Sankok wants gender rule only applied to appointive positions

Legislator David Ole Sankok has drafted a bill seeking to exempt all elective positions from adherence to the two-thirds gender rule.

In his draft bill presented to the office of the Speaker on Tuesday morning, Mr Sankok says the rule should be observed only in appointive positions.

Mr Sankok, himself a nominated member of parliament under Jubilee Party, argues that the scrapping of nomination slots will save taxpayers millions of shillings used to pay their perks.

"The gender rule has [led to] undesired results where persons nominated do not really represent the interests of women and nominations are not based on merit or any known criteria,” he says in the draft proposal.

The bill seeks to bridge the gender disparity in the House by amending the Constitution to allow for extra nomination slots for women, if the requisite number is not met after the general election.

FAILED BIDS

Mr Sankok's proposal comes after four failed bids to actualise the gender rule.

In February, the bill flopped due to lack of quorum as only 174 members were present in the House. Out of 75 female lawmakers, about 20 were present.

The law requires that two thirds of MPs be present for voting to take place.

The bill can now only be reintroduced after six months, according to House standing orders.

The bill failed in the last session just as MPs proceeded for their Christmas recess.

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale withdrew it upon sensing a lack of quorum to send it to the third-reading stage.

Mr Duale noted that failure to pass the bill may put Parliament in a serious conflict with the Constitution.