Two-thirds gender rule: Will 2027 finally be the year?

One of the most elusive provisions in the Constitution 2010 has possibly been the gender principle, which has obviously become a herculean task to achieve.

Endless attempts have been made to achieve it but the more they try, the more things remain the same.

Time and again, women leaders have pushed to actualise the gender rule saying it is not about women’s affairs but a human rights issue.

They insist that it is up to all leaders to change the status quo which faced previous Parliaments despite plain provision of the constitution under Article 27(8) and 81(b) of the Constitution, which speaks of not more than two-thirds of members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender.

“The State shall take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender,” Article 27(8) reads.

Similarly, Article 81 of the Constitution states that the electoral system shall comply with the principles including freedom of citizens to exercise their political rights and not more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender among others.

A recent survey commissioned by Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK), with the support from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) Kenya showed that despite a transformative legal framework and international commitments, the central finding is that the constitutional dream of gender equality in governance remains largely deferred.

According to the report, despite constitutional mandate and incremental gains, women hold only 23.9 per cent of parliamentary seats, still far below the required threshold and remain severely underrepresented in executive positions.

This persistent gap stems from interconnected 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. Kenya's enforcement mechanisms have proven ineffective, relying on persuasion rather than compulsory measures,” states the report dubbed 15 years on: an evaluation of Kenya’s women political representation in relation to the two thirds gender rule.

The report found that Kenya lags behind regional peers like Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, which employ enforceable quotas, mixed electoral systems, and stricter party accountability to achieve higher women’s representation.

It then recommended the need for decisive action being taken before the 2027 elections, with a considered opinion that Kenya should redesign its gender inclusivity architecture to address structural and systemic barriers to women participation through knowledge driven approach.

Key recommendations included enacting enforceable legislation with clear implementation formulas, mandating gender-equitable political party practices, strengthening protections against political violence, and launching public awareness campaigns, noting that Kenya must transition from constitutional promise to tangible reality, ensuring its vibrant democracy becomes truly inclusive.

“Following the 2022 general election, women’s representation in Kenya’s National Assembly stood at 23 percent, which is way below the constitutional requirement that no more than two-thirds of any elected or appointed body be of the same gender,” the report indicated.

“These contrasts sharply with Rwanda’s 61 percent after its 2024 general election, Tanzania’s 37.4 percent and Uganda’s 34.1 percent respectively, highlighting a persistent regional disparity. The slow and inconsistent progress in Kenya underscores the need for deliberate, coordinated interventions to dismantle barriers that continue to limit women’s political participation,” it adds.

AMWIK Executive Director Queenter Mbori says attaining this rule should be an expectation of the Government and is one of the legal frameworks that is becoming continually problematic but believes that it is implementable.

As it is, she says, even the current Parliament is sitting unconstitutionally because the rule is yet to be implemented.

“It is attainable, we can achieve it even without the quotas because we have done that with the affirmative action seats, including the 47 Women Representative as well as nominations, with political goodwill. If we have an Executive and Judiciary that genuinely caters for this country, then they will support the government in implementing the principle, it is a requirement and, in the law,” she told The Standard.

She notes that the law has been misconstrued to be an agenda for women but people fail to understand that right now, it is women who are agitating and things may change in coming years.

“The state must move from advisory principles to binding electoral procedures for political parties. This includes penalties for non-compliance. There is need to invest in women candidates by introducing legal mechanisms for state funding/subsidies specifically for women candidates to neutralize the financial barrier to entry,” she recommends.

On September 13, when President William Ruto took an oath office as the fifth Head of State, he spoke to the matter of gender parity, saying that he is committed to the two-thirds gender rule as enshrined in the Constitution.

“We will work with Parliament to fast-track various legislative proposals and establish a framework that will resolve this matter expeditiously. The participation of women in our governance does not make us lesser; it makes us greater. And their role can no longer be nominal; it has to be substantive,” Ruto said in his inaugural speech as the President.

Months later, Ruto promised to work out a strategy to ensure that women stand an equal chance to sit at the highest decision-making table in the country.

In 2024 during the launch of the Women Governors Caucus G7 Strategy, Ruto said his government had initiated radical strategies to actualise the gender parity rule, even as he pledged full support for a proposal that a male presidential candidate should have a female running mate and vice versa.

