Harmful culture holding down North Rift women seeking leadership

Women in the North Rift have been relegated to jostle for the woman representative and member of the county assembly seats.

This has been worsened by the High Court decision to suspend the requirement by Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission that political parties comply with the two thirds gender rule.

The gender rule, if implemented, would have offered the much-needed gender balance in representation, especially in areas where culture, insecurity and political environment discourages women against vying for the gubernatorial, senatorial and MP seats.

Culture and meagre resources put rock blocks in the way as the communities are patriarchal. In Turkana, for instance, no woman has ever been elected as an MP of a single mixed-gender constituency. And under the 2010 Constitution, none has been elected governor or senator.

Disdain

“Turkana is vast, insecurity-prone and very patriarchal. Women's leadership is treated with a lot of disdain, making the political environment for women very difficult,” said Mr Mike Ewoi, a resident from Lodwar town.

“The girl child is disadvantaged from childhood because they are groomed for marriage and denied education, while boys, even if they are herding animals, gain some form of education and are primed as leaders. The majority of women seldom meet the education requirements for leadership positions.”

Unfortunately, he added, the woman representative position has further come with its challenges as women are asked to leave other seats for the men and battle it out for “your seat”.

“The democratic space is opening but at a snail pace and for the first time in the coming elections there are two female candidates for an MP and Senate. This is encouraging, but a lot needs to be done because there are other five constituencies. No governor aspirant has nominated a woman to be their running mates,” Mr Ewoi said.

Expansive

He said the region is over 77,000 square kilometres, making it very expensive to campaign and, culturally, women rarely own property.

The situation is no different in West Pokot where traditions play a major role in elections. Other hindrances include lack of campaign fund and high illiteracy levels.

For the last three general elections, only one woman has been elected—former Lomut MCA Helen Madio.

In the August election, only Ms Philonema Chenangat dared to go for the Kapenguria constituency seat.

Speaking to Nation.Africa, Ms Madio, who wants to recapture, appealed to men from pastoral communities to allow and support women to get into leadership.

“There is a wide gap of gender imbalance in the entire Pokot community due to the social ills in its culture that need external support to eradicate. The only way is to support women to occupy more positions of power within the community,” she said.

Disenfranchised

She said women do not understand their rights and are disenfranchised, adding that men command women to vote for a person of their choice and some have to give permit to their wives to vote.

“Men keep women’s documents like voting and identity cards. Husbands always deny them their freedom in voting. Our men fear women being free to join politics, saying it can lead to prostitution,” said Ms Emily Partany, a community facilitator.

Ms Partany said women in the Pokot community are the ones taking care of everything in the homes, including building houses, hence it is hard for them to join politics.

“Women fear competing with men. Men sell property owned by women. It has been hard for women to be elected in Pokot,” she said.

Ms Partany said girls have been denied education as they are viewed as their parents’ “wealth”.

Setat Organisation director Lillian Plapan said the gender rule should be observed so that more women not only from the Pokot community but Kenya as a whole can get elective positions.

“Women should not only go for the woman representative seat but also compete with men in other elective positions. Many only think of the woman representative seat,” she said.

West Pokot County Assembly Speaker Catherene Mukenyang said that despite efforts to include women and youth in government through quotas and special representative seats, many elected members struggle to make their mark and effectively represent their constituents.

“Specifically, nominated women have not been able to garner support from their own communities because of historical or cultural traditions of political exclusion. In West Pokot, we are experiencing the capacity gaps among our women because of the low literacy levels as well as other unique challenges. It will be a plus for the women leaders if platforms like this can be extended in the assembly,” said Ms Mukenyang.

Running mates

Women are, however, lucky in other parts of the region after they were picked as gubernatorial running mates. In Trans Nzoia George Natembeya picked Ms Philomena Kapkori, Nandi’s Stephen Sang retained his deputy, Dr Yulita Cheruiyot, and Elgeyo Marakwet Wisley Rotich chose Prof Grace Cheserek.

In Baringo and Uasin Gishu counties, the senatorial and gubernatorial seats were grabbed by men and none has chosen a woman as running mates.

Moi University senior lecturer and political commentator Masibo Lumala concurs, saying culture, especially gender stereotyping and lack of empowerment, has largely contributed to few women taking up leadership positions.

“Unfortunately, the majority of women who have taken up leadership positions has always played second fiddle and are not being vocal enough in agitating for issues in the public discourse. This is making the largely patriarchal society to rethink its stance on women’s leadership,” said Prof Lumala.

He said women should be empowered to be able to mount campaigns as their male counterparts as they need to work to be elected not given.