If A Man Is Vying For President, Running Mate Should Be A Woman – Ruto
President William Ruto has reaffirmed his commitment to seeing to it that the two-thirds gender rule is applied both in the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party and the Kenya Kwanza administration as a whole.
Speaking on Thursday, Ruto stated that his government has adopted radical tactics to actualize the gender inclusion threshold of the constitution and will lead by example.
The head of state was speaking during the Women Governors Caucus G7 Strategy launch in Nairobi.
As such, Dr Ruto gave Governor Cecily Mbarire the duty of creating new legislation mandating that a male presidential candidate have a female running mate and vice versa.
“When Riggy G (DP Rigathi Gachagua) and myself agree on how things will go in the future we must also agree that going forward if a man is a candidate for president the woman must be a running mate and if a woman is a candidate then a man should be the running mate,” he said amid cheers.
“We must be deliberate and intentional about it otherwise it will never happen.”
According to Ruto, the same principle ought to apply in all party leadership posts and governors.
He expressed optimism that the plan to completely implement the 2/3 gender rule will be well received by other party leaders.
“We will do this not because we want to do anything against men but we want to balance so that we move together,” he said.
The Head of State praised women for their dependability in carrying out their missions, recounting how, ever since he was Deputy President, women had consistently supported him without reservation.
“When I ran into political turbulence as deputy president, more women stood by me than men in my team. And that is a fact. In the last election, more women voted for me than men,” he said.
“Therefore supporting me is the easiest thing for me. Apart from the fact that in my family I have more women family members than men.”
He also exhorted men to take the lead in defending women against female genital mutilation (FGM), especially in areas where the vice has been common.
The G7 is a caucus that consists of Kenya’s seven elected female governors.
The caucus aims to enable and assist female leaders in exhibiting effective, transformative, and strategic governance within the devolved units.