House faces dissolution as court digs in over gender rule

MPs and Senators during State of the Nation Address by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The lifeline of elected Members of the National Assembly hangs in the balance after the Court of Appeal upheld a decision to have Parliament dissolved for failing to meet the two thirds gender rule.

Yesterday, Court of Appeal judges once again placed the August House in a dicey situation as anyone can petition the Chief Justice to have the 12th Parliament dissolved or even revive an existing one.

A petition was filed before the CJ last year but the implementation was put on hold after Speakers of Parliament and Attorney General moved to the Court of Appeal to halt the process. However, their efforts bore no fruit as Appeal Courtjudges Phillip Waki, Gatembu Kairu and Kathurima M’inoti revived the bid to kick out MPs for having an almost all-male House.

“It is on record that Parliament has undertaken several initiatives including publishing a Constitutional amendment Bill to implement the gender principle. It is equally a matter of public notoriety that none of these amendments have ever been debated or considered by Parliament seriously,” the judges ruled in a decision read by Justice William Ouko.

Gender principle

They continued: “They have all been lost due to lack of quorum in the National Assembly. That, to us, does not speak of a good faith effort to implement the gender principle.”

Despite being sued several times by interested parties, Parliament remained defiant.

In 2012, the Supreme Court advised the law should be enacted by August 27, 2015. Law makers extended the period by one year.

They have, however, failed to pass the gender rule to date even with the pleading by President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga. Immediate former Attorney General Githu Muigai washed his hands saying he had done everything possible to ensure the law passes but the legislators shot it down.

MPs were first given 40 days in 2016 by High Court judge Mumbi Ngugi to enact the law but they did not.

The High Court gave the AG and the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution 40 days to prepare and table the two-thirds gender rule Bill before Parliament.

Then a 60-day deadline was issued by High Court judge John Mativo in 2017 to pass that law. It lapsed on June 30, 2017 and nothing happened.

The judge said the Senate and National Assembly were at risk of being dissolved if they failed to obey his orders.

“If Parliament fails to enact the said legislation within the said period of 60 days from the date of this order, the petitioners, or any other person, shall be at liberty to petition the Chief Justice to advise the President to dissolve Parliament,” Justice Mativo said.