Hitch in Githu bid to solve gender rule

Attorney-General Githu Muigai’s petition seeking the Supreme Court opinion on gender representation could be thrown into disarray after the entry of four interested parties.

Two civil society groups, the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) and the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) have indicated that they will object to the petition, saying it was prematurely before the Supreme Court.

The groups say the AG sought the opinion of the Supreme Court without revealing measures he has taken as government chief legal adviser to ensure Parliament enacts appropriate laws to meet the gender requirement. (READ: Top court to help break impasse on gender rule)

“We will contest that the request is premature since the AG has not disclosed if he has rendered any advice and if that advice has proved insufficient to warrant the Supreme Court’s intervention,” say the civil society groups.

Also joining the petition is activist Okiya Omtatah and the Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) who state they will seek a declaration that the 80 new electoral boundaries shall not be considered in the next General Election.

Cofek says the court should order that the new constituencies be preserved for the 2017 election and the 80 positions be reserved for purposes of achieving gender parity.

The four join the Commission for the Implementation of the Commission, the Gender and Equality Commission, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the Commission for the Administration of Justice and the Katiba Institute who joined the matter earlier.

Prof Muigai sought the highest court’s opinion on October 9 following controversy over the two-thirds gender limit and disputes relating to presidential elections.

He seeks interpretation of more than 10 clauses relating to gender representation, presidential election disputes, national values and the right to seek to be elected, among others.