KENYA: LSK Told to Meet Gender Rule in Polls

Source: Daily Nation
Lawyers are facing a dilemma over how to meet the constitutional threshold for women's representation in their society's council when they elect new leaders next month.

They are grappling with the requirement by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that it will only conduct the elections if this condition is met.

The Law Society of Kenya has called in the IEBC because, for the first time since its formation in 1948, lawyers will gather at appointed polling centres across the country to vote in their leaders.

"The elections will be different now since IEBC will conduct them, and we will use the secret ballot which is more accountable and transparent compared to the postal ballot.

"This will be a turning point and will be a precedent in the elections," LSK chair Kennedy Akide told the Sunday Nation.

In the past, members have voted by mailing their ballots to the secretariat in Nairobi for sorting and counting.

The commission has written to the LSK council stating that the elections should be in line with the spirit of the Constitution that calls for not more than two-thirds of those elected to be of the same gender.

In IEBC's proposal, the first seven will automatically be elected, then the other three will be picked with the gender equity requirement in mind.

Council members who spoke to the Sunday Nation said the gender representation demanded by IEBC was widely discussed, but they had yet to arrive at a decision.

Of 31 contenders for various positions, only seven are women despite the fact that they make up about 40 per cent of LSK.

"This in itself is a big challenge in trying to create a balance between the genders," said LSK Council member John Mburu, who is a candidate for the chair.

The other aspirant, Mr Erick Mutua, who initiated the move to change the system, said the postal ballot was prone to abuse as they were usually collected by candidates and dropped at the secretariat.

In addition, voting was done over three months, and candidates had no control over the process.

During the meeting, the lawyers argued that the gender representation clause was "progressive and not immediate".

They then suggested a classic democracy that demands a free-for-all system.

IEBC refused to go along the proposal and instead suggested e "best seven and top three losers from the other gender" for balance.

On Monday, IEBC and LSK agreed that candidates who flout election rules would face a disciplinary team and incur fines of up to Sh50,000.

Electoral malpractice includes attempts to unfairly influence the electoral process, monetary inducement and abusive language.

These issues notwithstanding, lawyers expect the election will offer them a chance to start afresh.

"We expect upcoming officials to be better because the current leadership is a total failure.

"A new and legitimate team will be better placed to push for lowering of fees at the Kenya School of Law where they were recently raised to Sh190,000, and dealing with corruption at Lands Ministry and courts," lawyer Irungu Kang'ata said.

Kenya