Public Service, Youth and Gender Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki has urged women to vote for their fellow women during next year’s polls as an easier way of resolving the one third gender rule quagmire.
Kariuki called on women to re-elect the current women legislators and ensure that they voted for more of them in order to attain the minimum one-third gender requirement in the National Assembly and the Senate.
Speaking in Kitui South constituency when launching a National Youth Service (NYS) empowerment programme, the CS rallied women to vote as a block for their own adding that women have proved themselves to be able and reliable leaders as evidenced by the high number of them who have been appointed to high public offices.
"The current representation is the highest level so far of women political leadership in the country but it is still very low compared to women participation in politics globally. I urge all women to vote for their fellow women to achieve one third gender rule," she said.
The constitution obligates the government to develop policies and laws to ensure that no more than two-thirds of elective and appointive positions in both county and national governments are of the same gender.
In the 2013 general election, no woman was elected as governor or senator. While out of 290 elected MPs, just 47 (6.2%) are women. For the 1,450 MCAs, only 88 (16%) of the elected were women. In Kiambu County, out of 12 elected MPs, two are women. Esther Gathogo of Ruiru and Alice Ng'ang'a of Thika Town constituencies.