LSK flags risks in proposed constitutional amendment on gender and disability representation
By Faith Lagat, March 16, 2026The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has raised concerns over the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2025, cautioning that its approach to enforcing the two-thirds gender rule and increasing representation for persons with disabilities could weaken democratic accountability and increase costs to taxpayers.
LSK Deputy CEO Ruth Nyaberi and Council Member Munyaga Githaiga appeared before the Senate Justice and Legal Affairs Committee on March 16, 2026, chaired by Senator Hillary Sigei, to present the Society’s memorandum on the proposed amendments.
The Bill proposes adding nominated “special seats” in Parliament to ensure compliance with gender parity and disability representation thresholds.
Proponents argue this provides a direct route to meeting constitutional requirements, which have historically seen women’s representation in the National Assembly and Senate remain below 30 percent despite existing nominated seats.
“While the Bill seeks to address the two-thirds gender rule and enhance representation of persons with disabilities through additional nominated seats,” read the LSK X post in part.
Risks to democracy and accountability
LSK cautioned that increasing nominated positions could dilute voter accountability, as these members would not be directly elected.
The Society also noted that additional seats would raise parliamentary costs, adding salaries, allowances, and administrative expenses to public expenditure.
More importantly, the Bill does not address structural barriers such as discriminatory party nomination practices and socio-cultural norms that limit participation of women and persons with disabilities.
“LSK cautioned that the approach may undermine democratic accountability, increase taxpayer costs, and fail to address structural barriers such as discriminatory party nomination practices and socio-cultural challenges to political participation.”
LSK stressed that without tackling these underlying issues, additional seats may provide only a superficial solution.
Calls for party-level quotas
Instead of automatic nominations, LSK recommended the use of enforceable quotas within political parties. Parties should be required to field at least one-third women and five percent persons with disabilities in elections.
This approach would encourage inclusive candidate selection, foster competition, and strengthen representation organically while maintaining accountability to voters.
The LSK presentation comes amid ongoing discussions on constitutional compliance, with Kenya struggling for over 15 years to implement the two-thirds gender rule fully.
“The Society instead recommended strengthening political party accountability, including mandatory quotas requiring at least one-third of party candidates for elective positions to be women and at least five percent to be persons with disabilities.”