Kenyan Woman Issue 34

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Issue Number 34 • Februar y 2013

Issue Number 34 • January 2013

Glaring gender inequality

Political parties remain defiant of affirmative action rule and fail to pick women …By Faith Muiruri

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ailure by political parties to uphold the gender principle in the nomination of candidates across the board is likely to solidify gender disparities that have been entrenched over the years.

The Constitution notwithstanding, the bid to increase the number of women in political leadership has yet again suffered a devastating blow after women performed dismally at all levels of the primaries with majority choosing instead to take refuge in the 47 seats reserved for Women (County member of the national assembly).

Preliminary information from political parties indicates that a total of 97 women will be battling it out for the 47 positions. Only 32 women made it through the party lists for competitive seats that are not reserved for women only.

According to a report compiled

by Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD), three women have been cleared to contest for the governor’s seat, six as senators and 23 have been cleared to contest for the parliamentary.

Strategy Unless there are immediate plans to respect and implement the principle of affirmative action, the realization of the gender threshold remains elusive, even as the March 4 General Elections draw closer.

“We must come up with a multipronged strategy to sensitise communities on the need to embrace women

leadership,” explains Joy Masheti, a programme manager with the Caucus for Women Leadership during an interview with the Kenya Woman.

While the national values and principles of governance in the Constitution are a strong affirmation that empowerment and gender equity will be achieved, discrimination on the basis of gender continues unabated.

This can be attested by the exclusion of women from mainstream party activities with clear scenarios playing out in the open, even as presidential aspirants roll up their sleeves for a tough battle to woo voters.

A close scrutiny of candidates lined up as running mates for respective presidential and gubernatorial contestants, reveals that the position is purely dominated by men. Only Professor James Ole Kiyiapi has named a woman as his running mate. Kiyiapi picked former civil servant Winnie Kinyua Kaburu to be his partner in the gruelling duel.

Narc Kenya’s presidential aspirant Martha Karua has also upheld the genA reflection of gender parity as der parity principle by naming Augus- Augustine Lotodo teams up with tine Lotodo as her running mate. LotoNarc Kenya’s presidential aspirant do is the Narc Kenya vice chairman and a former member of the East African Martha Karua in the race to state house. Inset: Restore and Build Legislative Assembly.

Kenya presidential aspirant Prof However, leading presidential conJames Ole Kiyiapi and Winnie tenders have defied the gender rule and Kinyua Kaburu, the only other named fellow men as running mates.

The Coalition for Reforms and Democpair who have upheld gender racy (CORD) flag bearer Raila Odinga parity. has nominated Vice President Kalonzo Photos: Kenya Woman Correspondent Musyoka as his running mate. The JuContinued on page 4

EDITORIAL

Women aspirants brace for hard times as polls draw closer

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oing by the bitter lessons learnt from the just concluded chaotic and opaque party nominations, women aspirants in the six elective posts are dismayed to say the least. It is a lesson on how not to conduct party primaries on the same day by all registered political parties!

Most of the women leaders who took a step of faith to contest for the elective positions, as per the new Constitution, got a rude shock at the nominations where they saw their battle hardened male rivals elbow them out and manipulate the electoral process with impunity to their interest..

Protests The daring ones further faced the full wrath of intimidation and outright violence by youths hired by their rivals to frustrate their political ambitions.

Even the male candidates were not spared in the fiasco as we witnessed thousands of them trooping

to their party offices to demand to be told why they were “rigged out” and their rivals who had the blessings of the party king-pins were handed over automatic party nomination to run for the Senate; Governor; Women’s representative, Member of Parliament or ward representatives’ posts.

Business woman Aisha Abdi, who was vying for County representatives in Kibra constituency, is a classic example of the violence meted out against women aspirants forcing many of them to step aside.

But a defiant Aisha stood her ground, even after they intimidated her, beat up her supporters and then went ahead to loot and destroy her property. They had also threatened her saying unless she stepped down they would torch her house in the sprawling Nairobi slums.

Her case is one of the many that the new Inspector General, David Kimaiyo, and Director of Public Prosecution, Keriako Tobiko, should probe and bring the culprits to book as an

example for sanity to prevail in the forthcoming polls.

Indeed, the intrigues and boardroom machinations is nothing to write home about, leave alone the shambolic, chaotic and opaque manner in which the nominations were carried out in the most women-unfriendly environment.

Condemnation Already the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the team of Eminent Persons have condemned the political parties in the manner in which they carried out their primaries saying the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) must now step in to restore sanity in the electoral process.

