JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
At the heart of this appeal is the question whether the Parliament has failed to enact, within the stipulated period, legislation that is required to fully implement the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and whether as a consequence, the default mechanism provided by Article 261 of the Constitution, leading ultimately to dissolution of the Parliament, should now be invoked. By the impugned judgment delivered on 29th March 2017, the High Court (Mativo, J.) found in accordance with Article 261(6) of the Constitution that the Parliament had failed to enact legislation necessary to give effect to the constitutional requirement that not more than two-thirds of the members of the National Assembly and the Senate shall be of the same gender. For convenience we shall refer to that constitutional requirement as “the gender rule” or “the gender principle”. Accordingly, the High Court issued an order of mandamus directing Parliament and the Attorney General to take steps to ensure…