Senate seeks formula to ensure gender gap is bridged

A Bill that seeks to amend the Constitution to provide a formula for nominating additional special-seat members of the National Assembly and the Senate to meet the two-thirds gender principle is currently before the Senate.

The Constitutional Amendment Bill (No. 2 of 2025), sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, aims to ensure conformity with the Constitution regarding the membership of the National Assembly.

“In the event that the membership of the National Assembly and the Senate does not conform to the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members are of the same gender, there shall be nominated an additional number of special-seat members necessary to ensure that not more than two-thirds of the membership of the House are of the same gender,” said Cheruiyot.

The Bill further seeks to amend the Constitution of Kenya to provide for additional seats in the National Assembly and the Senate in order to implement the principle that at least five per cent of members of elective and appointive bodies should be persons with disabilities.

It also proposes an amendment to Article 90 of the Constitution to ensure that members of a political party are democratically involved in generating the party list through a fair and competitive process, as set out in the respective party constitutions and nomination rules.

The Senate Majority Leader wants each party list to reflect the representation of marginalised groups set out in Article 100, to the greatest extent possible, taking into account the nature of the party list, if the Bill is approved by senators.

President William Ruto, in a memorandum submitted to the Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate in December 2022, urged Parliament to exercise its full authority to deepen good governance, enhance inclusion in the democratic space, strengthen parliamentary oversight of the Executive, and promote responsiveness of elected representatives to citizens’ aspirations.

Ruto said that, in the National Assembly, the effect of this formula would establish one-third at 97 members, since there already exist 47 affirmative action seats dedicated to women’s leadership, with the maximum number required to meet the constitutional threshold being 50.

The President noted that, with the National Assembly having 26 elected women from the constituencies, the nomination of an additional 24 women would suffice to meet the constitutional requirement, with the same formula applied in the Senate, which has 16 women nominated.

“I believe that trading off the increase in the parliamentary wage bill with the achievement of compliant inclusion of women in Parliament is eminently worthwhile. Another modality of achieving compliance is for political parties to deliberately embark on sustained, institutionalised and robust initiatives that facilitate the empowerment of women to successfully contest legislative seats in greater numbers,” said Ruto.

According to the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), it will cost Kenyans Sh20 billion annually if Ruto’s proposal for establishing a formula to guide the computation of the gender ratio in the National Assembly and the Senate is adopted.

PBO estimates place the cost of sustaining one Member of Parliament at Sh30 million annually, with salary and allowances alone valued at Sh10.8 million, while the remainder covers vehicle fixed costs and the running of constituency offices.

According to the PBO, the total average cost of maintaining one constituency office per year is Sh12 million, while the average total cost of mileage claims per year is approximately Sh9.6 million. This figure would rise with the addition of MPs.

“Members of Parliament are entitled to a Sh40 million mortgage, a one-off car grant allowance of Sh5 million per member, and other administrative costs estimated at Sh15 million per member annually,” a report from the Parliamentary Budget Office shows.

This means that if Ruto’s proposal to ensure the two-thirds gender rule in Parliament is implemented, the number of Members of Parliament in both Houses will increase from 416, resulting in a huge wage bill, with Parliament’s budget — currently two per cent of the national budget — rising to Sh39 billion.