Gender rule tests political will ahead of 2027 election

NGEC chair Rehema Jaldesa with Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi at a gender rule forum in Nairobi on October 2, 2026. [Courtesy]

As political parties prepare for the 2027 General Election, Kenya’s long-running debate over the two-thirds gender principle is entering another critical phase, with renewed pressure on Parliament to enact legislation and on the electoral commission to ensure women are not locked out of elective positions.

Sixteen years after the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution, the country has yet to establish a comprehensive mechanism to ensure that no more than two-thirds of members of elective public bodies are of the same gender.

The latest push comes as women leaders urge the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and political parties to enforce the constitutional requirement in the nomination process. At the same time, fresh legislative proposals could change how parties prepare their candidate lists for next year’s elections.

The debate also puts President William Ruto’s pledge to resolve the gender imbalance under scrutiny. When he took office in September 2022, he promised to work with Parliament to fast-track legislation on the principle. Nearly four years later, the framework governing women’s representation in Parliament remains unresolved.

The principle is anchored in Articles 27(8) and 81(b) of the Constitution. Article 27(8) requires the State to take legislative and other measures to implement the rule that no more than two-thirds of members of elective or appointive bodies should be of the same gender. Article 81(b) places the same requirement among the principles governing Kenya’s electoral system.

The provision is not a guarantee that women will win a particular number of constituency seats. Rather, it places an obligation on the State to develop measures that make the required gender balance achievable.

Women leaders have repeatedly argued that the issue goes beyond women’s political representation. They say it concerns the implementation of the Constitution, equal access to public office and the responsibility of State institutions to make constitutional rights effective.

The debate has returned with every election cycle, but successive attempts to find a lasting solution have failed to produce a mechanism that resolves the imbalance in the National Assembly and Senate.

The Supreme Court, in its 2012 advisory opinion, gave Parliament until August 27, 2015, to put the necessary legislative measures in place. The deadline passed without the required framework. In June 2015, the High Court directed the Attorney General and the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution to prepare a Bill within 40 days. A subsequent extension of the deadline also expired without a lasting solution.

In September 2020, then Chief Justice David Maraga advised President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve Parliament for failing to enact legislation to implement the gender principle. Parliament was not dissolved, and the impasse continued.

The latest round of proposals is therefore being judged against a long record of missed deadlines, court interventions and political commitments.

At a recent meeting organised by the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC), women leaders called on Parliament to enact the necessary legislation and urged the IEBC and political parties to ensure compliance with the constitutional principle during the 2027 election process.

Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi said political parties and the electoral commission should treat the requirement as a constitutional obligation rather than an issue that can be deferred after nominations.

“IEBC and political parties, this time round there is no laughing matter. A list that comes after nomination and does not have this complied with, please take them back to go and do the right thing, because that is where we start failing,” she said.

The remarks reflect the growing focus on party nominations as a point at which the gender imbalance could be addressed. Political parties control the selection of candidates and the preparation of nomination lists, giving them considerable influence over the number of women who ultimately contest elective seats.

IEBC Commissioner Ann Nderitu said the commission intends to scrutinise candidate lists submitted by political parties to establish whether they meet the applicable gender requirements.

She also called for more women to seek elective office and urged parties to consider affirmative-action measures when identifying candidates for constituencies and other elective positions.

“We will negotiate with parties that, through affirmative action, they indirectly nominate women for some areas, so that we can have some affirmative action from political parties. Our proposal as IEBC is that any list of candidates that comes to the electoral commission should meet at least the threshold of the two-thirds,” Nderitu said.

The effectiveness of such measures, however, will depend on the legal framework governing the different categories of elections, the powers available to the IEBC and the enforcement mechanisms in place. The requirement for gender balance in elective bodies cannot be resolved solely through public appeals to political parties.

NGEC Chief Executive Officer Purity Ngina said the debate should not be framed as a contest between women and men, but as a question of how the State fulfils its constitutional obligations.

She noted that voters exercise their individual right to choose their representatives, but the outcome of elections can still leave public bodies short of the constitutional gender threshold.

“It is precisely why we must have this conversation. The Constitution protects my right to choose my representative and at the same time, Article 27(8) requires the State to take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members of the elective or appointed bodies shall be of the same gender,” she said.

Several legislative proposals have been advanced in an attempt to address the impasse. Among them is the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, alongside the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, National Assembly Bill No. 29 of 2025, sponsored by MPs Gladys Boss, Jane Kagiri and Beatrice Elachi.

The National Assembly proposal seeks to provide a mechanism for implementing the two-thirds gender principle through special seats and proposed amendments to Articles 90, 97 and 98 of the Constitution.

The proposal includes determining the number of special seats after a General Election and provides for a 20-year sunset clause, with an option for a further fixed period of 10 years. Its provisions would need to pass through the constitutionally required legislative process before taking effect.

The public has been invited to submit memoranda on the Bill to the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, with the stated deadline for submissions being November 2.

A separate proposal, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to address gender balance through the candidate lists submitted by political parties for parliamentary elections.

The Bill proposes that each political party ensure that no more than two-thirds of the parliamentary candidates it submits to the IEBC are of the same gender.

“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 proposed amendment states.

If enacted, the measure could have significant implications for how parties recruit, select and nominate candidates ahead of the 2027 polls. Its practical effect, however, will depend on the final wording, passage into law and enforcement arrangements.

The different proposals also raise questions about whether Kenya should pursue a single comprehensive framework or adopt separate measures addressing candidate nominations, special seats and representation in appointive public bodies.

Nderitu has called for efforts to consolidate existing proposals, arguing that a coherent approach could help move the debate from repeated discussions to implementation.

The challenge for Parliament is to ensure that the proposals produce a workable mechanism, rather than another round of legislation that fails to resolve the constitutional question.

When he was sworn in as Kenya’s fifth President in September 2022, Ruto pledged to work with Parliament to resolve the gender imbalance.

“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,” he said in his inaugural address.

Ruto subsequently called for deliberate action to increase women’s participation in leadership, including expressing support for a proposal that presidential candidates of one gender should have running mates of the opposite gender.

“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 said.

His administration also established an Office of the Women’s Rights Advisor and made commitments on women’s empowerment. However, these initiatives have not, on their own, resolved the legislative question surrounding the two-thirds gender principle.

In June, a three-judge bench of the High Court found that the Cabinet, as constituted, violated Article 27(8), which applies to appointive public bodies, and directed the President to bring it into compliance within 120 days.

The deadline is due to fall on October 28, 2026, although the implications of any subsequent appellate orders must be established. The ruling concerns appointments to the Cabinet and is distinct from the legislative measures needed to address the gender imbalance in elective bodies.

As the 2027 election approaches, the question is whether Parliament, the IEBC and political parties will translate that obligation into a system that can be implemented and enforced.

With the 2027 polls approaching, the measure of progress will be whether the latest proposals result in enforceable rules and more equitable representation, rather than another missed deadline.

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