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MALITI: For gender parity register women in political parties

By TOM MALITI March 10th, 2014 2 min read

In 2011, there was a lot of agitation around the constitutional provisions on the ratio of each gender to be represented in the legislature. The matter went up to the Supreme Court.

The court stated in a 5-1 opinion that the laws needed to amplify those provisions do not have to be passed immediately. It set August 27, 2015 as the deadline.

This is an opportune time to reflect on this matter given International Women’s Day has just passed.

Please note for the 47 County Assemblies this is not an issue. The constitutional provisions for them were more explicit on the 30 per cent rule than those for the National Assembly and Senate.

It seems now is a good time to organise and mobilise to ensure what is good for the county is good for the National Assembly and Senate.

Our legislators and the Office of the Attorney General have made procrastination a virtue. They always draft and adopt new or amended laws at the last minute since the Constitution was passed. 

Perhaps, there is a way our lawmakers can be persuaded that procrastination is not a good habit.

The major political parties have announced they will have recruitment drives for new members in the coming months.

They are doing this because it is a good way of popularising their parties but also because the law says they have to have members.

What if women joined in those recruitment drives to ensure their party of choice fulfils and exceeds the gender rule requirements for political party membership?

What if women not only got more women to sign up as members but also got them to become a strong voice in their party of choice?

Then, would there be any question of whether our lawmakers would pass the laws required to activate the constitutional provisions on the 30 per cent rule in the legislatures?

tom. maliti@live.com