Opposition leader Raila Odinga has backed Deputy President William Ruto’s push for the passage of the Gender Bill set to be tabled in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The Garissa Township lawmaker Aden Duale-sponsored bill seeks to elevate the number of the minority women members in the house, at a time when the male members remain the majority.
In a statement sent to newsrooms on Monday, the African Union Envoy for Infrastructure Development urged the MPs to pass the two-thirds gender rule proposal.
“Raila Odinga urges all members of parliament to stand up for the Constitution and for women by voting for the Bill when it comes up this week,” reads the statement by his spokesman Dennis Onyango.
The former Prime Minister added that the nation is the worst balanced in terms of gender in the region, advising the lawmakers to correct the same by fully supporting the bill which is appearing in the house for the second time.
“Mr Odinga urges Parliament to take into consideration Kenya’s poor showing on gender parity which goes against not only regional but also global trends, with negative implications for the country’s economic, political and social progress,’’ reads the statement as was seen by the Citizen Digital.
Other top leaders who have endorsed the bill are Deputy President and Raila’s chief political nemesis William Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta with whom Raila recently struck a collaboration pact.
Raila and Ruto have been hardly agreeing on anything recently, a situation that can be attributed to their possible face-off in the approaching 2022 presidential race.
In its first appearance in the house, male members shot it down.