A county woman representative is a member of the National Assembly of Kenya who represents one of the 47 counties in an at-large seat reserved for female members. The county woman representatives serve in the national assembly alongside the 290 members elected from the constituencies, 12 nominated members and the Speaker of the National Assembly.[1]

History

The role of Woman's Representative was created by the current Constitution of Kenya, which was adopted in a referendum in 2010, in order to increase the representation of women in parliament. Prior to the 2010 constitution there were fewer than 20 female members of the Kenyan parliament.[2] The first woman representatives were elected in the 2013 Kenyan general election.[3]

The woman representatives are elected by all registered voters in the county they represent, not only female voters.[4] In 2019 the Committee on Implementation and Oversight of the Constitution proposed abolishing the role after the next general election.[3]

While the Constitution of Kenya requires that no more than two thirds of the National Assembly or the Senate be of the same gender, this requirement has not been met. In 2017 the High Court ruled that the two houses had failed to perform their constitutional obligation.[5] Despite attempts to introduce new legislation to ensure increased representation of women in parliament, this situation has not been resolved.[6]

Following the 2017 general election, in addition to the 47 woman representatives, 23 women were elected to the constituency seats and 5 women were nominated. Consequently, a total of 75 women served in the National Assembly during the 12th Parliament of Kenya, comprising 21% of the members of the assembly.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Members of the National Assembly". Parliament of Kenya. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Kenya's cabinet rejects quota for female MPs". BBC. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 "MPs want to get rid of 47 Woman Reps". The Star. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  4. ↑ "Establishment of the National Assembly". Parliament of Kenya. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "Kenya Parliament Ordered to enact legislation related to increasing the number of female members". Global Legal Monitor. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "MPs: Kenya must pass women's representation bill or risk constitutional crisis". Reuters. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  7. ↑ Data Report of 2017 Elections (PDF). Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
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