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Why male candidates are seeking to become ‘Women Reps’


Posters of male candidates seeking to vie for the positions of Women Representatives have excited the online community despite the constitutional requirement for that position.

The candidates, who in their campaigns claim to have the interests of the women at heart, will have no chance according to the constitution.

An aspirant from Bungoma County, Webster Wechuli, has his tagline as “embrace women for posterity.”

Mr Wechuli hopes to clinch the ODM ticket for that elective position despite his male gender.

Constitutional Lawyer Dennis BM Mosota however says there is a reason the position is called women representative.

“It is preserved for candidates of women orientation. There can be no creative way of going around it. The constitution explicitly says that it’s a position preserved for women,” Mr Mosota told Nairobi News.

According to the constitution, the membership of the national assembly includes, “47 women, each elected by the registered voters of the counties, each county constituting a single member constituency.”

Mr Mosota adds that the position was “intended so as to achieve the gender parity aside from the two-thirds rule.”

This means that the male candidates will be barred from vying through the provisions of the constitution.

Mr Mosota’s interpretation is a heartbreak to another male candidate from Kajiado County, Martin Sankale Lemayan who plans to battle it out in a Jubilee Party ticket.

His tag line, “Niko na umama lakini tuko pamoja,” a statement that has been dubbed as being a mockery of the position and the party.

Bungoma’s Mr Wechuli has been described as an ardent follower of the county politics having been a member of the ODM party but expressed his concerns over how the party was conducting its activities.