Battle of sexes: Ward rep foils plot to ‘tame’ women leaders

An attempt to lock out women from county assembly committees has been blocked, thanks to Chinga ward rep Kiruga Thuku (pictured).

Thuku stood up against his male colleagues, to defend women reps who had been left out of select committees in an alleged plot to ‘tame’ them.

The ward rep is now facing the wrath of male colleagues in the assembly for demanding that the Assembly adhere to the Two-third Gender rule in dishing out committee seats much to their chagrin.

Trouble started when Thuku stood up on a Point of Order On September 26, before Majority leader James Kanyugo would table a list of nominees for committees on the floor of the House.

“The names in the three committees for environment, water, and legal affairs do not meet the Two-third Gender threshold as they only have two women and nine men,” he pointed out.

Kiruga went against the grain by reminding his male colleagues that it was against the Constitution and the assembly’s standing orders to allow the lists to be tabled before they met gender balance.

Kiruga’s opposition effectively derailed efforts by his male colleagues to establish dominance in assembly committees.

Speaker John Kaguchia ruled in favour of Kiruga, saying he had raised a constitutional matter and directed Kanyugo to go back to the drawing board.

“I find myself definitely unable to close my eyes to the issues that Hon Kiruga has raised,” said Mr Kaguchia.

A new list was then tabled with each committee consisting of at least three women. However despite Kiruga’s protests, the assembly approved to have only two women in the youth, sports and legal affairs committee.

For his pains, Kiruga was kicked out the Public Accounts Committee in which he was the vice-chair, and replaced with nominated ward rep Elizabeth Mugo.

During debate to kick out Kiruga, Majority Whip Sabastian Theuri warned members to be loyal or face consequences.

“I am in the selection committee and I request members of the party to respect each other and have some loyalty,” Theuri warned.

However, Kiruga has filed a protest with Jubilee Party headquarters and the Speaker on the decision to kick him out of the committee, warning that he will move to court if it was not rescinded.

In an interview with The Standard, the ward rep compared the plot to lock out women leaders to men allowing an ogre to devour women thinking they (men) are safe.

“This is not about just the rights of women but also adhering to the law, I will not give up until the law if followed to the letter,” he said.