The gender question: Why BBI has ONLY 360 MPs and no moreOn my second skim i see absolutely no fault in BBI. Ruto himself says it addresses all major "hustler" issues - GMR, youths, SMEs, HELB, name it. Hybrid was in Bomas and CoE so it disingenuous to pretend it's an invention. Further it was a key contribution of most presented memos to BBI. Senate has more powers. Judicial Ombudsman already exists under DCJ and wil now be
non-voting member of JSC who only gives
recommendations that JSC can ignore. Ombudsman cannot review judge or tribunal rulings. S/he must present annual report to parliament (not to PORK
) and this ensures JSC does not sweep the reports under the carpet. This is accountability 101. Pundit and Ruto have been spreading lies and mistruths about this office.
GMR is enabled by 35% in fact - not 11A voodoo as misrepresented by Ruto is his desperate search for a panya route to yes. GMR is agriculture- which is devolved- so it is misleading to say that parliament will pass Sugarcane, Korogosho or Mama Mboga act to ensure good prices. That will be done by county assemblies - because prices are very localized. Fish is Kisumu, potatoes in Nyandarua, sugar in Kakamega, beef in Marsabit, etc.
Parliament will pass SME laws to realize the mandate and aspirations of the youth commission. NYC members while selected by PORK will be vettee by the Senate because youth affairs straddle the national and devolved levels.
In short there is no need to spin long stories about the goods in BBI. It plain as day.
Now the issue in contention: MP headcount. 2/3 is already in CoK 2010 and there have been court orders culminating in the Maraga advisory. The gender bill has floped 10X in parliament and it is delusional to pretend new elections would produce a solution. The bills that flopped were from FIDA, gender commission, NGOs, Karuas, kewopa - and were in fact published and publicly pushed and lobbied by
Duale, Washiali, Gladys Boss Shollei, William Ruto, Raila Odinga, Uhuru Kenyatta. Nyinyi watu wa katikati wacheni unafiki na fitina jameni.
Isitoshe: BBI is a BIG IMPROVEMENT and innovative solution to the gender conundrum. How so?
BBI GENDER INNOVATION- The senate is a federal body with an equal representation of big and small counties. So it is sensible to have an equal number of women through 50-50 parity
- Party primaries will include at least 1/3 women
- Nominated women will prefer losing female candidates by votes attained. This is a real winner as it discourages freeloading by Paretos and Zanis. It is not enough to be Raila's girlfriend or ODM sec gen to be nominated but Agnes Zani must vie for election and lose narrowly to be nominated
- Party funds will have gender as a metric to further motivate parties to prioritize women affairs
Looking wholly at this BBI proposition we see not only does it address the present bad situation, but it further averts the Maraga-advisory constitutional crisis, and most importantly it entrenches gender inclusion in not just parliament, political parties but in the entire national discourse.
Objectively, with these 4 strong agenda, if BBI is passed the next parliament of Kenya is likely to have 30% women such that only PWDs and ethnic minorities will need to be nominated. With 50% female senators we are in fact likely to require few or no gender top-ups at all.
This is the truth Dr Ruto and the Nay brigade will not level with the country. For their dither and faux narrative is not for any genuine reason but selfish political brinkmanship.
BBI = 360 MPs, 94 sentators, 4 PWD, 2 youth, 460 total
CoK 2010 Status quo = crisis as next parliament would be automatically unconstitutional
Note
A. the present CoK 2010 parliament already has 417 members WITHOUT addressing gender equity.
B. Additionally you have an entire 50+ cabinet outside of parliament.
C. BBI strengthens SRC mandate to rein in MP and public service salaries.
Ergo BBI actually REDUCES the number of MPs and alleviates the burden on the taxpayer.