‘Entrenched male chauvinism’ blamed as Gender Bill flops for the fourth time

Women MPs yesterday accused the National Assembly leadership of deliberately frustrating efforts to pass the two-thirds gender Bill after it failed for the fourth time.

The cited what they termed ‘deeply entrenched male chauvinism’ in Parliament and demanded dissolution of the House.

The amendment to the Constitution Bill flopped after the House failed to raise the requisite quorum for a vote be taken.

There were only 174 members in the Chamber, 59 members shy of the 233 required or two-thirds for a vote to be taken.

The agitated legislators stormed out of the chamber chanting, “No Gender Bill, No referendum.” They were led by Kenya Women Parliamentary Association chairperson Purity Ngirici.

See: Fourth attempt to pass Gender bill flops as MPs walk out

“We are extremely disappointed as women MPs. We have the true colours and what has been cooking for us for all this time. It was clear from the beginning that the majority leader and the government were not committed,” Ngirici said.

“We have seen the intention of the government and we are saying there will be no referendum until we honour what the Constitution requires,” she added.

Homa Town MP Peter Kaluma and Chepalungu’s Gideon Koskei also stormed out of the chamber in solidarity with their female counterparts..

“We have lost not because of insufficient lobbying, but deeply entrenched male chauvinism in Parliament’s leadership,” Kaluma said.

Kandara MP Alice Wahome said the failure to marshal the requisite members for a vote to be taken, demonstrated the government’s lack of commitment to having it passed.

“We did not see the kind of commitment and lobbying that we saw when the Fuel Tax bill was brought or other government Bills are tabled,”  Wahome said.

Read: Kenya’s 8-year painful journey to meet two-thirds gender rule

Ida Odinga and Public Service CAS Rachel Shebesh followed the proceedings in the gallery to demonstrate their support for the Bill.

The bill seeks to bridge the gender gap in the National Assembly and  Senate  by providing extra nomination slots for women. The Constitution says no gender shall occupy more than two-thirds of elective and appointive positions in public service.

The Bill was among those to be passed during the first five years after enactment of the Constitution but was delayed by a series of constitutional extensions and court rulings.

According to the House Standing Orders, the Bill can only be reintroduced after six months. This puts the House at risk as anyone can petition the High Court to have the President dissolve it, as it is not legally constituted.

Currently, there 349 MPs — 273 men and 76 women — in the National Assembly. This implies that only 21 per cent of the MPs are female, thus, there is need to nominate at least 39 more female MPs to meet the constitutional threshold.

In the Senate, there are 21 women and 46 men. It needs three members to meet the two-thirds requirement.

More: Pass Gender Bill or we'll go to court - women's caucus