Why IEBC is seeking powers to reject party lists

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioner  Fahima Araphat Abdallah during the swearing in of the commission at Supreme Court on July 11, 2025. [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard]

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is seeking powers to reject  party nomination lists that do not adhere to the constitutional two-thirds gender requirement.

IEBC Vice Chairperson Fahima Abdallah yesterday said the commission wants to build a legal and institutional scaffolding that ensures women and other groups not only run for elections but to also win.

“IEBC is working on legal reforms and then send them to Parliament for approval. What we are proposing is that if political parties will not adhere to two-thirds gender rule then as IEBC we should be given the powers to reject that list as a whole so that we ensure there is a fair ground for everyone to be able to participate especially the women, youth and persons with disabilities (PwDs),” she said.

She spoke as the Association of Media Women in Kenya (Amwik) launched a report titled "Women in Political leadership: Bridging the Gender Gap Towards Kenya’s 2027 Elections", produced in collaboration with Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.

Abdallah noted that data indicates more than 50 per cent of voters are women, yet fewer women are being elected.

“A few points that have come out is the issue of finances in our elections, that elections are very expensive in Kenya and many women are not economically empowered and not able to match when it comes to their male counterpart.

"At IEBC, we ensure we have fair ground for all. We are also calling upon other actors, political parties, Parliament and everyone involved in this political space to ensure we come up with policies and laws, and an environment that will be favourable to the women and youth and PwDs to be able to participate in elections and be able to win freely,” she said.

The report states that despite a transformative 2010 Constitution, women still hold only 23.9 per cent of parliamentary seats, falling short of the constitutional mandate in addition to being underrepresented in Executive positions.

According to the report, this stems from various barriers ranging from a patriarchal political culture that tolerates violence and perpetuates intimidation against women candidates, political parties that sideline women in nominations, prohibitive campaign costs, and deep-rooted sociocultural norms.

Enforcement mechanisms have proven ineffective, relying on persuasion rather than compulsory measures, with the country lagging behind regional peers like Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, which employ enforceable quotas, mixed electoral systems, and stricter party accountability.

To address this, the report calls for decisive actions before the 2027 elections.

Amwik Executive Director, Queenter Mbori, said the report is a call to stakeholders to push the number of women in political leadership and put in place a legal system that can create an enabling environment.

While the early battles for women in politics centred on access and resource mobilisation, she said the landscape has evolved to weaponised online violence.

“Elections in Kenya have become financially crippling, disproportionately excluding women who often lack equal access to the male-dominated networks of campaign finance. There is also persistent lack of political will, especially within political parties, to enact binding legislative mechanisms for the two-thirds rule, channeling women aspirants into pre-determined affirmative action seats rather than supporting their competitive bids,” she noted.

UDA Secretary General, Omar Hassan, agreed on the need to strengthen institutional and legal enforcement of the two-thirds gender rule. He said it should be implemented through legislative timelines, incentives and penalties.

“We must expand political financing support for women. This includes targeted party resources, public funding incentives and strategic partnerships with organisations committed to training, mentoring and supporting women leaders,” he said.

Hassan also concurred that safe, fair and transparent party primaries must be guaranteed, noting that women cannot compete effectively in hostile, violent or financially manipulated political environments.

“Primary processes should protect their dignity, enable visibility and elevate merit. The 2027 elections must not be another moment of postponed progress on women’s political leadership, they must be the turning point where Kenya moves from intention to implementation, from aspiration to actualization. Women leadership is not a favor to be granted, it is a democratic necessity and a national imperative,” he said.