But there is still a ray of hope for the hundreds of women politicians who are still on the race despite the shambolic primaries. They are former Constitutional Affairs minister, Martha Karua (President), Water minister Charity Ngilu (Kitui

Senator), Gender and Social Services Minister Dr Naomi Shaban (Senate Taita Taveta); Housing Assistant Minister Bishop Wanjiru (Senator Nairobi), Higher Education Minister Prof Margaret Kamar (Governor - Uasin Gishu) and Sports Assistant Minister Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos Governor).

There is also good news for the women’s movement, as businesswoman, Winnie Kaburu Kinyajui, was recently named running mate for Restore and Build Party of Kenya presidential aspirant, former Education Permanent Secretary, Prof James Kiyiapi.

There is no doubt that the odds against women leaders are high, but they are determined to soldier on.

Ruling Another major drawback was the recent Supreme Court ruling on the one-third affirmative action clause in the new Constitution, just a few days to the nomination exercise, stat-

ing that its implementation would be gradual and take effect on the eve of the March 4, 2013, General Elections.

Under that clause, one third of all elective posts would have been reserved for women, in other words out of the 280 MPs, 93.3 would have been the domain of elected women from the 47 Counties. How sweet it sounds to the ear as we watch the mess in the male-dominated political parties.

But all is not lost, even the few women who have made it through the primaries in their respective parties still stand a chance to fight it out with their male counterparts to ensure that they beef up the numbers at the local authorities; the August House; the Governor’s offices; the Senate and in the most powerful seat on the land – State House.

Indeed, as we brace for the bruising campaign trail, a word from US President Barack Obama during his 2008 elections campaigns, can come in handy for the women candidates: “Yes we can!”

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Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Election pacts push women to the side lines …By Wanjiku Mwaura

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olitical pacts crafted ahead of the elections have left women aspirants reeling in confusion.

The Constitution notwithstanding, women have been sidelined in key positions in the ‘coalitions’ before the General Election in March. For now, a conscious decision to include women in political parties as required in the Constitution seems to have been overshadowed as big parties like ODM, TNA, URP and UDM among others craft their ‘winning strategies’ in the coalitions that have taken a male face.

“Look at the parties, women are running the secretariats, and I mean they are the secretaries and all other jobs in party headquarters, but that is as far as they go,” says Pauline Kimani, an activist working with marginalised groups.

“When leaders in ODM, TNA, URP, Wiper Democratic Party and UDM say they are talking to likeminded partners, it means the exclusive political men’s club,” observes Kimani.

Power The body language, say analysts, is that other aspirants like Martha Karua and Charity Ngilu do not have the political muscle coalitions need to ascend to power.

“It is sad that the male politicians are busy making decisions on their own and women supporters in their parties are expected to ‘live with the decisions’,” notes Kimani.

Her sentiments are echoed by Rhoda Atieno, who runs an online feminist forum. “It seems women will just be followers of parties and not decision makers for a long time,” Atieno observes. She adds: “Our politics is about money and power.

Few women have that, and this is the reason they are said to bring ‘nothing’ to the table.”

“This is the way our politics work, men draw up the strategies.

Women are relegated to the periphery only appearing in the scene as

entertainers when strategies are being launched. Then a few women are assigned with the task to convince the rest to tag along,” says Atieno.

Karua who has decided to go it alone has been treated as a lone ranger, simply for the fact that she decided not to join any coalition.

Compromising Ngilu who was burning hot and cold between CORD and Jubilee Alliance, did not even feature where decisions were being made on nominating Presidential aspirants and their running mates.

Ngilu, who had launched a very strong presidential bid, ended up being swallowed in the Jubilee Alliance with a weak promise that she will be the leader of Senate. She has now dropped her presidential bid and is headed for Senate hoping she will clinch the position in Kitui County.

The Restore and Build Kenya Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Party is the only one that has come Mudavadi joins in a dance shortly up with a woman as a running mate. after he was endorsed as the Amani Presidential aspirant James ole Alliance flag bearer as political Kiyiapi picked Winnie Kaburu parties rushed to craft pacts ahead of Kinywa as her running mate. Kiyiathe elections.

Women hardly featured pi, like Karua also opted to go alone in the pacts.

(Inset) The Kenya in his presidential bid.

National Congress party leader Peter The coalitions that include Kenneth with his counterpart from CORD, Jubilee, Pambazuka, Amani and Eagle are all male dominated the Party of Action Raphael Tuju and have shamelessly relegated share a political platform. The two women to the periphery. Even the have signed a pre-election pact that Labour Party which is headed by has culminated in the formation of Dr Julia Ojimabo and has a young Eagle Alliance. Photo/Kenya Woman woman as its presidential aspirant — Correspondent.

