The Commission on 14 -15 August, 2024 engaged young women leaders and aspirants in a workshop that discussed women political participation organized by the Forum for Africa Women Educationalists (FAWE).

The workshop, which was held in Machakos, brought together participants drawn from Women Political in Participation (WPP) Academy with the objective to sensitize them on the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) processes and IEBC electoral processes.

The Women in Political Participation (WPP) project is a Pan-African gender project focused on the different facets of women and politics in Africa. Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, (SIDA) and implemented by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (Intenational IDEA), it aims to contribute to advancing the goal of gender equality in politics and governance, in line with the Maputo Protocol of 2003; various associated sub-regional protocols and standards, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 recognizes the rights of women to participate in elections. Specifically, Article 27 (3) notes that women have the right to equal treatment with men, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic and social activities. Article 90 of the Constitution makes a deliberate effort to enhance the representation of women in parliament and county assemblies under the party list election framework.

Further, article 27(8) requires the State to take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender.

In his speech Commission Secretary/CEO Marjan H. Marjan, MBS underlined the committed done over time to boost women participation in politics including adoption of a raft of deliberate measures that include the development and implementation of a gender and social inclusion policy that provides strategic direction on inclusion in the electoral process.

The Commission also reduced by half the nomination fees paid by women candidates, rejected party nomination lists that are non-compliant with the not more two-thirds gender principle and enforced the Code of Conduct during the Campaign period and constitutes committees that hear, determine and penalize candidates and political parties that perpetrate electoral malpractice including disenfranchisement of women candidates’ political rights.

“There is a notable increase in the number of women candidates who vied for the six elective seats during the 2022 General Election, where a total of 1,964 women out of 16,098 candidates registered to contest for the 1,882 vacant seats across the country in 2022. This was an improvement from the 1,359 out of the total 14,552 candidates, who vied during the 2017 General Election.

“The number of women elected to leadership positions also increased from 172 in 2017 General Election to 201 in the 2022 General Election besides having a woman, for the first time, nominated and cleared by a majority party to contest as Deputy President candidate,” said Marjan.

Currently there are 7 women Governors elected as opposed to 3 in 2017. The number of women elected as Members of the National Assembly has grown to 30 (2022) from 23 in 2017 while there are 114 women elected in the County Assemblies from 96 in 2017.

Though number of women named in political party nomination is still dismissal, statistics from the Commission’s Register of Voters show that out of the 22,120,458 voters registered for the 2022 General Election, women represent 49.12% being 10,862,268 and men represent 50.88%. This was an improvement compared to the 2017 General Election where we had 19,600,000 registered voters of which 46.6% were women

Some of the hurdles women need to overcome to optimally enjoy political mileage include universal challenges barring women from participating in elections aligned to societal norms, cultural trends and stereotypes. Besides, women are less empowered resource-wise and lack adequate time compared to their male counterparts.

Other hurdles include none responsiveness to the Gender supportive policies and legal frameworks by duty bearers, gender-based violence has been sophisticated and entrenched over the years due to the fluid technological advancements. This is addition to seeing women candidates harassed during nominations and campaign periods.

To remedy theses constraints, there is need to explore funding opportunities to finance women candidates’ campaigns, enhance capacity building of women candidates especially at the grassroots to equip women with the requisite skills to favourable compete against their male counterparts.

There is need to invoke constitutional/legal reforms to embed gender quotas, reservations and affirmative actions to ensure progressive attainment of the not more than two-thirds gender principle.

Place accountability demands on political parties to enhance women political participation and representation in their ranks. Make party lists for nomination begin with a female candidate followed by a man in all the categories. Build confidence among women in the male dominated arena to end stereotypes attached to some positions.

The Commission was represented by Joyce Ekuam, Manager Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement, Ruth Makuthu, the Ag. Manager Ag. Manager Legal Reforms, Political Parties and Campaign Financing and Linus Onyango, Risk Risk and Election Security Officer.