Source: The Star
Transport was paralysed in Makueni when women leaders led a peaceful demo over the two thirds gender rule on Wednesday.
Makueni Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau and MPs Rose Museo, (Makueni) and Jessica Mbalu (Kibwezi East) joined more than 50 women in the demo around Wote town.
The demonstrators chanted slogans against National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi and Justice and Legal Affairs Committee chairman Samuel Chepkonga for their remarks on the rule.
Noting that Muturi holds a top post, they said he indicated the side he would favour by giving his view on the matter instead of remaining neutral.
"We want Muturi to stop thinking for us. We all have equal rights and you should actually respect the Constitution, Period," read one of the placards they waved.
Adelina later held a meeting with the demonstrators at Kusyombunguo resort where support for the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association was declared.
Makueni Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau and other women leaders join in a demonstration against a bill delaying the implementation of the two thirds gender rule in Wote town on Wednesday. Photo/EVELYN MUTANU
Regretting that men have dominated the political arena, she said the proposal for a progressive gender rule should be put on hold.
"We are based on a patriarchal system of life in this nation and patriarchy is about men first and then women later," she noted.
Museo accused Muturi of speaking "carelessly and yet he has been a lawyer for so long".
She said nobody should drag Kenya backwards adding that women voted for the Constitution because of the clauses that supported them.
Museo said women MPs have made significant contributions through bills tabled in the House and accused leaders criticising them of laxity.
"We have been contributing to bills in the assembly and some have even been brought forward by women MPs like Millie Odhiambo who brought a bill on how to settle IDPs," she said.
Mbalu said women won't let the gains of the Constitution they voted for be undermined under their watch.
"Muturi was giving his personal opinion and of course, as a man, but we want to make it clear to him that he should be very careful," Mbalu said.
She said women should not be denied their positions as stipulated in the Constitution.