Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwah is now proposing an amendment f the Kenyan Constitution regarding the county gubernatorial position.
Addressing a crowd on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, Ichung’wah, who doubles up as the Majority Leader in the National Assembly proposed that the county gubernatorial position be reserved exclusively for women.
“Kama itafika siku uweze kubadilisha katiba, naona uibadilishe kiti ya governor kua ya hawa wamama kwa sababu wao ndio wanaelewa hii kazi ya governor,” he said.
Loosely translated to: “If the day comes when you can change the constitution, I think you should change the seat of the governor to these mothers because they are the ones who understand the work of the governor.”
Ichungwah said female county bosses are performing better than their male counterparts.
His comments come following a recent survey conducted by Infotrack showed that female governors dominated the top ten most-performing governors.
According to the Survey conducted in 2023, Homa Bay governor Gladys Wanga, Kawira Mwangaza (Meru), Cecily Mbarire (Embu), Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos), and Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru were all ranked among the top 25th best-performing governors.
At least seven of Kenya’s 47 incumbent governors are women, compared with only three in the 2017-2022 regime.
The seven female governor-elected include Susan Kihika (Nakuru County), Gladys Wanga (Homabay County), Cecicly Mbarire (Embu County), Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos County), and Fatuma Achani (Kwale County), Kawira Mwangaza (Meru County) and Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga County).
Despite nearly half of registered voters in the country being women, very few female leaders hold elective positions in Kenya.
A constitutional provision introduced a “two-thirds rule” in 2010 to enable more women to get into leadership positions and tone down male dominance in politics.
However, that has barely had any effect, especially on the gubernatorial position until now.
