Lopsided logic perpetuating gender inequality in Kenya

A few days ago, Former Chief Justice David Maraga made a stunning declaration. Maraga, who is now running as a 2027 presidential candidate under the United Green Movement Party, said should he be elected, he will ensure that all public offices have 50/50 gender representation. He assured that he was already walking the talk, and that his party has already applied this rule.

His stand is unsurprising as it is wholly constitutional. The Constitution requires, under Article 27, that no more than two-thirds of either gender should hold public office. This law, now in place for 15 years, has never been implemented, with the Judiciary being the only office that has adhered to it. Interpreting this law from two-thirds to 50/50 would only serve to further ingrain equality, even though in reality women outnumber men in Kenya.

In spite of this, Maraga’s declaration drew not excitement that the law will finally be fulfilled, but ire. All of a sudden, people, including women, were wary of the idea, suggesting that women should receive positions because of merit rather than gender. That the question of competence and merit comes up only when gender parity is being discussed shows us behind the curtain, revealing the (internalised) misogyny that is so rampant in our country.

When the question of women in leadership comes up, examples of poor leadership by some women are brought up as a reason why women definitely should not be in power. These women tend to be called out for their dressing, their inability to answer questions cogently, or their lack of visible output. Just for this, some argue all women must be kept away from public office.

By contrast, countless male leaders have been caught in scandals that include the looting of billions of taxpayer money, fake academic certificates, cold-blooded murder, and the mysterious deaths of young lovers. These actual crimes, however, are not enough to declare that all men should surrender public office. Men’s crimes are individual, while female slights are collective. Besides, women leaders have been outperforming men all along; a cursory glance of the list of best-performing governors puts the few women governors within the top slots, whilst the majority male governors wallow in mediocrity, to much praise and support.

Even though the two-thirds gender rule is constitutional, perhaps Kenyans do not want it to be implemented. It is telling, for example, that aside from the political aspect, the United Democratic Alliance, which won the 2022 presidential election, was the only one that had not fronted a woman as the running mate in the presidential race. It is not far-fetched to argue that the propping of women by the other coalitions was among the reasons they lost.

In the same week that Maraga declared that he would follow the Constitution, Tanzania fell to its knees in the run-up to and the aftermath of its general election. President Samia Suluhu, who had become president by succeeding the late John Magufuli, sought to legitimise her leadership through the use of force. For many people, this was not a case of abuse of power, but a case study of just how wrong things can go should we let women lead. It matters not that dozens of men have been dictators across the world; one female dictator is too many, and proves why women belong securely in the kitchen.

Kenya imbibes a lot of American culture, particularly the more conservative aspects. America, during its long existence, has been incapable of electing a woman as president, preferring even to elect a black man over a white woman, and proving that perhaps racism falls secondary to sexism. Kenya seems to agree with this line of thinking. But, just like in America, qualified women are not in short supply, and often female candidates outdo their male counterparts. There is no need to devolve to the dog whistle of merit when so many excellent women are available to work but are denied the chance.

Ms Gitahi is an international lawyer