INFLUENCE OF CONSTITUTIONAL IMPLEMENTATION ON THE PROMOTION OF GENDER EQUALITY IN KENYA. A CASE OF NAIROBI CITY COUNTY

Abstract

Gender inequalities have for the longest time been a thorn in society’s flesh and key concerns are inequalities in the division of responsibilities, access to and control over resources especially in developing countries. The main objective of this study was to find out the influence of constitutional implementation on the promotion of gender equality in Kenya. This is in the backdrop of the persistent problem of gender inequalities in the country as articulated in the study. Specifically the study focused on variables such as political representation, access to finance, access to social services and also government policy as these were the issues the study wanted to question in relation to how they are stipulated in the new constitution and how they in turn affect the quest to promote gender equality in Kenya.The target population is purposively derived from the county gender office comprising 24 staff, the national gender and equality commission having 40 members and the management of the Nairobi office of maendeleo ya wanawake organization having 35 staff. A census sampling technique method was used and data was collected through the use of questionnaires. The secondary data was obtained from published documents such as journals, periodicals, magazines and reports to supplement the primary data. A pilot study was conducted to pretest the validity and reliability of instruments for data collection. The data was analyzed by use of both qualitative and quantitative methods with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 and excel. The study established that independent variables influenced positively and significantly promotion of gender equality. The correlation and regression analysis showed that government policy was the most significant factor of the independent variables. The analysis also showed that government policy had the strongest positive influence on promotion of gender equality. In addition, access to finance, access to social services and political representation are positively correlated to promotion of gender The study recommends that the government to ensure there is enough proper policies addressing ever changing gender trends, sufficient resources for constitutional implementation for promotion of gender equality, a career development that includes women should be encouraged within the organization and government guidelines to be amended not to favor particular groups of women than others, strategies to facilitate women funds to increase number of women accessing finance in Kenya, increaseaccess to social services as it influence promotion of gender, and political representation in government allocation of women appointees should be considered for promotion of gender equality. Additionally, very little has been undertaken to explore constitutional implementation on promotion of gender equality thus the study call for further studies to be undertaken in Kenya for generalization of the findings of this study.

Key Words: Constitutional Implementation, Gender Equality