News
Catching up with neighbours on gender parity
TAKE IT, READ IT: Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka at the launch of the Harmonised Draft Constitution. Kenyans must subject the document to public scrutiny and inexhaustible debate.
Posted Monday, November 30 2009 at 00:00
It looks likely that both Kenya and Uganda might subject their judges to parliamentary approval before appointment to office by the president.
Gender parity has for decades remained a thorny and sensitive issue, if not elusive throughout the region of East Africa.
The new draft constitution dedicates an entire chapter to the Bill of Rights, binding on and applicable to all state organs and persons.
Section 38, for instance, declares that women and men have the right to equal treatment including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social activities.
Of particular significance is the creation of new provisions for a Human Rights and Gender Commission.
This is a major departure from the position in Uganda which has two separate commissions for Gender and Human Rights.
Mixing the two as proposed in the draft Kenya constitution is not tenable as the chair may not always necessarily be a woman!
In Tanzania, Article 66(1) (b) of the constitution, parliament must include women to not less than 30 per cent of all the members.
One may safely argue that, if enacted, the Kenya draft constitution will enable Kenyans to catch up with the rest of the partners on gender parity.
Devolution of government and revenue collection are the other thorny issues that the East Africa continues to grapple with to this day.
A devolved system of government is predicated on the philosophy of empowering the citizenry at the grass-root and community level.
Local decisions
It presupposes the supremacy of local people in determining their development agenda as well as to set their own goals and objectives in order to uplift their individual and collective standards of living, and to make progress in tandem with the rest of their colleagues at the national level.
The new Kenyan draft provides a devolved government, at both national and regional levels.
The cardinal feature in any devolved system should be geared towards financial and economic autonomy of the regional and local assemblies.
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