Introduction
Despite enshrining gender equality in law, Kenya’s 2010 constitution has failed to deliver the transformation many had hoped for. Women remain significantly marginalized – owning about 1 per cent of agricultural land and receiving 10 per cent of available financial credit, even though they provide 80 per cent of farm labour and manage 40 per cent of smallholder farms.1 An estimated 54 per cent and 63 per cent of rural and urban women respectively still live below the poverty line.
In part, such problems reflect the challenges arising from the devolution of financial and administrative autonomy to Kenya’s 47 county governments, a policy that was at the heart of the 2010 constitution. Devolution had been expected to have a positive impact on women, as well as other marginalized communities, by bringing decision-making closer to the public2 and empowering citizens to influence policy and access resources.3
But 10 years after the promulgation of the new constitution, there are still no national guidelines for gender mainstreaming. Public participation in policy formulation by women and/or minorities has remained weak. Rather than systematically addressing decision-making and the gendered impacts of devolution, county governments have focused on isolated and piecemeal programmes. Moreover, these initiatives account for a minimal percentage of county budgets and frequently are not sustained. A glaring gap remains between policy commitments and actual investments.
However, devolved government is still young in Kenya. Integrating gender-responsive mechanisms into local governance continues to present a significant opportunity for positive change, notably around participation in policy planning, budget allocation and oversight. Some Kenyan county governments have already made progress, and there are also important lessons to be learned from the experiences of other countries.
This research paper is based on interviews conducted in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Kajiado and Kirinyaga counties between November 2017 and January 2018. It starts by taking stock of political and legal developments around gender equality, both nationally and locally. It also seeks to highlight the importance of devolution in enhancing gender equality in Kenya. It concludes by suggesting practical ways forward to facilitate more gender-responsive approaches to county-level budgeting and planning.
1 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2017), ‘Women and Men in Kenya, facts and figures’, https://www.knbs.or.ke/download/women-men-kenya-facts-figures-2017/.
2 Ali Khan, S. (2005), ‘Decentralization and Women Empowerment: Exploring the Linkages’, Journal of Political Studies, 18(1), pp. 61–75, http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/pols/pdf-files/Decentralization%20-%205.pdf.
3 This presupposed, of course, that the proximity of local government to the people would be likely to enhance gender sensitivity in respect of local challenges, conditions, priorities, planning and service delivery. Maharaj, N. and Maharaj, B. (2004), ‘Engendering local government in post-apartheid South Africa – Experiences of female councillors in Durban (1996-2000)’, GeoJournal, 61(3): pp. 263–72; Devas, N. and Grant, U. (2003), ‘Local decision making – citizens participation and local accountability: Some evidence from Kenya and Uganda’, Public Administration and Development, 23(4): pp. 307–16; Bergh, S. (2004), ‘Democratic decentralization and participation: a review of recent research’, Development in Practice, 14(6): pp. 780–90; Gavan-Koop D. and Smith P. (2008), ‘Gendering
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Vancouver’, Canadian Political Science Review, 2(3), https://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/cpsr/article/view/26/117; and Bahl, R. (2008), ‘Opportunities and Risks of Fiscal Decentralization: A Developing Country Perspective’, in Ingram, G. K. and Hong, Y. (eds) (2008), Fiscal Decentralization and Land Policies, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.