Leadership vacuum, rising murders mark year of unfulfilled promises
From left: Governors Kawira Mwangaza (Meru), Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga), Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay), Fatuma Achani (Kwale), Cecily Mbarire (Embu), Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos) and Susan Kihika (Nakuru) during the launch of the G7 women governors Strategy at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi on March 7, 2024.
What you need to know:
- In 2024, Kenyan women faced unprecedented challenges, including a shocking wave of femicide that claimed 47 lives weekly.
- While women celebrated victories such as defeating punitive clauses in the Finance Bill that would have increased taxes on essential items like sanitary towels, political setbacks continued.
As Kenya grapples with an unprecedented wave of femicide and celebrates historic policy victories, 2024 has emerged as a pivotal year for women's rights in the country. From the halls of Parliament to hospital corridors, from courtrooms to county offices, Kenyan women have witnessed both ground-breaking achievements and sobering setbacks. While the defeat of the controversial Finance Bill marked a triumph for grassroots activism, the murder of 47 women weekly serves as a stark reminder of the challenges that persist. This review examines how the year's developments have reshaped the landscape for Kenya's women and girls, revealing both the power of collective action and the urgent work that lies ahead.
Fall of Finance Bill 2024
In a landmark victory for Kenyan women and girls, the controversial Finance Bill 2024 was ultimately defeated following the Gen Z protests that rocked the country in June. The bill had initially proposed several punitive measures that would have disproportionately affected women, including new taxes on essential items such as sanitary towels, diapers, and beauty products.
The proposed eco-tax on sanitary pads drew particular criticism from women's rights advocates, who argued that many women and girls already struggle to access affordable menstrual hygiene products. Their persistent advocacy and public pressure campaigns on social media platforms successfully convinced the government to amend the bill, removing additional taxes on locally manufactured sanitary pads and diapers.
However, the victory was not complete, as taxes on imported sanitary products remained in place. This continues to pose challenges for Kenyan women, given that imported products constitute the majority of available options due to production constraints in local manufacturing.
Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba emerged as a powerful voice against the bill, bringing attention to a crucial economic reality: even locally manufactured products would be affected since their raw materials are imported.
"As a woman and a mother, I am deeply concerned about how this bill will affect household budgets," she stated.
"We already have girls missing school during their menstrual cycle. If we increase the cost of sanitary towels, we will be hampering the future of many young women who have the potential to become powerful leaders in our society."
The bill had also proposed increasing excise duty on mobile money transfers to 20 percent, a move that women's groups strongly opposed. They argued that such an increase would create significant barriers for women-owned SMEs, which heavily rely on mobile money services for their daily operations.
Two-thirds gender rule
February 2024 marked a potentially historic step forward when former Gender, Culture and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa received a comprehensive report from the Multi-Sectoral Working Group on implementing the two-thirds gender principle. The taskforce proposed several ground-breaking legislative amendments aimed at finally resolving a challenge that has persisted through four parliaments.
The taskforce put forward three interconnected legislative proposals to address this longstanding challenge. At the heart of the reforms is a Constitutional Amendment Bill designed to strengthen the gender principle's legal framework and establish it as a fundamental aspect of governance. This would be supported by a Political Parties Amendment Bill aimed at eliminating electoral barriers and promoting proportional representation.
The third component, an Elections Act Amendment Bill, would introduce gender electoral units and modify nomination processes to ensure better gender balance in political representation.
The gender rule, which mandates that no more than two-thirds of members in elective and appointive positions should be of the same gender, recognises the historical marginalisation of women in Kenya's political system. The proposed reforms represent the most comprehensive attempt yet to operationalize this constitutional requirement.
Notable setbacks
Missed opportunity for Deputy President position
In March 2024, President William Ruto sparked hope when he declared that future leadership tickets in his party would pair male and female candidates, stating this would apply to various positions including the presidency and governorship. "We must cascade it down to governors and be intentional and deliberate about it so that it can happen and all the other parties will agree with us," Ruto stated.
