Source: Nairobi Star
The constitution must be amended for the two-thirds gender principle to work, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has said. Kalonzo said neither the Cabinet nor the government has the intention to deprive women of their fair share of positions in institutions.

"The practicality of the one-third principle is the problem. No one has any ill intention against the women," said Kalonzo in Mtwapa at the weekend.

Cabinet in mid-August decided to amend the gender principle requiring that not more than two thirds of any constitutional institution be comprised of the same gender. The Presidential Press Service sent a brief to media houses stating that the requirement is technically impossible to achieve under the current constitution.

This brought acrimony from women leaders who read malice in the move. Women MPs under the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association vowed to fight the move terming the Cabinet lazy. At the weekend Kalonzo said the Cabinet has been misunderstoodmaking it look like they are against women. The VP said once the clause is removed from the constitution the two-thirds principle will be achieved automatically.

He was reacting to assertions by nominated MP Shakila Abdalla, former Kenya Airports Authority deputy boss Naomi Cidi and other women leaders in Kilifi that the government is plotting against women.

The Constitution Implementation Commission has admitted that the implementation of the principle in respect of Parliament poses a challenge light of the provisions of Article 97 of the constitution. 

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