President William Ruto shares a light moment with Jane Nasike a trader at Chepkube Market in Bungoma when he toured the facility. The President said that no region or community will be left out of the government’s development plan. He said that he will bring all Kenyans together and work with all leaders from diverse political orientations to have a more prosperous nation. He also laid a foundation stone for Bungoma’s Modern Market ‘Soko Kubwa’, and addressed wananchi and traders in Bungoma Town on January 24, 2025. [PCS, Standard]
Although the government was almost dissolved in 2020 because of lacking gender parity, contrary to the provisions of the constitution, the current government has been without a substantive Cabinet Secretary for the docket for over five months now.
President William Ruto is yet to name a Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Arts and Culture after parliament rejected the nomination of Stella Langat to the position after she underwent the vetting process in August last year despite carrying out a reshuffle for other ministries.
The failure to have a Cabinet Secretary for Gender has put the government on the spot especially after it has been accused of failing to observe gender parity in appointments with Parliament also on the spot for not having met the two thirds gender rule as per the constitution.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has been serving as the acting Gender CS on top of his responsibilities as Foreign Affairs CS having relinquished his role as the acting Interior CS and acting CS for Information and Communication after substantive holders took over recently.
The National Assembly Appointments Committee chaired by Speaker Moses Wetangula submitted a report to the house in August last year informing members of their decision not to approve Langat after she failed to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of key issues on her docket during the vetting process.
“Pursuant to sections of 6 (7), 6 (8) and 7 of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act, the committee observed that Stella Langat failed to demonstrate adequate knowledge of topical, administrative and technical issues touching on the portfolio to which she had been nominated,” observed the Committee Report.
Since Langat’s rejection of the President is yet to name a replacement despite nominating individuals for other cabinet positions with Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, Information Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo and Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui being the latest to be sworn into office.
The delay in naming of a replacement for former Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa after Ruto dissolved the Cabinet in July following nationwide protests by Gen Z youths in June and July seeking to hold the government accountable has raised eyebrows over what might be holding him back.
Former Chief Justice David Maraga had issued an advisory to former President Uhuru Kenyatta seeking the dissolution of parliament in 2020 after receiving six petitions asking him to advise the President to dissolve parliament accusing the August house of having failed to observe the gender rule.
“Despite there being court orders compelling Parliament to enact the legislation required to implement the two thirds gender rule in accordance with Article 27(3) read together with Articles 81(b) and 100 of the Constitution, Parliament has blatantly failed, refused and/or neglected to do so,” said Maraga.
Ruto in a memorandum submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Speaker of the Senate in December 2022 asked Parliament to exercise its full authority to deepen good governance, enhance inclusion in democratic space and strengthen parliamentary oversight of the executive and promote the responsiveness of elected representatives to citizen aspiration.
He gave a proposal for the increase of Members of Parliament for both houses from 416 currently with the effect of this formula establishing one third at 97 members since there already exist 47 affirmative action seats dedicated to Women leadership with the maximum number required to meet the constitutional threshold being 50.
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“With the National Assembly having 26 elected women from the constituencies the nomination of an additional 24 women would suffice to meet the constitutional requirement with the same formula applied in the Senate having 16 more women nominated to the Senate,” said Ruto.
He believed trading off the increase in parliamentary wage bill with achievement of compliant inclusion of women in parliament being eminently worthwhile with another modality of achieving compliance is for political parties to deliberately embark on sustained, institutionalized and robust initiatives that facilitate the empowerment of women to successfully contest legislative seats in greater numbers.
The President said that there was empirical evidence to support the proposition that equipping and promoting more women to run for office will in a few election cycles bring the number of women contesting and winning elections to at least the same level as men.
“In order to actualize this intention he was further proposing that under an article 97(3) existing legislation be amended to establish a women’s inclusion and political participation Fund drawn from a percentage of funds allocated to political parties,” said Ruto.
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