dc.description.abstract |
The Kenya Constitution 2010 states that membership at the County Assembly and the
County Executive should have at least one-third of either gender. The basis for this
constitutional provision is that equitable gender representation within the county
governance is perceived to contribute to a balanced socio-cultural and economic
development of the devolved units. This stems from the consideration that adherence to
this threshold enables both men and women to participate in decision-making, policy
formulation and allocation of resources that is equitable within the counties. The problem
is that several counties in Kenya have failed to meet the constitutional requirements for
gender equality; potentially due to varied perspectives on the matter. A literature review
by the researcher revealed that very little previous research exists in Kenya on this issue
that could provide in-depth insights of the stakeholders on the implementation of the
gender quota threshold in county governance. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to
investigate the perspectives of key stakeholders on implementation of the gender quota
threshold in devolved governance in Kenya. The specific objectives of this research were
to: find out the views of various stakeholders on the constitutional provisions on gender
quota threshold in devolved governance, to establish how the gender quota threshold
provisions are being implemented in devolved governance and to examine the barriers to
successful implementation of the gender quota threshold provisions. The Theory of
Political Representation and the Empowerment Approach were drawn upon to interpret the
findings. This study adopted a qualitative approach and a comparative research design.
Data were generated using interviews, focused group discussions and document analysis.
Purposive sampling was adopted to select two counties based on the number of women
elected and appointed in the County Assembly and County Executive; respectively. The
total sample size was 53 participants. The data were analysed thematically and presented in
the form of narration. The key findings were: Various stakeholders view the constitutional
provisions on gender quota threshold as being fair and well–intended but leaving a lot of
loopholes for diverse interpretations; that the implementation of this legislation is in-
consistent in the counties studied and is dependent largely on the goodwill of the governors
and other key decision makers; and that barriers to successful implementation of the
gender quota threshold include male patronage, gender-bias, social-cultural perceptions
among others. It was concluded that implementation of the gender quota threshold are
dependent on the key players‟ perspectives based on personal experiences and level of
education whereas implementation at the County Executive level is dependent on
individual Governor‟s attributes and perceived accountability to their electorates.
Recommendations are: the need to align perspectives of the key stakeholders on
interpretation and implementation of the gender quota threshold through enhanced civic
education if this law has to achieve its purpose of equitable development; a need for
strengthening the legislation to seal the existing loopholes for implementation; and it is
necessary to have broader conceptualization of the role of gender equity in development in
devolved units that goes beyond the numerical representation in the County Assembly and
Executive. |
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