Women MPs shed flower girl tag

What you need to know:

  • In every way, 2014 has been a defining year for the 47 women MPs with the establishment of the Affirmative Action Social Development Fund featuring prominently on their agenda for the year.
  • The year closed on a very positive note, at the very last stage of implementation of the Sh2.03 billion kitty — an answer finally found to the decisive funding headache for the Woman Representative.
  • What remains now to the full implementation of the kitty are regulations to guide the implementation of the Fund, now at the final stage, having already left the Attorney-General’s office and awaiting the approval of the Committee on Delegated Legislation in the National Assembly.

On February 27, 2014, a rare spectacle was witnessed in Parliament when Women Representatives stormed out of the Chamber of the National Assembly during a sitting.

It was one of the most dramatic moments in the year for the 47 County Women MPs who have spent the last 18 months pursuing a special fund to enable them support development in their counties.

The walk-out was the peak of their frustration over the delay by the Budget and Appropriations Committee to consider the Affirmative Action Social Development Bill through which they hoped to secure some Sh3.4 billion.

CHAIRMAN CASTIGATED

The Bill had been pending before the Committee for six months by then, but according to the chairman of the Committee Mutava Musyimi, it was not properly presented to his team. It was Kirinyaga Women Representative Winnie Njuguna who first stirred the storm, demanding an explanation from Rev Musyimi’s Committee on why the Bill had delayed.

Majority Leader Aden Duale had made the mood worse when he said the matter had already been discussed, even with higher offices, and that Treasury had to give consent to the Bill.

But the Women Representatives would hear none of it.

Disgruntled, they came out of the Chamber shouting and castigating the chairman, accusing him of frustrating their efforts, a thing Rev Musyimi denied.

The Women MPs proceeded to the press centre where they poured out their frustrations to journalists before retreating to one of the rooms to chart the way forward.

All the same, the Bill was never brought to the floor of the House.

It has taken months of brainstorming, lobbying and canvassing for the 47 Women Reps to finally secure Sh2.03 billion from Treasury for social empowerment in their counties.

The empowerment ranges from drug abuse control among the youth to entrepreneurial skills empowerment to women and the youth.
In every way, 2014 has been a defining year for the 47 women MPs with the establishment of the Affirmative Action Social Development Fund featuring prominently on their agenda for the year.

The year closed on a very positive note, at the very last stage of implementation of the Sh2.03 billion kitty — an answer finally found to the decisive funding headache for the Woman Representative.

What remains now to the full implementation of the kitty are regulations to guide the implementation of the Fund, now at the final stage, having already left the Attorney-General’s office and awaiting the approval of the Committee on Delegated Legislation in the National Assembly.
It is hoped that the fund would be fully operational this month.

The Women MPs will be patrons of the fund with each County receiving about Sh40 million each and about Sh7 million per constituency.

The journey has not been easy. It has demanded that the 47 Women Representatives unite, speak in one voice and walk together to realise their agenda.
It has seen them hold numerous retreats to canvass and lobby for the establishment of the special fund.

The frustration of the County Woman MP, a year after being in office stemmed from criticism from various quarters.

Their performance had been put into question; the concern being that their role could hardly be felt on the ground and at the National Assembly.

The initial excitement of sailing through the crowded race for the seat having finally died down, reality dawned on the 47 MPs that the world of politics went beyond just being elected. It is about wielding influence and control.

FLOWER GIRLS

With regard to their parliamentary legislative role, all had been well in the first year since their election.

On the ground, however, the women awakened to a frightening reality of the expectations that the counties had of them. Questions were being asked on what exactly their role was.

Some people had even given them the title of ‘flower girls’ in the 11th Parliament.

The women MPs’ fears were real; the electorate did not see them any different from the rest of the constituency elected MPs.

As much as they were performing their duties in the National Assembly, the demand for them to be seen in development at the grassroots had become a serious headache.

It is these concerns that sent them back to the drawing board.

At one point the County Women MPs marshalled their numbers and put up yet another rare spectacle — camping at the reception of The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich for a whole day before he yielded to their demands.

He promised to make allocations for the fund in the following financial year.

The amount granted in the current financial year, though smaller than what they had initially hoped for, has been welcomed by the Women MPs who had complained of lacking the financial muscles crucial for any politician worth their salt and necessary in influencing policy and other decisions in the political arena.

“When we were elected, we got to Parliament and encountered the shock of our lives,” Nyandarua County Woman Representative Wanjiku Muhia said. “With no fund and no help, we found ourselves in a most difficult situation.”

Without the fund, they said they had been reduced to some sort of ‘flower girls’ in the 349-member National Assembly where the 290-constituency elected MPs enjoy a Constituency Development Fund, very crucial for development activities on the ground. The Women Representatives felt disadvantaged without a fund that would help them actualise development plans for their constituencies at the social level.

“It’s a good thing. It is a battle we have won after a very long struggle. We don’t consider it little because we know a woman can do a lot with the little she gets,” the Nyandarua County MP said.

AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS

Initially the Women Representatives had targeted securing Sh 3.4 billion. This would have seen each county get Sh70 million.

The cash will be administered through the CDF model, hence the pending regulations to guide the process.

The women MPs were forced to drop the ‘Bill route’ after facing opposition from various quarters.

What this means is that Treasury will only allocate them the money on the basis of availability of funds.

The cash will be transferred to the CDF as a conditional grant and the Treasury is expected to develop the rules and regulations to guide how the money will be disbursed.