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By Rosemary Awinja
Echo Network Africa in partnership with the Democracy Trust Fund and UN Women have today launched the 2022 general elections audit and analysis report.
The women’s groups lobbying for gender sensitivity and strict adherence of the one third gender rule say that there is still under representation in the government of the day.
Speaking during the event, Principal Secretary of the State Department of Gender, Veronica Nduva, lauded civil society efforts to advance women’s leadership in the last elections.
Nduva said that rights groups, especially women’s rights groups, played a critical role in helping to get more women elected in various capacities.
The government appreciates the critical role played by other state and non-state actors across the board, including women’s rights organisations in contributing towards the attainment of a just and inclusive society,” she said.
She said women’s advancement in leadership and their political participation will help create equal opportunities for creating a better world for all.
She said there was an impressive performance by women candidates, which witnessed an increase in elected female MPs.
There was a rise from 7.9 per cent to 10 per cent representation,” she said.
The two-thirds gender rule was, however, still not attained, especially in roles such as committee chairs, chief whips, speakers, minority and majority leader seats.
It is evident that women are still underrepresented at key decision-making positions hence limiting our voices in defining the democracy agenda in Kenya,” she said.
She hoped the report would lead to lessons learned and ensure that we have more women appointed in subsequent elections.
Women’s Groups Decry under Representation in Government Positions
By Shadrack Nyakoe
Women’s groups in Kenya lobbying for gender sensitivity and inclusivity including the Echo Network Africa, UN Women and the Democracy Trust Fund on Monday 30 January 2023 unveiled the gender perspective report in Nairobi.
The report reveals that there was still under representation of women in elective, nominative and other government positions and called for the registrar of political parties to strictly adhere to the one third gender rule.
The gender and affirmative action principal secretary Veronica Nduva says there’s however a significant rise in women leadership from 7.9 % percent in 2017 to 10% in 2022 general elections.
“Hence, I applaud the flagship initiative Chagua Mama campaign organised by Echo Network Africa, Democracy Trust Fund and other partners. A partnership aimed at accelerating gender inclusiveness in the run-up to the 2022 general election,” she said.
The chairperson Echo Network Africa Ms Koigi Nyambura said
