Stakeholders’ perception of the implementation of the Supreme Court of Kenya’s advisory opinion on gender representation: policy lessons and perspectives.

Abstract

The study examined stakeholder perceptions’ of the implementation of the Supreme Court of Kenya’s advisory opinion on gender representation. It aimed to establish the stakeholder perception of the implementation based on four variables of government policies, capacity, satisfaction and implementation tracking. The opinion of stakeholder groups that either affected or were affected by the advisory opinion was sought through a descriptive cross-sectional study in which the researcher conducted a survey using questionnaires to interview then collecting the necessary data. The study collected data from 90 respondents representing different groups interested in the Supreme Court’s advisory opinion on gender representation. The research adopted a descriptive research design where respondents were identified using purposive random sampling approach. Data from the respondents was collected through use of a semi-structured questionnaire. Ten open-ended questions were also included on the survey to capture participants’ own views on the implementation of the advisory opinion. To better understand and complement analysis of the quantitative survey data, qualitative analysis of the ten open-ended questions was also conducted. Data was coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The study reveals that significant differences exist in the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the four variables under study. No considerable differences in their perception of the government’s commitment to the implementation of the advisory opinion. Other findings reveal that various stakeholder perceptions in the study supported the view that the judiciary has a significant role influencing public policy through its advisory opinion such as the one under study. The study also assessed the stakeholder perceptions of the implementation progress and challenges deriving policy lessons and perspectives. However, a majority felt that little had been achieved on implementation of the advisory opinion which was due to lack of stakeholder consensus. Based on these findings, it was recommended that government sets up formal institutions or mechanisms for stakeholder negotiations towards securing legislative consensus. The government to support the process and also fast-track legislation that would provide a formula for realizing the two-thirds threshold as well as put in place a monitoring mechanism to track the implementation steps of the advisory opinion in Kenya. Lastly, government agencies should be allocated adequate resources to enhance their compliance to policy reforms that will realize the gender representation principle.