County woman representative

Last updated

In Kenya a county woman representative is a member of the Kenya National Assembly who represents one of the 47 counties in a seat reserved for female members. The county woman representatives serve in the national assembly alongside the 290 members elected from the constituencies, 12 nominated members and the Speaker of the National Assembly. [1]

History

The role of Woman's Representative was created by the Constitution of Kenya that was adopted in a referendum in 2010 in order to increase the representation of women in parliament. Prior to the 2010 constitution there were fewer than 20 female members of the Kenyan parliament. [2] The first representatives were elected in the 2013 Kenyan general election. [3]

The Woman Representatives are elected by all registered voters in the county they represent, not only female voters. [4] In 2019 the Committee on Implementation and Oversight of the Constitution proposed abolishing the role after the next general election. [3]

While the Constitution of Kenya requires that no more than two thirds of the National Assembly or the Senate be of the same gender, this requirement has not been met. In 2017 the High Court ruled that the two houses had failed to perform their constitutional obligation. [5] Despite attempts to introduce new legislation to ensure increased representation of women in parliament this situation has not been resolved. [6]

In addition to the 47 designated Woman Representatives, at the 2017 Kenyan general election 23 women were elected to represent the constituency seats and 5 women were nominated to represent the appointed seats. Consequently, a total of 75 women serve in the National Assembly in the 12th Parliament of Kenya, comprising 21% of the members of the assembly. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Kenya</span> Political system of Kenya

The politics of Kenya take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Kenya is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system in accordance with a new constitution passed in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand Parliament</span> Supreme unicameral legislature of New Zealand

The New Zealand Parliament is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his governor-general. Before 1951, there was an upper chamber, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The New Zealand Parliament was established in 1854 and is one of the oldest continuously functioning legislatures in the world. It has met in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, since 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of South Africa</span> Legislative body of South Africa

The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seventh Parliament was first convened on 22 May 2019.

Several politico-constitutional arrangements use reserved political positions, especially when endeavoring to ensure the rights of women, minorities or other segments of society, or preserving a political balance of power. These arrangements can distort the democratic principle of one person - one vote in order to address special circumstances.

Regular elections in Croatia are mandated by the Constitution and legislation enacted by Parliament. The presidency, Parliament, county prefects and assemblies, city and town mayors, and city and municipal councils are all elective offices. Since 1990, seven presidential elections have been held. During the same period, ten parliamentary elections were also held. In addition, there were nine nationwide local elections. Croatia has also held three elections to elect members of the European Parliament following its accession to the EU on 1 July 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Nepal</span> Process of choosing Leader in Nepal

There are three types of elections in Nepal: elections to the Federal Parliament, elections to the provincial assemblies and elections to the local government. Within each of these categories there may be by-elections as well as general elections. Currently three electoral systems are used: parallel voting for House of Representatives and provincial assemblies, Single transferable vote for National Assembly and first past the post for local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Kenya</span> Political elections for public offices in Kenya

Elections in Kenya take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy and a presidential system. The President, Senate and National Assembly are directly elected by voters, with elections organised by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council of Representatives of Iraq</span> Legislature of Iraq

The Council of Representatives, usually referred to simply as the Parliament is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Iraq. As of 2020, it comprises 329 seats and meets in Baghdad inside the Green Zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senate of Zimbabwe</span> Upper house of the Parliament of Zimbabwe

The Senate of Zimbabwe is the upper of the two chambers in Zimbabwe's Parliament. It existed from independence in 1980 until 1989, and was re-introduced in November 2005. The other chamber of Parliament is the National Assembly.

General elections were held in South Africa on 16 April 1958. The result was a victory for the National Party, now under the leadership of J.G. Strijdom after the retirement of Daniel Malan in 1954. The opposition United Party campaigned for the first time under De Villiers Graaff, who would remain party leader for two decades.

General elections were held in South Africa on 30 March 1966. The result was another comprehensive victory for the National Party under Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Representatives (Thailand)</span> Lower house in the National Assembly of Thailand

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the National Assembly of Thailand, the legislative branch of the Thai government. The system of government of Thailand is that of a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. The system of the Thai legislative branch is modelled after the Westminster system. The House of Representatives has 500 members, all of which are democratically elected: 400 members were elected through single member constituency elections, while the other 100 are elected through party lists parallel voting. The roles and powers of the House of Representatives were enshrined in the Constitution of 2017 which was amended in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Tuvalu</span> Parliament

The Parliament of Tuvalu is the unicameral national legislature of Tuvalu. The place at which the parliament sits is called the Vaiaku maneapa. The maneapa on each island is an open meeting place where the chiefs and elders deliberate and make decisions.

In India, a number of political positions and university posts are held for specific groups of the population, including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and women in some cases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Group representation constituency</span> Type of constituency defined in Singapores constitution

A group representation constituency (GRC) is a type of electoral division or constituency in Singapore in which teams of candidates, instead of individual candidates, compete to be elected into Parliament as the Members of Parliament (MPs) for the constituency. The Government stated that the GRC scheme was primarily implemented to enshrine minority representation in Parliament: at least one of the MPs in a GRC must be a member of the Malay, Indian or another minority community of Singapore. In addition, it was economical for town councils, which manage public housing estates, to handle larger constituencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Assembly (South Africa)</span> 1910–1994 house in the Parliament of South Africa

The House of Assembly was the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa from 1910 to 1981, the sole parliamentary chamber between 1981 and 1984, and latterly the white representative house of the Tricameral Parliament from 1984 to 1994, when it was replaced by the current National Assembly. Throughout its history, it was exclusively constituted of white members who were elected to office predominantly by white citizens, though until 1960 and 1970, respectively, some Black Africans and Coloureds in the Cape Province voted under a restricted form of suffrage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of Kenya</span> Supreme law of the Republic of Kenya

The Constitution of Kenya is the supreme law of the Republic of Kenya. There have been three significant versions of the constitution, with the most recent redraft being enabled in 2010. The 2010 edition replaced the 1963 independence constitution. The constitution was presented to the Attorney General of Kenya on 7 April 2010, officially published on 6 May 2010, and was subjected to a referendum on 4 August 2010. The new Constitution was approved by 67% of Kenyan voters. The constitution was promulgated on 27 August 2010.

Gladys Jepkosgei Boss Shollei is a Kenyan politician who is currently the Deputy Speaker of the Kenya National Assembly and woman representative for Uasin Gishu county She is a member of the United Democratic Alliance.

Dennitah Ghati is a Kenyan politician who is a nominated member of the Kenya National Assembly, representing people with disabilities. She is a member of the Orange Democratic Movement.

References

  1. ↑ "Members of the National Assembly". Parliament of Kenya. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Kenya's cabinet rejects quota for female MPs". BBC. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 "MPs want to get rid of 47 Woman Reps". The Star. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  4. ↑ "Establishment of the National Assembly". Parliament of Kenya. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "Kenya Parliament Ordered to enact legislation related to increasing the number of female members". Global Legal Monitor. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "MPs: Kenya must pass women's representation bill or risk constitutional crisis". Reuters. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  7. ↑ Data Report of 2017 Elections (PDF). Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.