However, when the deputy president position became vacant following Rigathi Gachagua's impeachment, this commitment was not fulfilled. Despite appeals from women's groups, Prof Kithure Kindiki was appointed instead.
Impeachment of Meru's first woman governor
The political challenges facing women in leadership were further highlighted by the case of Kawira Mwangaza, Meru County's first woman governor. In an unprecedented series of impeachment attempts, Mwangaza faced removal from office three times within two years of her election. Her first impeachment by the County Assembly came in December 2022, but was overturned by Senate. The second attempt in November 2023 was also unsuccessful.
However, in August 2024, Mwangaza faced her third impeachment, which was upheld by the Senate with 26 senators voting in favour, four against, and 14 abstaining in protest. In her final submission to the Senate, Mwangaza detailed extensive efforts at reconciliation: "I travelled across Meru, apologising to anyone I may have wronged. At one point, I said sorry 70 times — 69 to each MCA and once to the Speaker." While the High Court in Nairobi issued conservatory orders suspending her impeachment, the case underscores the persistent challenges women face in political leadership positions.
Healthcare transition challenges
The transition from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the Social Health Authority (SHA) has created significant uncertainty and confusion for expectant mothers enrolled in the Linda Mama program. Reports from hospitals nationwide indicated that some expectant mothers were being turned away or forced to wait for extended periods while their details were being approved.
Mary Wambugu, an expectant mother from Nakuru, expressed common concerns: "I paid for NHIF for the whole year, and since it's not working, I don't know if the money will be transferred to my SHA account for my medical services."
Health Cabinet Secretary Debra Barasa has attempted to address these concerns, assuring that maternal health services will continue under the new scheme. "At level two, three and four hospitals, all registered mothers will be able to access antenatal and postnatal care services without being asked to pay out of pocket," she stated, while pleading for patience during the implementation period.
Prolonged vacancy in Gender Ministry
In a significant setback for women's advocacy, the Gender, Culture and Arts Heritage ministry has remained without a substantive Cabinet Secretary for the second time in five months, following President William Ruto's latest cabinet reshuffle. The leadership vacuum, which began with Aisha Jumwa's dismissal in July 2024, has persisted through multiple opportunities for appointment. The situation worsened when the subsequent nominee, Stella Soi Lang'at, was rejected by Parliament's Committee on Appointments for failing to demonstrate strategic planning and cultural sensitivity.
Critics, including legislators and gender experts, have pointed to this prolonged vacancy as evidence of the administration's limited commitment to gender issues. They note that the absence of leadership has coincided with critical challenges, including rising femicide cases and stalled implementation of various women's empowerment initiatives.
The Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (Kewopa) has warned that this leadership vacuum has effectively halted progress on gender protection and empowerment policies.
The vacancy also highlights a pattern of unfulfilled commitments to women's leadership, including the administration's earlier pledge to allocate 50 percent of cabinet positions to women and various promises on women's economic empowerment. Gender development experts argue that this continued lack of leadership at the ministry level undermines efforts to address critical issues such as gender-based violence, women's economic empowerment, and the implementation of gender-responsive policies.
Alarming rise in femicide cases
Perhaps the most disturbing development of 2024 has been the dramatic surge in femicide cases. Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat reported 97 cases in just three months, while the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime documented 725 cases nationwide, translating to 2.66 deaths per 100,000 women—approximately 47 women killed every week in Kenya.
The statistics reveal a particularly troubling pattern: 75 percent of these killings were committed by someone known to the victims, such as intimate partners, relatives, or friends. Globally, the UNODC reports that a woman is killed every 11 minutes.
Nairobi Women Hospital CEO Sam Thenya has characterised the situation as a national crisis, revealing that their gender violence recovery centres record an average of 4,000 cases of gender-based violence monthly. He noted that the economic burden of GBV is enormous.
In response to this crisis, President William Ruto committed Sh100 million to the Safe Home, Safe Space Campaign. However, as emphasised by healthcare leaders and activists, addressing femicide requires not just government intervention but a fundamental societal transformation in how women are valued and protected.
