President William Ruto has urged Parliament to develop legislation to actualize the two-thirds gender rule.

Speaking during his third State of the Nation Address before a Joint Sitting of the National Assembly and the Senate, President Ruto called on legislators to take decisive steps toward implementing this constitutional requirement.

"This Parliament will recall that early in my tenure, I engaged the leadership of both Houses with recommendations on a working formula to actualise meaningful inclusion of women in national leadership. We must seriously take the next step in actualising the two-thirds gender rule," the President stated.

President Ruto also addressed the alarming rise in gender-based violence and femicide in the country, describing it as both "tragic and unacceptable." He underscored the need for a multi-sectoral approach to combat the crisis and called on leaders, families, and institutions to raise morally upright men. "It is time for each of us political leaders, public officers, religious leaders, traditional institutions, and family members to do our part in raising boys into morally upright men who will never need to affirm their masculinity at the expense of women but instead contribute to making our society just, safe, equal, and inclusive," he said.

To the rousing applause of Members of Parliament, the President directed the Deputy President, Prof. Kithure Kindiki to reach out and facilitate collaborative, broad-based and multi-sectoral deliberations and recommend effective and radically affirmative actions within 6 months.

In the fight against corruption, President Ruto called on all arms of Government to take initiative to make sure that the fight against corruption is won promising to lead the charge from the front and match up to the expectations of the people of Kenya.

Dr. Ruto went on to reiterate that, in the face of undisputed evidence or credible information on corruption, he would not hesitate to take decisive action. He directed the immediate cancellation of procurement processes for the JKIA expansion project and power infrastructure by KETRACO, citing irregularities.

“Accordingly I now direct that in furtherance of the principles enshrined in the Article 10 of the Constitution and new information provided by the investigative agencies, that the procurement agencies in the Ministry of transport and the Ministry of energy and petroleum immediately cancels the procurement process for the JKIA expansion public private partnership transaction and that with state utility provider KETRACO for the building and operation of power infrastructure.” 

The President further called on the Members of Parliament to expediate consideration of the Conflict of Interest Bill, 2023 to strengthen the anti-corruption policy framework.

"I implore you, Honourable members, to stop dragging your feet on this the Conflict of Interest Bill unless, my friends, there is a conflict of interest in the passing of the conflict of interest legislation,"

The Conflict of Interest Bill, 2023 seeks to manage conflicts arising in the discharge of official duties. It prohibits public officers from engaging in activities that conflict with public interest, imposes obligations to declare potential conflicts, and creates penalties for violations.

Similarly, President admonished the National Treasury for delaying implementation of an e-procurement system for nearly 10 years. "Today, I direct the National Treasury to roll out the e-procurement system by the end of the first quarter of 2025 and ensure that, going forward, only procurement undertaken through this system is sanctioned."