Court suspends IEBC’s gender rule order on political parties
Political parties can breathe a sigh of relief following the suspension of the implementation of the two-thirds gender rule by the High Court.
Justice Antony Ndung’u issued a stay order on the notice by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) issued on April 27.
The notice according to lawyer Adrian Kamotho was not legally binding.
“I’m satisfied that an arguable case has been established to warrant the grant of the leave sought. The leave so granted shall operate as a stay of the impugned notice,” Justice Ndung’u ruled.
She further directed the lawyer to serve the IEBC, the Registrar of Political Parties with the pleadings.
This should be done before the mention of the case which is slated for the 18th of May 2022.
The lawyer has filed an application under certificate of urgency seeking to quash the notice which compels political parties to comply with the two-thirds gender rule.
Kamotho termed the rule of engagement of the two-third gender rule as unreasonable and draconian.
He further asked the court to issue a stay of the notice issued by IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati to political parties asking them to ensure the rule is met when they present their lists of nominees to the National Assembly and the Senate pending the hearing of the petition.
The law allows for the IEBC to penalize parties yet to achieve the two-third gender requirement by stopping them from contesting in the 2022 general election.
Some of the political parties that were yet to achieve the gender parity requirement include Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Azimio presidential aspirant Raila Odinga’s ODM.
Other parties yet to abide by the law include Jubilee Party, Amani National Congress, The Service Party, Movement for Growth and Democracy (MDG) party, Narc and Narc Kenya.
