Reduce Number Of Men Or Add More Women- Ruto To Treasury CS [VIDEO]

President William Ruto on Tuesday, November 7 took a swipe at the composition of the Pending Bills Verification Committee unveiled by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u.

Speaking during the launch of the committee at State House, Nairobi, President Ruto believed that the committee was null and void because it lacked the vital component; the two-thirds gender rule.

Specifically, Ruto complained that the number of women in the committee was less than the number of men in the 20-member committee.

“Before I make very brief remarks let me just assist my CS with some housekeeping manenos. I'm not a very good mathematician, but being a scientist, I know something about Maths.

You either reduce the number of men or you add the number of women so that it is constitutional- President Ruto to CS Njuguna Ndung'u on the composition of the Pending Bills Verification Committee#ViralVideos pic.twitter.com/m8eIRRXuPs — Viral Tea Ke (@ViralTeaKe) November 7, 2023

"When I looked at the composition of the committee it was clear to me that it was unconstitutional because it lacked gender balance there are only four women out of a whole committee of 20,” he complained.

As such, Ruto asked CS Ndung'u to do one of the following; cut down on the number of men or add more women to the Pending Bills committee, expressing his desire to live within the tenets of the Constitution of Kenya.

“I respectively suggest Mr. Minister that you either reduce the number of men or you add the number of women so that it is constitutional.

"I think it's time we begin to live in accordance with the principles of the Constitution without paying reap service,” he recommended.

The Cabinet in June of this year approved the establishment of a special committee on pending bills, which will be tasked with the auditing of liabilities for the period between 2005 and 2022.

The committee will consist of the Attorney General, the State Department of Roads, the State Department of Public Works, the State Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.

Others include the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), the Institute of Engineers of Kenya and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya among others.

The Committee will examine and submit interim reports to the Treasury Cs upon verification which the government will honour the obligation in question, a move aimed at establishing the integrity of all bills and cushioning small enterprises against liquidity inadequacies.

Members include; Ali Abdulazak, Hesbon Omollo, Erick Onyango, Patience Mulondo, James Munene, Bernad Ndung’u, Nicholas Mutua, James Kung’u, Curtis Kushenya and Peter Kitheka.

Others are Margret Gishimu, Maximus Siwa, Kanini Nthika, Livingstone Mburu, David Ruto and Susan Oyatsi. Geoffrey Malombe and Olivier Karori are joint sectaries in the committee.

Some experts might see Ruto's suggestion to include more women in his government after his early months in office saw him cornered by various stakeholders for failing to include 50 per cent of women in his Cabinet, as he had promised.

In June 2022, in the run-up to the August polls, Ruto signed a charter with women at Nyayo Stadium, where he promised them 50 per cent of his Cabinet and also pledged to make women equal partners in his government, saying they would be the face of the Kenya Kwanza administration.

“I commit that the women will have 50 per cent access to the Ksh50 billion Hustler Fund without any conditions or interest," he said at the time.

President William Ruto during a Cabinet meeting at State House, Mombasa on November 3, 2023. /PCS