{"id":145875,"date":"2026-07-06T13:02:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T13:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/civil-society-kewopa-lead-new-push-for-two-thirds-gender-rule-reforms\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T13:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T13:02:56","slug":"civil-society-kewopa-lead-new-push-for-two-thirds-gender-rule-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/civil-society-kewopa-lead-new-push-for-two-thirds-gender-rule-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil Society, KEWOPA Lead New Push for Two-Thirds Gender Rule Reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 6 \u2013 Lawmakers, civil society organisations and media leaders have launched a coordinated campaign to push for the full implementation of Kenya\u2019s constitutional two-thirds gender rule ahead of the 2027 General Election.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking during a high-level forum convened by Mzalendo Trust, the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), participants said the country can no longer afford delays in implementing Article 81(b) of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

KEWOPA Vice Chairperson Senator Catherine Mumma urged legislators to put aside political rivalries and unite behind the proposed constitutional amendment, warning that failure by the 13th Parliament to pass the reforms would amount to a historic missed opportunity.<\/p>\n

The Nominated Senator said important Bills are often opposed not because of their content, but because of the individuals sponsoring them.<\/p>\n

She warned that the current Parliament would be judged harshly if it failed to enact constitutional reforms guaranteeing greater representation of women before the 2027 General Election.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonourable Mudavadi is reminding me it will be very shameful of us in the 13th Parliament if we do not manage to push through the two-thirds gender principle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will fight because it came through, say, Veronica or Daisy and say, \u2018Let\u2019s defeat that motion so that those two women do not walk away with this victory.\u2019 Did you know it gets that petty?\u201d Mumma added.<\/p>\n

Mzalendo Trust presented data showing that while women legislators continue to champion key legislation on gender-based violence, public health, disability rights and civil registration, they remain underrepresented in parliamentary leadership.<\/p>\n

According to the report, women lawmakers have sponsored some of the most impactful legislation in the 12th and 13th Parliaments. However, the Senate Speaker\u2019s Panel is the only parliamentary leadership category that meets the constitutional one-third gender threshold, with women accounting for 33 percent of its membership.<\/p>\n

The report further found that key decision-making organs remain below the constitutional minimum, with women occupying 28 percent of positions on the National Assembly Speaker\u2019s Panel and 25 percent of the Senate Majority Leadership, highlighting the structural gaps the proposed constitutional amendment seeks to address.<\/p>\n

The forum concluded with calls for nationwide civic education, grassroots mobilisation and the establishment of a Women\u2019s Elections Movement to increase women\u2019s political participation ahead of the 2027 polls.<\/p>\n

Mumma also revealed that legislators are drafting a comprehensive sexual harassment policy to address gaps in Parliament\u2019s current framework.<\/p>\n

She said the existing policy primarily protects parliamentary staff while leaving elected leaders outside its scope.<\/p>\n

The proposed reforms, she added, form part of broader efforts to strengthen institutional accountability alongside the implementation of the constitutional two-thirds gender principle.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 6 \u2013 Lawmakers, civil society organisations and media leaders have launched a coordinated campaign to push for the full implementation of Kenya\u2019s constitutional two-thirds gender rule ahead of the 2027 General Election. Speaking during a high-level forum convened by Mzalendo Trust, the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) and the National Democratic Institute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}