The catastrophic period of violence and displacement during the 2007 general elections in Kenya led to an African Union mediation which, in addition to establishing a power-sharing agreement between the two opposing political parties, sought a commitment from the new government to constitutional reform, eventually resulting in the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution (the Constitution). In addition to a set of safeguards protecting all Kenyans against discrimination across a range of grounds, including age, sex, disability and marital status, the Constitution attempted to address the systemic under- representation of women in public office in innovative ways. The most significant of these was the introduction of the ‘2/3 Gender Principle’ (The Gender Principle) under Arts 27, and 81(b) of the Bill of Rights which seeks to guarantee that not more than two thirds of members of elective public bodies in Kenya will be occupied by one gender. The Constitution also allocates a number of seats exclusively for women representatives at Senate and county levels.
This paper follows the reception and efficacy of the Gender Principle from its inception, through the two subsequent general elections, 2013 and 2017. I examine the formal reception of the Gender Principle by the courts, parliament, and Kenyan civil society, and through interviews and focus groups with grass roots women living in urban and rural areas of Kenya.
On its face, the Gender Principle offered a radical mechanism to boost women’s representation within a rejuvenated democracy. Yet, in the wake of sustained, but to-date unsuccessful efforts of legal and civil society to compel the parliament to implement the Gender Principle, and the most recent, profound electoral malfeasance, this paper exposes the precarious position of women in public spaces in Kenya, and questions the ability of human rights ideas to challenge both Kenya’s patriarchal public life, and Kenyan women’s own ambivalent relationship with their citizenship rights in such a fraught political climate.