The National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) Chairperson Dr. Joyce Mutinda has urged elders negotiating leadership positions in elections to consider choosing youth, women, People living with disabilities (PLWD) and from the marginalized clans. Speaking at Garissa regional offices today after allocating office space to The Commission of Administrative Justice, Mutinda noted that the elders hold strong views in the society and while the commission respects culture, the elders should remember that there is a girl child, a boy child, women, People living with disabilities and marginalized people who should not continue being marginalized. “The elders hold strong views in the society which we respect. Culture must be respected but while we are working to make sure that older people rights are not violated and so, they should not violate the rights of other generations,” Mutinda said “For example, we realized that there is no elected female Member of County Assembly in the entire Garissa county. I will not be surprised if it is the same case in Wajir and Mandera,” She added
She called on children and children organizations, youth; women groups, the PLWD and marginalized communities to always bring their complaints to the offices on discrimination
issues for further action. The Commission of Administrative Justice (CAJ) Chairperson Florence Kajuju said that the commission’s intention is to ensure that the services of the ombudsman are felt at the lowest levels of governance. She urged county governments to a draft on access to information so that the residents can have easy access to information. “The residents have a right to access information not because they have demanded it but by pro-active disclosure,” Kajuju said. “We are going to check on the thirty percent procurement allocation; how much goes to the youth, women, PLWD, the marginalized and how many members of every clan have been employed by the county governments,” she added.