The National Gender and Equality Commission is lobbying to ensure that President William Ruto fills the remaining cabinet positions with female nominees.The commission in a statement issued on Thursday observed that the composition of the cabinet nominated by President Ruto so far fails to meet the principal of gender balance enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
NGEC in its statement argued that in the event Ruto does not fill the remaining two slots with female nominees, he will have failed to meet this constitutional requirement.
There are currently 15 male and 6 female nominees, according to NGEC, who reviewed the nominations.
As NGEC noted, the total composition changes to 17 men and 6 women when you account for the President and Deputy President, who are both men.
Article 27(8) of the 2010 Kenyan Constitution states that no more than two-thirds of the members of an appointing body may be of the same gender. This composition does not comply with this provision.
The President, Deputy President, Attorney General, and 22 Cabinet Secretaries are among the 25 members of the Cabinet, as stipulated by the 2010 Constitution.
Of these, no more than 16 members must be of the same gender.
“The remaining two Attorney-General positions and one Cabinet Secretary position must be filled by women in order to meet this requirement,” the NGEC said.
To further encourage diversity, NGEC has also advocated for one of the nominees to be a person with a handicap.
Nevertheless, because of his youth, NGEC welcomed Eric Muriithi’s candidacy as the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation.
This declaration follows President Ruto’s nomination of Rebecca Miano to be the nation’s next Cabinet Secretary for Tourism, following his original support of Miano for the position of first female Attorney General.
By Newsmedia