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Women leaders under the Embrace alliance yesterday called for an expanded national Executive, saying a referendum was inevitable.

Speaking when they appeared  before the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) taskforce, the leaders led by Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and her Kitui counterpart Charity Ngilu, proposed the expansion of the Presidency and the Executive to include a prime minister and two deputies.

Ngilu said two of the five positions in the national Executive should be ring-fenced for women with the presidential ticket comprising persons of opposite gender.

“The opposite gender rule shall be applied in the expanded Executive, with two seats set aside for women. Since independence the two top seats have been going to men,” she said.

Erode gains

In their proposals, the women leaders also want the opposite gender rule to apply in other elective and presidential appointments to ensure gender balance in leadership, State and government positions. 

This means that if the presidential candidate is a man, his running mate should be a woman and vice versa. They want the rule to also apply at the gubernatorial level.

Waiguru expressed concern over failure to implement the two-third gender rule in the National Assembly and the Senate. 

To achieve this, she said women were proposing changes in the electoral system to include the 50:50 gender representation in the Legislature.

“Mixed member voting systems are growing in popularity around the world as a method of proportional voting for determining the make of legislative chambers,” she said.

Gender Chief Administrative Secretary Rachel Shebesh said a referendum was inevitable and it should capture women’s voices and bear changes that put more emphasis on women inclusivity, youth and marginalised groups.

“We, the women of Kenya recognise and appreciate that one of the national values and principles of governance is inclusivity. Women will only support changes that will strengthen rather than erode the current gains for women, vulnerable and the marginalised populations,” said Samburu West MP Naisula Lesuuda.

Write report 

Other proposals brought forward include the establishment of regional assemblies, where MCAs from the same region can seat and legislate from as opposed to wards.

The team is expected to write a report before the end of September and present it to President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Other leaders who were present during the presentation are Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga, former minister Nyiva Mwendwa, and former long-serving Maendeleo ya Wanawake chair Zipporah Kittony.