By Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD (Leading Environmental Law Scholar, Policy Advisor, Natural Resources Lawyer and Dispute Resolution Expert from Kenya), Winner of Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021, ADR Publication of the Year 2021 and CIArb (Kenya) Lifetime Achievement Award 2021*

Kenya has been on a journey towards achieving gender equality and equity, a goal that has remained elusive over the years. There have been policies aimed at promoting the same and they have always been reviewed or replaced by new ones in a bid to improve on the framework and address any gaps. There have been positive steps that have been realized along the way such as recognition of equality of men and women rights to own property or inherit property and fair labour practices, among others. Despite this, Kenya cannot boast of an impressive track record as gender inequality is still manifest.

Constitution of Kenya 2010

The Constitution of Kenya 2010 was the culmination of the recognition of the need to streamline gender issues in the country’s development agenda. It not only guarantees equality and nondiscrimination of all persons regardless of gender, but also has outlined some remedial measures to address the existing inequality in the country. It forms the basis of all other efforts since the year 2010.

National Policy on Gender and Development, 2000

Notably, the first National Policy on Gender and Development was adopted in 2000 and was meant to provide a legitimate point of reference for addressing gender inequalities at all levels of government and by all stakeholders, and further provided an avenue for gender mainstreaming across all sectors in order to generate efficient and equitable development outcomes for all Kenyans. The National Policy on Gender and Development of 2000 has since been reviewed in order to align it to the new legal framework including the Constitution of Kenya. This was superseded by the Sessional Paper No. 2 of 2006 on Gender Equality and Development which was meant to promote women empowerment and mainstreaming the needs of women, men, girls and boys in all sectors of development in Kenya so that they can participate and benefit equally from development initiatives.

National Policy for Prevention and Response to Gender Based Violence, 2014

The National Policy for Prevention and Response to Gender Based Violence’s main purpose was to put in place a framework to accelerate implementation of laws, policies and programmes for prevention and response to Gender Based Violence (GBV) by state and non – state actors for the realization of a society where men, women, boys and girls are free from all forms violence. This Policy sought to achieve the following objectives: to facilitate a coordinated approach in addressing GBV and to ensure effective programming; to improve enforcement of laws and policies towards GBV prevention and response; to increase access to quality and comprehensive support services across sectors; and to improve sustainability of GBV prevention and response interventions. The Policy also acknowledged that while it is women and girls who suffer the greatest share of GBV in the country, men and boys also experience the same. Land Laws such as the Land Act and Land Registration Act acknowledge the right of women to acquire, inherit and hold or dispose land. However, the reality on the ground is that women and girls are still being dispossessed of property especially when it comes to inheritance.

National Gender and Equality Commission

The National Gender and Equality Commission is established under the National Gender and Equality Commission Act, 2011 which was enacted to establish the National Gender and Equality Commission as a successor to the Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission pursuant to Article 59(4) of the Constitution; to provide for the membership, powers and functions of the Commission, and for connected purposes. The functions of the Commission are, inter alia, to: promote gender equality and freedom from discrimination in accordance with Article 27 of the Constitution; monitor, facilitate and advise on the integration of the principles of equality and freedom from discrimination in all national and county policies, laws, and administrative regulations in all public and private institutions; act as the principal organ of the State in ensuring compliance with all treaties and conventions ratified by Kenya relating to equality and freedom from discrimination and relating to special interest groups including minorities and marginalized persons, women, persons with disabilities, and children; and co-ordinate and facilitate mainstreaming of issues of gender, persons with disability and other marginalised groups in national development and to advise the Government on all aspects thereof.

State Department for Gender Affairs

The State Department for Gender Affairs falls under the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs. The Ministry of Public Service and Gender was created under the re-organization of the National Government in November 2015. The mandate of the State Department of Gender is hinged on the Constitution of Kenya and Executive Order of June, 2018. It is responsible for: Gender Policy Management; Special Programmes for Women Empowerment; Gender Mainstreaming in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); Community Mobilization; Domestication of International Treaties and Conventions on Gender; and Policy and Programmes on Gender Violence.

Gender and Development in Kenya: The Challenges

The 2014 National Policy for Prevention and Response to Gender Based Violence identified the following as the greatest contributing factors to GBV in Kenya: unequal power relations between men and women; socio-cultural norms that normalize GBV, discriminatory practices and changing gender roles; poverty; illiteracy; breakdown of the family unit and support systems; insecurity; alcohol and substance abuse; uncensored media content; and conflict; political instability as well as poor enforcement of laws and policies. While it is worthy pointing out that the 2014 Policy was geared towards dealing with GBV, the above factors contribute to much more than just GBV; they hamper the equal participation of both men and women in development matters in the country. Indeed, one of the guiding principles of the 2014 Policy was recognition of the importance of gender equity and gender equality in national development.

