Raila, Aisha Jumwa in meeting to discuss gender matters

The multi-sectoral working group led by Gender, Culture,The Arts and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa paid a visit to Raila at his Capitol Hill offices in Nairobi, where a consensus was reached to fast-track its implementation.

"There was widespread consensus that enhanced collaborative efforts are essential for fully realising its implementation as intended," Raila said after the meeting.

The two-thirds gender principle has been a thorny issue in the country, 13 years since the Kenyan constitution was promulgated.

Article 27(8) of the Constitution provides that the State shall take steps to ensure that not more than two-thirds of members of all elective and appointive positions are of the same gender. 

Raila and indeed the opposition have severally called on the legislature and indeed the government of the day to put in place measures aimed at enacting this principle. 

His latest meeting with CS Jumwa, with whom they fell out leading to her decamping to President William Ruto's side, comes amid his concerted efforts to sway support towards his side for his African Union (AU) Commission job.

The meeting comes a day after Raila and Ruto shared photos of themselves in a meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at his Kisoze farm in Uganda. 

The two Kenyan leaders had gone to seek Museveni's support for Raila'a AU bid.