NAIROBI, Kenya – The National Assembly is making a fresh attempt to fulfil the constitutional two-thirds gender rule through a new constitutional amendment Bill that proposes the creation of special top-up seats to correct gender imbalances after general elections.
Spearheaded by Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss, Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi, and Laikipia Woman Representative Jane Kagiri, the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2025 seeks to amend Articles 90, 97, and 98 of the Constitution to bring the composition of both Houses in line with Article 81(b), which mandates that no more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies be of the same gender.
“The principal object of the Bill is to ensure the membership of the National Assembly and Senate conforms to the two-thirds gender principle,” reads the memorandum accompanying the Bill.
Top-Up Seats to Bridge Gender Gaps
The proposed law introduces a post-election mechanism where additional seats would be allocated to underrepresented genders, based on party strength in Parliament.
Political parties would be required to submit “zebra lists” — alternating male and female nominees — to fill these top-up seats after each general election.
The gender top-up system would run for an initial period of 20 years, with an option for a 10-year extension — but only with the support of a two-thirds majority in both Houses (233 MPs and 31 Senators).
“It is expected that by that time, enormous gains will have been made concerning gender parity in elected members of Parliament,” the Bill notes.
How It Would Work
In a scenario where no woman is elected to the National Assembly, the Bill proposes 104 additional seats to achieve compliance. For the Senate, the number would be seven in such a case.
Currently, the National Assembly has 81 women compared to 264 men — just 23.2 per cent female representation.
In the Senate, women make up 20 out of 67 members, meaning at least three more women are needed to meet the constitutional threshold.
An Old Battle, New Hope?
The renewed bid follows several failed attempts in past parliaments to pass similar legislation, often falling short of the constitutional threshold of 233 MPs needed to amend the Constitution.
The proposal also draws from recommendations by the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco), which suggested applying the gender top-up model even in the current Parliament.
However, the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee said that was too ambitious for immediate implementation.
The failure to actualise the gender rule has drawn criticism from civil society, courts, and even the Judiciary.
In 2020, former Chief Justice David Maraga advised then-President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve Parliament for failing to comply with the law.
While the Bill offers a structured path toward equitable representation, questions persist about its practicality, financial implications, and whether it will garner the necessary political support.
Still, its passage would mark a milestone in Kenya’s decades-long struggle for gender equality in political representation — particularly for women, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups historically sidelined in the country’s legislative chambers.
