THE STATUS OF WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN COUNTY AND NATIONAL POLITICS

There has been greater participation of Women in Politics

After the 2013 general elections, the number of women in Parliament increased from 16 to 65, 18 nominated women senators and 760 women members of the County Assemblies. This growth is attributed to the two thirds gender principle provided for under Article 81 of the Constitution that states “not more than 2/3rd of elected members should be of the same gender…”

A total of 179 female County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) were appointed representing 34.6% of the total number.

After the 2017 elections, an improvement has been observed in the number of women that have been elected to the National Assembly and Senate. The number of elected women in single constituencies increased from 16 to 23 in the national assembly and from 0 to 3 respectively in the senate. The number of women in Parliament increased from 86 to 97(both elected and nominated).

Historically, three women were elected to the position of County Governors. These are Anne Waiguru of Kirinyaga County, Charity Ngilu of Kitui County and Joyce Laboso of Bomet County.

  1. The table below summarizes how women faired in the process.
S/No. Position Primaries Final poll Results (Elected)
1. Governor 11 9 3
2. Senator 33 20 3
3. Member of Parliament 203 141 22
4. Member of County Assembly 1330 953 96
5. Persons with Disabilities
  1. Existing legislative framework policies on women and girls participation in governance
  2. Government interventions in governance