Forget the two thirds rule, lets split this 50-50!

A while back I wrote a blog post on an issue that is proving to be thorny. In case you missed it, read it here  http://joymdivo.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-third-two-thirds-what-is-difference.html.  The Constitution of Kenya 2010 in Article 81 introduced an interesting concept in this East African nation:  Gender Parity by Law.  This meant that society did not have the luxury of time in deciding to accept women as capable leaders.  They did not have the option of giving women a chance and seeing them prove themselves so that they can get another chance.  They were told, that from August 27th 2010 henceforth, no appointive or elective office shall be occupied by more than two thirds of the same gender.

When it comes to appointed posts, achieving this is easy since the appointing authority just has to remember their mathematics class on fractions and division.  However, elective posts are more tricky since they depend on the adult suffrage to make this decision, and not all of them are good mathematicians.  Therefore there is need a formula to ensure that even when the public do their math, it adds up to the principle of not more than two thirds of one gender being elected.  The members of the 10th parliament were so keen on consolidating their position that while they provided for mechanism to ensure this is achieved in the Senate and in the County Assemblies, they left the National Assembly open.

Chapter 8 of the Constitution establishes our Bi-Cameral House.  Article 97 sets out that we shall elect 290 MPs, 47 Women, 12 Special interest nominees and the Speaker.  This week a meeting between the Commissions responsible for implementing the Constitution as well as the Parliamentary Committee agreed on a "formula"  that we proceed as put in the constitution, and if we fail to make the numbers, then parties should be allowed to nominate more women to make up the difference.  The net result is that we have potential to have a lower House of more than 500 members.  This plan was rejected by Members of Parliament in their Speaker's Kamukunji, but the stalemate remains, what do we do about this?

My suggestion to get out of this quagmire is simply this.  The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to scrap ALL constituencies.  If we will have Wards each with a Representative in the County Assembly, the bread and butter issues of the Citizens will be dealt with closer to home in the County Assembly.  Therefore the role of the Constituency is not as central as it was before.  Since Governors and Senators will be seeking mandate from the whole County, so too should Members of Parliament.  Each County therefore should produce one Male and one Female Member of Parliament, and we still retain the 12 special interest seats.  That way, not only is the Constitutional Provision preserved, we will have a House with a total of 107 members.  Not only can we better afford 107 members, as compared to 350 members the playing field will be levelled for all persons seeking elective posts, since they will have Countywide support.

Given the vast powers that the National Assembly will have, it is vital for the people going there to have the widest base possible as is with the Senators.  Each Party only has to nominate one man and one woman to go on the ballot, and each stand equal chance of being elected.  It is time for the Members of the 10th Parliament to wake up and smell the coffee.  We did not get rid of dictatorship by the President to swap it with dictatorship by Parliament.  We are not interested if some of them "lose" their seats since they are not theirs to keep, but ours to give to whom we please.  Time has come for them to put Kenya ahead of their own selfish interests and make the right decision for Kenya.  Let us go 50-50, one man one woman.  And save us some money in the process, we need to pay the teachers, and doctors, and nurses, and lecturers and civil servants.....

Tribute to the Late Prof. Wangari Muta Maathai: I will be a Humming Bird.

"In degrading the environment, we degrade ourselves" - Prof. Wangari Maathai


This morning I woke up to find the news of the passing of the First African Woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize being aired on Network Africa, the BBC World Service Breakfast show.  I was stunned, and at the same time, I was filled with a sense of gratitude that I lived in the lifetime of such a great woman.  One day I shall tell Nicole that the main difference between Prof. Maathai and other mortal women was one, she dared to break barriers.

She dared to earn a PhD.  She dared to stand up to her husband, who divorced her for being "unable to control her", but she fought him for the right to keep his surname setting a precedent in use till today!  She dared to stand for Presidency.  She dared to ignore the dangers and perils of defying the Moi Regime, and therefore managed to save Karura Forest & Uhuru Park, among many other projects some of which I'm sure I shall never hear off.  She was a Member of Parliament, an Assistant Minister, but she received news of her Nobel Prize win whilst in wearing gumboots working in a garden.  She was an extraordinary woman, and she definitely left her mark not just in Kenya, but around the world.

I have spent the day looking at her pictures with Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey and other world leaders.  I listened to the radio as Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf gave her tribute to her friend and colleague.  I listened as Gladwell Otieno, reminisced on the Late Maathai comparing her with her own late mother, the legendary Wambui Otieno-Mbugua.  All these have helped me understand, what a resource and a treasure the Professor was, and also made me alive to the fact, that one never knows what he has until he has lost it.

She wanted to be our President.  What if we gave her that chance?  Let her steal that First Democratically Elected Female President in Africa from her friend.  She was in government, but was made an Assistant Minister.  If she was our Commander in Chief, would we have had the Maize Scandal?  The arguments about GMO?  The Free Primary School Education Scandal?  Would it have been business as usual for Kenya Pipeline, Kenya Power and others who endanger people's lives everyday, just as long as the bottom line remains healthy.  What if the people of Tetu had elected her, what would have been the legacy she would have left on the Constituency?  Even without ever being elected, she has done so much for the whole Nation, what if we gave her mandate and backing?

We have taken so much of our time in politics barking up the wrong tree, and wondering why the country is in the quagmire it is.  It is because the same old names keep being recycled in the August House and in State House.  At the end of the day, we are doing the same thing and wondering why the results are not different.  I keep telling guys, I have exorcised the spirit of politician past from my psyche, and no one in this current or former parliament is getting my vote, no matter who he or she is.  None of them have earned that privilege from me.  Time has come for us to look at the alternatives.  Those who have proved themselves in their little corner, those are the ones who deserve our vote.  And if  you are out there, and you know you have integrity and purpose and God has given you ability to lead incorruptibly, please stand up, we need GOOD men and women to challenge those who have so spitefully used us through the years.

I leave you with a clip from Prof. Wangari Maathai, and I too like her, choose to be a Humming Bird.  What about you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGMW6YWjMxw&feature=share

Joy B. Mdivo