The government suffered a major setback after its proposed gender Bill failed to pass in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi has noted.
The senator said it was wrong for President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration to introduce the Bill at this time when Kenyans have already shown signs they are overburdened by over taxation due to the ballooning wage bill.
Speaking during a talk show on Citizen TV on Thursday, Wamatangi said the proposed law should not have flopped had the government read the mood in the country and shelved tabling of the much-publicised Bill.
"I do not think the time was right to introduce this Bill. There has been a lot of complaints that the legislature is overloaded affecting the wage bill. What the citizens are saying is not what politicians are saying," he said.
The President and his deputy William Ruto backed by all leaders in the opposition had appealed to MPs in their respective parties to vote for gender parity Bill which seeks to increase the number of women in Parliament.
However, the MPs on Wednesday defied the leaders opting to stay away during the vote, a move that forced Majority Leader Aden Duale to seek its deferment over quorum hitch.
Wamatangi said the government should seek alternative ways of empowering women, warning that the Bill may fail again when it is reintroduced to the National Assembly next year.
"Unless we come up with a system that will empower women to compete with men during elections, then we will not achieve anything," remarked the second-time Senator.