Political parties can help fulfil gender rule
What you need to know:
- The system could be changed to force political parties to follow the law on taking care of special interest groups.
- Changing the system from the political party would seem like the best option.
According to the Institute of Economic Affairs, it would cost Sh1.5 billion more every year to cater for the additional women who would have to be nominated to Parliament to fulfil the constitutional requirement that not more than two-thirds of elective positions should be held by one gender.
Viewed from a regional context, that would not be expensive because Kenya is the largest economy in Eastern Africa.
However, with women forming a mere 21 per cent of our Parliament, Kenya is clearly lagging behind in terms of gender equity in elective positions.
Burundi is at 35 per cent, Tanzania 36 per cent, Uganda 35 per cent, and Rwanda leads the pack with 58 per cent.
These figures would appear to justify the position that it would not cost too much to have more MPs, most of them women.
However, from what I have observed during my time covering the Eleventh Parliament, there is little justification in having more members in Parliament. There is no proof that a bigger Parliament does a better job.
Maintaining the current number of leaders in the Senate and the National Assembly is already expensive, judging by the number of huge SUVs that crowd Parliament’s parking lot when both Houses are in session.
Then there are the crowds of bodyguards, drivers, and personal assistants that follow in the wake of each member. More office space and other facilities would have to be acquired to accommodate the extra members.
As matters stand, we already have too many MPs doing too little. That is not to say that this is attributable only to the women; men are equally guilty.
There is the perpetual complaint about the quality of debate in the House. There is also the perception that the Senate does not appear to have much work to do.
However, judging by the performance of the few women who have stood out in the Tenth and Eleventh parliaments, the House could benefit from having more women in it.
The danger of nominating more women post-election would be a situation similar to what happened during the last elections — where women candidates in the 2013 election were disadvantaged by the perception that they should not vie for positions as there were seats reserved for them and that they should contest only for those or wait to be nominated to the House “for free”, but that they should not be elected.
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
So, how is this problem to be solved?
The system could be changed to force political parties to follow the law on taking care of special interest groups before they are allowed to participate in elections or field a presidential candidate.
Some of the youthful nominated MPs in the House, and who have been doing a good job, were given a chance to serve through the deliberate efforts of their party leaders.
Other suggestions that have been floated, such as scrapping some seats, reducing the number of constituencies, or increasing the number of MPs, would be a hard sell and an unnecessary and loud political contest.
Changing the system from the political party would seem like the best option. It is easy and stress-free.
The writer reports on Parliament for the Daily Nation. [email protected]
