By Nyang’au Araka
Women holding top positions in the judiciary were key actors Friday as Prof. Abraham Kithure Kindiki took oath of office as Kenya’s third Deputy President (DP) in Nairobi.
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The ceremony was televised live and enjoyed other forms of local and international coverage.
Apart from his wife, Dr Joyce Kindiki, three women were up stage as Prof. Kindiki officially became President William Ruto’s principal assistant.
The three, Martha Koome (Chief Justice), Dorcas Oduor (Attoney General) and Winfridah Mokaya (Chief Registrar) had specific roles to perform for the ceremony to be complete.
There was intense focus on Mokaya, who read the oaths as Prof. Kindiki repeated the words after her.
Mokaya rose to the position of Chief Registrar seven months ago.
She took over from Anne Amadi, who retired.
Amadi had administered oaths of office for Presidents Mwai Kibaki, Uhuru Kenyatta and Dr Ruto.
If things were to go as expected, Ms Mokaya would have waited until 2027 to execute that high level assignment.
However, this came early due to the successful ouster of Rigathi Gachagua from the office of DP through impeachment.
Gachagua was impeached by the National Assembly before the decision was upheld by the Senate.
Through his lawyers, the impeached Gachagua sought to rescue his job through the courts.
His fate appeared to be sealed after the Court of Appeal lifted orders that had restrained the swearing in of Prof Kindiki as DP on Thursday.
Plans were then hurriedly fixed for the swearing in ceremony to take place on Friday at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
The plans included gazzetment of the day and declaration of it as public holiday.
The presence of women at that high level event of national interest was seen as a pointer in the right direction.
Various initiatives have been employed over the years to bring more women closer to the table in terms of representation.
The turning point occurred in 1995 during the Beijing Conference, where attendees from Kenya were heavily criticised and seen as rebels by their male counterparts in the public arena.
The Constitution provides that not more than two-thirds of members of all elective and appointive positions are of the same gender.
And, during the photo session, Dr Ruto’s wife Rachel made it to the list of women who stepped on the podium, as she ushered the newest 2nd lady of the Republic, Dr Joyce Kindiki.
Turns out that days when women watched from the terraces as things happened are way behind us!
