Women attend stakeholders meeting

May 5, 2008

Women parliamentarians are urged to speed up the passing of Affirmative Action and other gender related Bills.

Speaking during a breakfast meeting for women MPs hosted by The Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA), on April 29th Ms Jane Onyango, the organisation’s Executive Director, said major gender Bills should take a higher priority in Parliament. Ms. Onyango said the passing of the Bills was the only way to improve leadership in the country.

“The Bills, for example, the Domestic Violence Bill that was introduced in the Eighth Parliament, should be republished and re-introduced.” She said. The other is the Affirmative Action Bill that proposes the creation of 50 seats for women in Parliament is cited as the only way to address gender inequality in Government.

The Bill witnessed a long struggle last year as women leaders worked towards legal and institutional frameworks to address marginalisation and promote equity. There are a number of bills which have been pending for the last few years, which seeks to provide for more protection of women’s human rights, as well as promote and facilitate the same. These include the Affirmative Action Bill, Criminal Law amendment Bill 2000 and The Equality Bill 2000.

The Equality Bill was drafted in 1999 by the Ministry of Home Affairs together with organisations from civil society. It seeks to make provisions for equal treatment of all citizens, irrespective of their gender, and end all forms of discrimination. It came as a response to the Beijing and New York gender conferences.
The Affirmative Action Bill of 2007 tabled in Parliament in August 2007 was highly publicised, the women had organised public rallies, road shows and many other initiatives to support their cause including a public demonstration outside parliament on August 15, 2007. The Bill failed to pass.

The problem stem from the fact that not enough consultations were done by the Government of National Unity (GNU), especially with members of opposition, prior to introducing the Bill in the House.
Matters were further complicated by an attempt to sugar coat the creation of 40 new additional constituencies by merging this with The Affirmative Action Bill which sought for creation of 50 special seats for women in parliament.

The creation of the 50 seats did not need two thirds majority to be passed in parliament, merging it with another Bill that requires two thirds majority (because it is a constitutional amendment) was not well advised. Any Bill requiring a two-thirds majority to pass through Parliament cannot be re-introduced in the House until six months have elapsed.