Kiambu and Nairobi counties have most nominated MCAs

Kiambu County Assembly during a past sesion. Nairobi and Kiambu top the list of counties with the most number of nominated female MCAs after the August 8 elections. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • In the top five list, Kakamega has 25 members, Kisii 20 while Meru and Nakuru have 19 each.
  • United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK) has flagged 17 counties it said did not nominate disabled persons.
  • These include Kwale, Kilifi, Taita-Taveta, Wajir, Makueni, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Murang’a.

Nairobi and Kiambu top the list of counties with the most number of nominated female members of the county assemblies, added to meet the constitutional gender principle.

While the city county has 34, Kiambu has 28 in the list of 559 that had to be nominated after Kenyans elected only 96 women MCAs in the August 8 General Election.

The Constitution stipulates that the nomination slots will be as many as are required to ensure that no gender has more than two-thirds of the representation in the regional assemblies.

In the top five list, Kakamega has 25 members, Kisii 20 while Meru and Nakuru have 19 each. Kilifi and Garissa each got slots of 15 members.

At least 10 counties – Embu, Garissa, Isiolo, Kajiado, Kirinyaga, Mandera, Narok, Samburu, Wajir and West Pokot – did not elect a single woman to the local assemblies and nominated at least 10 women each to meet the legal threshold.

DISABLED

Meanwhile, the United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK) has flagged 17 counties it said did not nominate disabled persons, saying they had gone against the Constitution.

“In the gazette list, 17 counties have no nominee who is a person with disability, two counties have three nominees who are persons with disabilities, eight have two nominees who are persons with disabilities whereas 20 counties have a single nominee who is a person with disability,” the lobby group said in a statement sent to newsrooms.

It went on: “The gazette list as it is, is unacceptable as it does not respect the letter and spirit of the Constitution.”

These counties are Kwale, Kilifi, Taita-Taveta, Wajir, Makueni, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Murang’a, Turkana, West-Pokot, Baringo and Laikipia.

Others are Nakuru, Narok, Kericho, Bungoma, Busia and Kisii.