In Kenya, the law is always very clear until it is not. A few months ago when opposition was toying with the idea of the People’s Assembly, politicians from both sides kept shouting the law is very clear and then would proceed to make very incoherent statements that left the public more confused.
This week, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) was at the Supreme Court once again to get a proper interpretation on Chapter Six of the Constitution in a bid to guide vetting institutions such as the IEBC when deciding candidates who’ve met the integrity chapter. Never mind this case has been in court since before the elections and several individuals unfit for office and re-carded by the civil society under the Red Card campaign were elected.
The thing is despite having a Constitution touted as the most progressive yet; it appears to be lame and ineffective or has too many grey areas on key issues. For instance, the ongoing debate on gender inclusivity is absurd considering the Constitution is quite explicit in Article 27(8) that Parliament should not have more than two-thirds members from the same gender.
Indeed in accordance with Article 27(6) the 11th Parliament attempted to legislate the constitutional directive before the August 27th 2015 deadline but failed. The Bill on two-thirds gender was brought back to Parliament following the extended deadline of August 27th 2016 and failed again.
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