Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang’ula and the speaker of the Senate Amason Kingi have vowed to support female/women parliamentarians to achieve the two-thirds gender rule.
The two legislators urged women parliamentarians to continue fighting for more representation in all spheres of governance in the country to make the desired impact.
Wetang’ula noted that women have historically been under-represented in both politics and public life especially in higher ranks.
“I am alive to the fact that many parliaments world over are yet to achieve gender parity in representation in parliament and this has to change,” he said.
While speaking in Sawela lodge in Naivasha after the opening of the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association induction workshop (KEWOPA), the two speakers noted that the delay in enacting laws on representation is not healthy. Hence, the need to fast-track the process.
” So, on the onset, anything that brings women to parity with men I will support regardless of who brings it or how it is brought,” Wetang’ula added.
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Likewise, the National Assembly speaker stated that women are also part of the team, “and we cannot win a game when other team members are left out.”
According to him, the country has made major steps in addressing the issue of women’s leadership. As such, failure to implement the 2010 constitution on gender representation was a major concern.
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“We just came out of an election in which women candidates recorded one of the best performances in the history of election in the country,” Kingi said.
The Senate speaker noted that there are 102 women domiciled in the senate and in the National Assembly, out of which 63 were recently elected.
“The election also ushered into office seven women governors, the highest number so far,” Kingi added.
Kingi further stated that the polls saw 727 women elected and nominated as MCAs out of the 2,156 MCAs presently serving in county assemblies.
