Anne Waiguru, Kirinyaga County Governor, Charity Ngilu, Kitui County Governor and Joyce Laboso, Bomet County Governor. PHOTOS | JOSEPH KANYI, PIUS MAUNDU and SALATON NJAU | NMG
For the first time women were elected to the country’s powerful governor positions
The position of governor is coveted because it oversees budgets worth billion of shillings.
Analysts will be watching the gender rule when President Uhuru Kenyatta appoints his next Cabinet and fills other key government positions including principal secretaries, envoys and parastatal heads.
The 2017 General Election came with good tidings for women. For the first time women were elected to the country’s powerful governor positions, marking a political breakthrough in a highly patriarchal society.
The election of Ann Waiguru (Kirinyaga), Charity Ngilu (Kitui) and Joyce Laboso (Bomet) as governors ended what was long perceived as a “boys club”.
Several women were also elected to the position of deputy governor.
The position of governor is coveted because it oversees budgets worth billion of shillings.
Counties get about 20 per cent of national revenues and can also raise local taxes.
They control key functions including healthcare, local infrastructure and schools.
Six women vied
Only six women vied for the gubernatorial position in 2013 out of 237 candidates, all of who stood either as independents or on fringe parties.
This time round however, the ruling Jubilee party and the opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa) both backed the successful election of women as county governors.
Three women; Margaret Kamar (Uasin Gishu), Susan Kihika (Nakuru) and Fatuma Dullo (Isiolo) were also for the first time elected to the equally powerful position of Senator — a big leap from the 2013 polls when the Senate only had 18 females nominated under affirmative action.
The 2017 General Election also saw the number of women elected to Parliament rise to 23 from 16 in the previous poll.
Hope for better female representation were raised in 2010 when the Constitution guaranteed women a third of seats in all political offices, but the male-dominated assembly has repeatedly frustrated efforts to pass a law to enact the quota.
During the last General Election, only 23 women were elected as MPs, yet the rule requires at least 117 of them.
The 23 plus the 47 women representatives and 12 slots for MPs nominated by political parties would bring the number to 76, leading to a shortfall of 41 women MPs. In the Senate, women should be 23 but only three were elected while 16 will be nominated.
Gender rule
One youth and one other person will be nominated to represent people living with disabilities bringing the number to 21, hence a shortfall of two.
Analysts will be watching the gender rule when President Uhuru Kenyatta appoints his next Cabinet and fills other key government positions including principal secretaries, envoys and parastatal heads.
