E/C.12/KEN/CO/2-5
24.
The Committee recommends that the State party take all the steps necessary to
review the existing laws with a view to repealing gender discriminatory provisions,
including those in customary law, especially in relation to polygamous marriages and
to the rights of women to inheritance and ownership of land. It also recommends that
the State party review the Matrimonial Property Act of 2013 and take all the
measures necessary to strengthen its enforcement once reviewed, including raising
awareness among women, local and traditional communities and their leaders, the
judiciary and land administration officials and providing legal support to women to
claim their rights.
Representation of women at the decision-making level
25.
While welcoming the two-thirds gender rule guaranteed in the Constitution and the
progress made in the judiciary in this respect, the Committee is concerned that it has not
been fully implemented owing to the lack of a legislative and policy framework and that the
representation of women remains low at most decision-making levels, including in
Parliament (art. 3).
26.
The Committee recommends that the State party take all the measures
necessary to fully implement the two-thirds gender rule in the public sector, in both
elective and appointive bodies, and expeditiously adopt and implement the Duale Bill.
Unemployment and underemployment
27.
The Committee is concerned that the unemployment rate remains high, particularly
among youth, women and persons with disabilities, and that the majority of work
opportunities are in the unregulated informal economy. The Committee regrets that the
measures taken to promote the employment of marginalized groups, including the 5 per
cent employment quota for persons with disabilities in the public and private sector and the
Access to Government Procurement Opportunities for youth, women and persons with
disabilities, have not been effective (art. 6).
28.
The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to upgrade
the vocational skills of the workforce to meet the needs of the labour market and to
create decent job opportunities, including through implementation of the National
Employment Policy and Strategy of Kenya. It also recommends that the State party
develop and implement special measures to promote the employment of youth, women
and persons with disabilities, including through the creation of an effective system for
enforcing the existing quota systems and the Access to Government Procurement
Opportunities.
Minimum wages
29.
The Committee is concerned that minimum wages are not applied to all sectors of
the economy and that the levels of minimum wages are not sufficient to ensure a decent
living for workers and their families (art. 7).
30.
The Committee recommends that the State party take concrete steps to apply
minimum wages to all employees, unionized or non-unionized, and to establish a
mechanism to index the minimum wage to the cost of living, and also to increase
minimum wages to ensure an adequate standard of living for workers and their
families. The Committee draws the attention of the State party to its general comment
No. 23 (2016) on the right to just and favourable conditions of work.
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