Women leaders rise up against the ‘deputy syndrome’

Ms Grace Maingi: Give women the top jobs, too Photo/Jennifer Muiruri 

By Muchiri Karanja pmuchiri@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Friday, February 25 2011 at 21:00

It was billed as a new dawn for women, the first bold step to engendering merit at the highest level of public service in the country.

The new Constitution, it was said, would not only usher in a fresh political dispensation but also give women a leg up in public appointments.

In a way it has, but not to the extend women expected.

“Article 27(8) of the new Constitution guarantees women at least a third of all public appointments, but it seems women sold themselves short in the euphoria for a new Constitution,” says a woman sitting in one of the Agenda Four commissions who could not be named as she is not authorised to speak to the media.

She warns of an emerging trend she describes as the ‘deputy syndrome’, where women are being appointed to key positions, but only as deputies to men. She cites the recent appointment of commissioners to the Constitution Implementation Commission (CIC) and Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA).

Both teams are led by men. Mr Charles Nyachae chairs CIC and is deputised by Dr Elizabeth Muli, while Mr Micah Cheserem heads CRA and is assisted by Ms Fatuma Abdulkadir.

“There seems to be an agreement among the political class that gender equity is served merely by appointing women to token positions that only serve to manifest the stereotype that women are not good enough to lead. Why not pick women to chair commissions and men to deputise them?” she quips.

The ‘deputy syndrome’ is not restricted to commissions only. Even in Parliament, women are playing second fiddle to men in the most crucial committee on the implementation of the Constitution: The Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee. The committee has 27 members, of which nine are women. It is chaired by Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohamed, who is assisted by ODM Nominated MP Millie Odhiambo.

Now, with pending nominations of the Chief Justice, Attorney-General, Director of Public Prosecutions and Budget Controller, and scores of other appointments, women are spoiling for a fight.

They want a bigger cake in the nominations and appointments.

Besides the Attorney-General, Chief Justice and Director of Public Prosecution—three positions that have raised political temperatures, more senior positions will be up for grabs between now and December next year.

These include that of the Governor of Central Bank, which will be open by Friday next week, the Chief of General Staff, expected to be vacant by end of July, and Inspector-General of Police in two years.

Others include Auditor-General and heads of at least five commissions — The Public Service Commission, National Land Commission, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Salaries and Remuneration Commission and the National Police Service Commission.

The women want not just the minimum third of all the slots, but also a third of the senior-most positions.

They say they are not settling for deputising men.

“There are enough qualified women out there. The problem is, nobody wants to look for them,” says Mrs Judy Thongori, a family law expert.

She says the problem is more political than lack of expertise.

“Why is it that the government is ready to look beyond the organisation when scouting for a male head, but when it comes to women, we look only from within?” she asks.

However, she acknowledges the challenges in the implementation of the gender equity clause.

In the military, for example, there is hardly a woman who is senior enough to succeed General Jeremiah Kianga when he retires in five months.

The Federation of Women Lawyers, Fida, says the one-third rule might be difficult to enforce in senior military appointments for now. But mechanisms to promote women must be put in motion immediately.

“We do not expect gender inequality to be corrected overnight in such areas, but we are demanding that effort be made to remove barriers that prevent women from rising through the ranks,” says Ms Grace Maingi, the executive director of Fida.

Others feel it is still possible to appoint a woman to a senior military post. They argue that some of the senior military ranks that give men an edge over women may not have been earned on merit.

“If we were to strictly go by merit, you will find that we have many women who qualify for higher ranks, all we need is an affirmative action that identifies such women,” says Ms Ann Njogu of the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness.

As for the seniority rule advanced by some politicians in the jostling for the Chief Justice’s position, the women see it as another ploy to lock then out of the top.

“What we need to do is open up the positions for everyone, irrespective of their seniority,” says Ms Njogu.

So far, the three constitutional commissions formed under the new constitution merely meet the one-third rule.

The nine-member CIC has three women, with Dr Muli, a senior law lecturer at the University of Nairobi, the senior most. Others are Ms Catherine Mumma and Dr Florence Omosa.

The Judicial Service Commission, chaired by the Chief Justice, has four women: Prof Christine Mango, Ms Florence Mwangangi, Ms Emily Ominde and Mrs Lydia Achode .The eight-member CRA has three women: Ms Abdulkadir, Ms Rose Osoro and Ms Amina Ahmed.

Fida says the gender equation in the three commissions is not balanced.

“It is disappointing that all of the commissions are chaired by men relegating women to deputies,” says Ms Maingi.

To counter this, the women are pushing for what they refer to as vertical and horizontal gender equity in all new appointments. Horizontal gender equity, they say, means that if the first appointee to any of the expected appointments is a man, then the next ought to be a woman. The pattern, they say, must be followed in filling all the top positions that are up for grabs.

Ms Maingi says the rule is easy to implement. All that the appointing authority has to do is look at the last appointment.

If this rule is to be followed, then the next AG will probably be a woman. The last appointment was for the head of the National Security Intelligence Service, Mr Michael Gichangi. However, the appointment has been challenged in court.

Going by this argument, it follows that the next AG, Chief Justice or the DPP could be a woman. It’s only after the top positions have been filled equitably that the question of who deputises the boss should arise.

 Here, the women are rooting for vertical gender equity. Under this system, if the new appointee is, say, a man, his deputy must be a woman and vice versa. The leaders say the minimal gender equity achieved under the new laws is more vertical than horizontal.

And there is more to the we-do-not-want-to-be-deputies-only campaign. The leaders say a number of women that the government flaunts as symbols of gender parity may be cronies of the men in power

“Some, we fear, might actually have been appointed to push the male agenda,” says Ms Njogu.