In the Matter of the Principle of Gender Representation in the National Assembly and the Senate [2012]eKLR, the advisory opinion related to two discrete elements in respect of which the Attorney-General thus moved the Court: “The Advisory Opinion of the Court is sought on the following issues: A. Whether Article 81(b) as read with Article 27(4), Article 27(6), Article 27(8), Article 96, Article 97, Article 98, Article 177(1) (b), Article 116 and Article 125 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kenya require progressive realization of the enforcement of the one-third gender rule or requires the same to be implemented during the general elections scheduled for 4th March, 2013? B. Whether an unsuccessful candidate in the first round of Presidential election under Article 136 of the Constitution or any other person is entitled to petition the Supreme Court to challenge the outcome of the first round of the said election under Article 140 or any other provision of the Constitution?”

Regarding the one-third gender rule, the Attorney-General moved the Supreme Court seeking an opinion as to whether the terms of Article 81(b) apply in respect of the very next general elections, to be held on 4 March 2013, or on the contrary, apply progressively over an extended period of time. The Supreme Court observed as follows: [47] This Court is fully cognisant of the distinct social imperfection which led to the adoption of Articles 27(8) and 81(b) of the Constitution: that in elective or other public bodies, the participation of women has, for decades, been held at bare nominal levels, on account of discriminatory practices, or gender-indifferent laws, policies and regulations. This presents itself as a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women in Kenyan society. Learned counsel Ms. Thongori aptly referred to this phenomenon as “the socialization of patriarchy”; and its resultant diminution of women’s participation in public affairs has had a major negative impact on the social terrain as a whole. Thus, the Constitution sets out to redress such aberrations, not just through affirmative action provisions such as those in Articles 27 and 81, but also by way of a detailed and robust Bill of Rights, as well as a set of “national values and principles of governance” [Article 10].

While there was no unanimous decision on whether implementation of the one-third Two-thirds gender rule was to be realized immediately or progressively, Kenya is still grappling with the question of gender representation in the elective posts in Kenya, with the recent advisory opinion from the Chief Justice directed to the President on the need to dissolve Parliament for failure to uphold the gender equity constitutional requirements complicating the debate even further. The Deputy Chief Justice has since appointed a special bench of judges to decide on the constitutional status of the advisory opinion as issued by the Chief justice. The upshot of the above is that despite Kenya’s progressive constitutional and statutory framework on achieving gender mainstreaming, the country is far from enjoying gender equality and equity especially in relation to women’s position in leadership and national development roles, with representation of women in Kenya’s Parliament remaining minimal over the years despite the promulgation of the current Constitution of Kenya in 2010.

Indeed, despite its leading economic position in the East African region, Kenya ranks the lowest among the East African countries when it comes to the place of women in leadership positions. For instance, in 2016, it was reported that women held 64 percent of seats in the lower house of Rwanda’s national legislature, the largest share of any country. However, despite this commendable state of affairs in Rwanda, there are conflicting reports on the status of women rights in everyday life, with some reporters saying that the political state of affairs is very different from every day community life of women in Rwanda. It is therefore possible to have a politically empowered group of men and women but without guaranteeing them enjoyment of other fundamental rights. As things stand, it is therefore safe to argue that the problem of gender inequality and inequity in Kenya goes beyond availability of statutory and constitutional framework. It is for this reason that the 2019 National Policy on Gender and Development was drafted in order to enable the stakeholders take practical steps towards addressing the existing challenges.

*This is article is an extract from an article by Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD, Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021 (Nairobi Legal Awards), ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 and ADR Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 (CIArb Kenya): Muigua, K., Revisiting the Role of Law in Environmental Governance in Kenya, Available at: Muigua, K., Actualizing the National Policy on Gender and Development in Kenya, Available at: http://kmco.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Actualising-the-National-Policy-on-Gender-and-Development-in-Kenya-Kariuki-Muigua-Ph.D-October-2020.pdf. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is Kenya’s foremost Environmental Law and Natural Resources Lawyer and Scholar, Sustainable Development Advocate and Conflict Management Expert. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a Senior Lecturer of Environmental Law and Dispute resolution at the University of Nairobi School of Law and The Center for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP). He has published numerous books and articles on Environmental Law, Environmental Justice Conflict Management, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Sustainable Development. Dr. Muigua is also a Chartered Arbitrator, an Accredited Mediator, the Africa Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Managing Partner of Kariuki Muigua & Co. Advocates. Dr. Muigua is recognized as one of the leading lawyers and dispute resolution experts by the Chambers Global Guide 2021. 

References

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