyango.
The African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development also urged Parliament to take into consideration Kenya’s poor showing on gender parity which according to him, not only goes against regional and global trends but also has negative implications on the country’s economic, political and social progress.
According to Mr. Odinga, the two thirds gender rule Bill aims at spearheading the country towards realizing equality as well as freedom from discrimination for women. He further said that the Bill would enable the country’s gender representation in Parliament to be at par with those of neighbouring countries such as Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi.
“The Bill is being re-introduced against a background where Kenya, despite being a dominant political and economic power in the region, remains the only country yet to establish an affirmative action programme for gender representation in Parliament,” said the Opposition leader.
President Kenyatta also promised to assist more women to clinch elective seats in the next general elections saying that he won’t be seeking votes again.
Should the legislators listen to the three leaders, i.e. Kenyatta, Ruto and Odinga, and pass the Bill, the ball game in politics and governance is about to change as that would see more and more women get top positions in government like has been the case in Ethiopia.
The voting for the Bill is scheduled for Thursday November 22, 2018.
If the Bill scheduled for voting on Thursday November 22, 2018 is passed, do you think women will be awarded jobs based on merit or for the sake of meeting the requirement of the constitution?