2/3 gender bill sent back to the sender

2/3 gender bill sent back to the sender

By MUSYOKA NGUI

Sometimes things become clichés. I followed the national assembly debate about gender bill and it was eventually shelved because they failed to make the 233 required numbers to implement it.

The Constitution 2010 passed and 2/3 gender representation should be implemented not from 2019 February but from 2010. Women are the majority in the society and ironically, they are the minority in decision making table.

But what I found curious was the blanket provision that the 2/3 gender representation should be implemented for women just because they are women. Aren’t men also locked out in some social spheres that require 2/3 gender rule implementation?

REWARDING CRONIES, SURROGATES

Feminists were up in arms protesting that 2/3 gender rule was long overdue and rightly so. But why create nominated slots to reward cronies, surrogates and yes persons and in some instances spanner persons bordering on nepotism, elitism and cronyism?

True, both houses of parliament require to observe the 2/3 gender rule but why reserve that for political parties to share the slots according to their number of seats they have in the parliament?

What you see is not what you get. Beyond the posturing, rhetoric and lies is the real cost. At whose cost will the new seats be implemented? Isn’t what a man can do a woman able to do too? Other than the genetic and biological functions, all games should start at 0, 0. Why start a match that is already 5, 0 and expect fair play?

Not just political representation that should be addressed. If the debate is honest and devoid of ill motive, there is need for observing the 2/3 gender rule in both selected and elected positions. Competence and qualification should drive the recruitment of Kenyans in implementation of 2/3 gender rule.

MISOGYNISTS, CHAUVINISTS

Male MPs have been blamed for being misogynists and chauvinists but why reserve a seat for women for the mere quality that she is a woman and why occupy a seat just because you are a woman? Especially when such seats are designed to be sat on by "slay queens" and other unkind titles, they fight gender equality reforms. Truth is, there are women who have earned their titles and places in society in a fair and square way not just because they are corruptly related to a political kingpin.

CHECK CORRUPTION

The national assembly, in my view, redeemed their image about being honorable. Cartoonists on national dailies have regularity drawn caricatures of pigs to represent MPs- both male and female. But it’s worth noting that MPs stood up to the Executive and pushed back the pressure to pass 2/3 gender bill for the sake of passing the bill. RAO, WSR, SKM, UMK had all whipped their troops to vote for the 2/3 gender bill. But Majority Leader Aden Duale had to shelf the bill for lack of quorum lest it gets a thundering defeat on the floor of parliament.

The real thing is much as they are under pressure to reward loyalty and leave a “legacy”, that energy being wasted in gender bill should be used in checking corruption. That is the issue that Kenyans can get a direct benefit from not a bill aimed at rewarding cronies and slapping wananchi with exorbitant invoices.

To Duale, send the gender bill back to the sender. See you in February 2019