Aden Duale and Jakoyo Midiwo Slam Two-thirds Gender Ruling Issued by High Court

Jubilee Party and the National Super Alliance (NASA) have for once been brought together following a ruling issued on Wednesday.

High Court Judge John Mativo, gave Parliament 60 days to implement the two-thirds Gender Rule failure to which it risked being dissolved, a ruling which elicited sharp reactions from legislators allied to both the government and the Opposition.

Led by National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale and Deputy Minority leader Jakoyo Midiwo, the teams castigated the court for giving the order which they affirmed was impractical.

According to Duale, the court cannot intimidate the legislature and coerce it to do things at the whims of other institutions including the Executive.

Duale explained that the Gender Bill had been brought before Parliament and had undergone all the legislative procedures required.

He noted that the House had done its bit and the 60 days tag ordered by the judge would not be enough for the Bill to go through all stages required for it to be passed into law.

On his part, Midiwo claimed that the court had gone beyond its jurisdiction by directing Parliament on how to conduct its business.

Midiwo added that the period given by the judge was too close to the electioneering period and did not take into account the numbers of Members of Parliament.

He noted that a previous ruling by the court had termed the two-thirds gender rule provision progressive and wondered if the same had now been overturned by the judge.

In his judgement, Mativo, ruled that the National Assembly had contravened the constitution by failing to pass the two-thirds gender rule.

He added that the failure to enact the said legislation amounted to a violation of the rights of women to equality and freedom from discrimination and a violation of the constitution.