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Kenyan politicians must pbad a gender equality bill guaranteeing women a third of the seats in parliament, otherwise the country will be in a constitutional crisis, MPs supporting the initiative warned.
Although the 2010 constitution states that no more than two thirds of the elected or appointed bodies may be of the same bad, women occupy 22% of the seats in the lower house of parliament of the country and 31% in the upper house.
Since 2012, the courts have ordered Parliament to legislate to enforce the gender equality bill, otherwise attempts have already been made. Women parliamentarians accusing lawmakers of deliberately blocking their efforts have been in vain.
If the parliament is dissolved, general elections will have to be called. Kenya held controversial, extremely polarized and violent elections last year.
Under increased court scrutiny, Kenya's lower house is expected to vote on a bill on Wednesday.
"The truth is that we, as parliament, are unconstitutional," said Rozaah Buyu, said the woman's representative in Kisumu.
"What authority do we have to hold others to account when we do not act under the constitution by not respecting the gender rule?"
The 2017 High Court said that the chief justice could ask the president to dissolve Parliament if a law is not promulgated, said Buyu, also vice-president of the Kenya Women's Parliamentary Association. .
TIME TO COUNT
Kenya's economy has grown at an average annual rate of 5% over the past decade, but the benefits are not shared equally.
Women and girls remain socially, economically and politically disadvantaged.
Women make up only one-third of the 2.5 million people employed in the formal sector, says Kenya's National Bureau of Statistics.
And while women provide 80% of the agricultural workforce, they own 1% of the agricultural land.
According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the percentage of women in the Kenyan Parliament is lower than that of its neighbors in East Africa, such as Ethiopia, South Sudan, Burundi and Rwanda.
Gender experts say that women politicians around the world face a multitude of challenges, ranging from physical and badual violence to lack of money to fund their campaigns.
Quotas, they say, help to create more equitable conditions of competition and ensure representation of their voices.
The bill, which was presented to Parliament last week, provides for the creation of special seats if the elections do not reach the required number of votes. Candidates of the underrepresented bad are appointed to fill them.
Supported by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Leader of the Opposition Raila Odinga, many MPs expressed their support for the bill.
They cited recent moves in Ethiopia where half of the government, the chief of elections, the president of the Supreme Court and the president are women.
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