Ever since a bill was tabled in parliament a whirl of motions have been expressed in what looks like a battle between men a women.
Drafters of the 2010 Constitution did not want a situation where one gender is overly represented in Parliament.
As such, they stipulated that the National Assembly and the Senate should not have more than two-thirds of their members of the same gender.
“Not more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender,” says Article 81 (b) of the Constitution.
However given that it is a constitutional matter, the bill needs a nod from two-thirds of the House to sail through to the next stage.
While top politicians including Deputy President William Ruto have voiced support for the bill that is sponsored by Majority Leader Aden Duale, in parliament yesterday Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa strongly opposed it with controversial remarks.
“Some women leaders have also said they will not support a process where the only thing that a slay queen does is take a shower three times in a day, wear a nice cologne, and get some contracts from China to get these plastic sitting allowances so that she can appear before the party leader and get the party nomination,” Barasa said.
Well plenty of Kenyans have also come out on twitter to express their disappointment on the raised gender bill with various reasons.
We have Prolonged affirmative action from Schools where women get absorbed into Universities with Lower points, given almost all HR jobs in the market & now we want to reward them with free positions in the parliament yet these are the women used to loot! #GenderBill
— BRAVIN™ (@ItsBravin) November 21, 2018
So is being a woman some kind of qualification for any job?
Wangari maathai was a leader who fought for what she believed in thru blood n sweat, she didnt have the #GenderBill n she got isht done.
wat r all this others making noise for?
mnataka kupewa viti tu? pic.twitter.com/IxhYr8mtFx— ping pong #2⃣5⃣4⃣?? (@pauliddiali) November 21, 2018
Dear Male MPs,
The #GenderBill should be shot down as soon as yesterday, if the 47 women rep seats isn’t enough let them create their seats at the Salon.
Our Kenyan women are lazy & have not supported the boy child, men this is the time to redeem you image.
BoyChild President pic.twitter.com/uXcgLsV5Pq
— Cyprian Nyakundi Escobar (@CisNyakundi) November 21, 2018
However there are those who were surprised that Kenyans are opposing the bill while judging slay queens easily yet in reality MPs whose majority are men are equally not delivering to the public who hired them.
Kenyan men surprise me. Y’all so quick to say that slay queens will make it to parliament sijui ohh extra costs.. mumeona MPs wenu? Who are majority, more than 70%, men. Wanafanya kazi kweli? Wako qualified? Izi double standards Shah ??. #genderbill
— Wangui Mungai (@kui_munai) November 21, 2018
Dear Kenyans , Enabling women to have an equal say isn’t just about gender justice, it is a crucial part of both reducing structural poverty and ending violence against women and girls. @florence_mutua #GenderBill
— Rein (@Asamoh_) November 21, 2018
Do you support or reject the two-third gender bill?