Lead image for Country with a women’s rights adviser but no female at the table shaping its post-2030 future.
In the books of history, President William Ruto may stand out as the leader who established the Office of the Women’s Rights Adviser and signed a charter with women containing a raft of transformative promises.
More recently, he recognised the power of women in leadership and the change they can bring. On April 1, when he met with members of the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organisation, he advanced a development-oriented view of women, promoting their transformative role in leadership.
“I have worked with many women and had the opportunity to engage with them at different levels. Through this, I have come to realise that it is true that what a man can do, a woman can do,” he said, going on to praise each of the six women Cabinet Secretaries in his 22-member Cabinet for their achievements.
Nevertheless, on June 30, a three-judge bench of the High Court in Milimani, Nairobi, declared Dr Ruto’s Cabinet unconstitutional for violating the Constitution’s two-thirds gender rule and ordered him to reconstitute it within 120 days. The ruling highlighted a gap between Dr Ruto’s commitments and promises contained in his election manifesto.
Read: Ruto Cabinet dilemma: Who'll make way for gender balance?
“Realisation of the two-thirds gender rule in elective and appointive positions in the public sector, within 12 months following election, including 50 per cent Cabinet positions to women,” reads part of the Kenya Kwanza manifesto under its commitments to women.
The commitment is reaffirmed in the Kenya Kwanza Alliance Women Charter. In the charter, Dr Ruto promised to establish a “Women Rights Agency at the Office of the President”, which has since been created. However, questions are emerging over whether the office has had an impact on the President’s plans and appointments, given that it is expected to ensure women are not left behind in the national development agenda.
During Citizen TV’s Daybreak show on July 23, High Court advocate Titus Makhanu questioned the government’s commitment to gender equality, pointing to the role of Presidential Women’s Rights Adviser Harriet Chiggai. “Hon Chiggai sits as a presidential adviser on matters of women and children, yet this government has consistently failed to implement the two-thirds gender rule,” he said.