At the time, he tasked UDA chairperson, Cecily Mbarire to lead in ensuring this new arrangement is achieved going forward, saying it should be intentional so that it can work.

“Mbarire is the chairperson of UDA not by default, it is deliberate and intentional and one of the assignments she has is that as a party, we must lead from the front,” said Ruto. When we agree on how things will go, we must also agree going forward that if a man is a candidate for President in our party, a woman must be the running mate and if a woman is a candidate, then a man can be a running mate,” Ruto stated.

“We must be intentional about it otherwise it will never happen. And I know fellow party leaders will agree. with us. We will do this not because we want to do anything against men but to balance so that we all move together,” he explained.

As it may, Ruto is probably the first president to establish the office of the Women’s advisor and signed a charter containing transformative promises for the women of Kenya.

But months down the line, the process to actualize this constitutional requirement seems sluggish. Endless discussions have been advanced toward this and solid proposals made but they still remain on paper with no implementation.

Just over a month ago, a three-judge bench declared Ruto’s cabinet unconstitutional, which ignited debate over Kenya’s commitment to gender equality in public appointments.

The bench found that the Cabinet, as currently constituted, violates Article 27(8) of the Constitution, which requires that no more than two-thirds of members of an appointive public body be of the same gender. It directed the President to reconstitute the Cabinet within 120 days.

Currently, the push is on with the National Assembly calling for public participation on the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 29 of 2025).

The Bill seeks to operationalise the two-thirds gender principle (Article 81(b) of the Constitution).

It was read the first time last month and referred to the National Assembly Committee on Legal Affairs for consideration and reporting to In a public notice inviting memoranda on the Bill, Clerk on the National Assembly Samuel Njoroge said it is co-sponsored by Deputy Speaker, Gladys Boss, Beatrice Elachi (Dagoretti North) and Jane Kagiri (Laikipia) that seeks to amend the Constitution to ensure the membership of Parliament conforms to the two-thirds gender principle as provided in Article 81(b) of the Constitution.

“The Bill gives effect to the two-thirds gender principle through the creation of special seats that will ensure the gender principle is relied in Parliament,” Njoroge said.

According to the Clerk, the bill proposes to amend Article 90, 97 and 98 of the constitution to allocate the special seats proportion to the number of seats won by a political party.

Under the proposed provisions, Njoroge explained that the number of special seats is to be determined after a general election, with a sunset clause of 20 years included in the amendment with an option for extension for one further fixed period of 10 years.

“Now therefore, in compliance with Article 18(1)(b) and 256(2) of the constitution and National Assembly Standing Order 127(3), the Clerk of the National Assembly hereby invites the public and stakeholders to submit memoranda on the Bill to the departmental committee on justice and legal affairs ... to be receive by November 2,” Njoroge notified.

Time and again, Boss has asked female legislators to be at the forefront in championing for passage of the two thirds gender rule.

In one of the sessions for the multi-agency working group on the two-thirds gender rule, she said that, although collective efforts are needed to achieve the principle that is enshrined in the Constitution, it is incumbent upon women in leadership positions to come out and spearhead the drive.

"A multi-pronged approach to achieve the Two-Thirds Gender Rule that engages various stakeholders and sectors is vital. However, Kenyans look forward to us women in leadership to steer and support the campaign," Boss said.

“Our collective efforts in steering the implementation of this principle is very important. State and non-state actors must collaborate closely, pooling our expertise, resources, and experiences to develop comprehensive strategies for implementation,” she added.

And now, the season for the next General Election is beckoning the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has previously indicated that it could reject party lists that do not adhere to the gender principle.

The proposed Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 could push political parties into one of their toughest nomination exercises yet, in the wake of electoral reforms seeking to implement the elusive two-thirds gender rule.

The law seeks to compel them to field more women in next year’s election and should it come to pass, every political party could be required to ensure that the not more than two-thirds of its parliamentary candidates are of the same gender and this could change how parties ready their tickets,

"Each political party shall ensure that not more than two-thirds of the candidates of the political party submitted to the Commission in a general election for parliamentary elections are of the same gender," the Bill states.

In September 2020, the then Chief Justice David Maraga advised then President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve the 12th Parliament, with the debate resurfacing under the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) talks.

A gender taskforce established under the process proposed reforms to compel political parties to implement the constitutional requirement.

As the debate on the rule continues, the delicate balancing act still stands with the various initiatives seeking to have the rule finally implemented.