Kingwa Kamencu — they have not been offered anything significant in to be little inclinations to consider the merger. their views on pre-election pacts.

Although there are many women’s organisations that were created to help negotiate for women in the Even the so-called ‘elders’ caupolitical arena their efforts have not cuses’ apparently guiding commuborne any fruits. The Women Polit- nities on the political path to take, ical Alliance of Kenya was formed women have been left out. to increase the bargaining power “The Councils of elders that inbut they have not made it into the clude Njuri Ncheke, Luo, Kalenjin, inner circle of political parties.

Kikuyu, Luyha and Kaya have not With the women voters not even spoken out for women and most of solidly behind either Narc-Kenya them have no place for women,” says Karua or Ngilu’s Narc, there seems Atieno.

Discrimination

So far it is only the Luo Council of Elders that elevated Mrs Phoebe Asiyo to the position of elder within the council, making her the first woman to hold such a position.

“Sadly, the choice women voters will make on who becomes the next president will unlikely be because of the agenda that person has for them, it will because of tribalism, which is the card the parties are waving as the winning strategy,” she says.

Her statement makes a joke of the

League of Women Voters which was created to work together with others to promote women’s active, free and equal participation in politics and public affairs through the electoral process as voters and leaders.

It is hoped that women’s organisations which are coming together now in an urgent move to ensure women get a fair share of the political positions cake will have an influence over parties within this short time to the polls.

Party primaries robbed Women of leadership chance …By John Harrington Ndeta

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tatistics of women who made it to party lists for normal competitive seats in the forthcoming elections remain diminutive raising a red-flag amongst many Kenyans.

Women aspirants were technically locked out by the 10th parliament when it failed to pass laws that would have operationalised section 81(2b) of the constitution that says: not more than two-thirds of the members of the elective bodies shall be of the same gender.

The other intervening factors against women during party primaries included lack of funds required, as politics has become too expensive in Kenya; attitudes and perceptions about the place of women leadership and blatant violence meted out on those who came out to contest against men in the party nominations.

Preliminary party lists on IEBC website paints a grim picture for women in the forthcoming polls.

The parties’ lists indicate that less

than 10 percent of all aspirants in the forthcoming polls are womenfolk; at least at the Presidential, Parliamentary and Gubernatorial seats.

Only one presidential aspirant; Martha Karua of Narc Kenya and less than 40 women countrywide were cleared to vie as Governors, Senators and Member of Parliament by their political parties. This departs from the letter and spirit of the constitution which says we should have a minimum of 155 less the 47 women representative seats reserved under the National Assembly.

Violence Constitutionally, the total number of women who were supposed to be elected leave alone cleared to vie is thus 108 women. Past elections in Kenya indicate that the number of women who are likely to win through the ballot will be extremely low. In 2007, only sixteen succeeded as elected Members of Parliament yet over 200 women were on the ballot papers. This time round, the list of women cleared by IEBC to vie for the post of Member of Parliament is

less than 40.

Not surprisingly, women bore the brunt of violence and no wonder they performed dismally at all levels of the primaries choosing instead to take refuge in the 47 seats reserved for women as County Representatives to the National Assembly.

Over 100 women will be battling it out against each other for a chance to clinch the 47 positions reserved for them in every county.

But in the Party primaries held January 18th, the forthcoming elections started off on a sore note with a paltry 30 women cleared to battle it out with men for the 3 main elective seats at the nationals and county level.

In Thika for instance, a female aspirant faced all manner of electoral violence and intimidation that she had to literally re-locate from her Nairobi home to a hotel in Thika for days. Thousands of condoms and leaflets meant to demean her as a mother and portray her as a loose and irresponsible wife were distributed on the eve of the nomination day with her name as the

distributor.

Yet another female aspirant in Kisumu decried the electorate who she says are not interested in issues and policies but monetary gains and handouts. The same issue of monies played out in various other places locking out good women leaders as their male counterparts who have the monies bought their ways to victory.

“My car was smashed by the youth in Nyalenda(Kisumu) when I stopped to address them just before the nominations. The mob started demanding for money. I only escaped miraculously,” says a female aspirant who lost the parliamentary bid to a male counterpart.

‘If you women don’t have anything to give us, go sit in the house,’ was a common statement in Kisumu whenever women aspirants tried to traverse the lakeside town seeking for support. The youth threatened to detain women aspirants at some points when they stopped to address them if they didn’t give handouts.

Many women aspirants also re-

ceived threatening calls asking her to back off the race or face the wrath from their male counterparts.

Safe space for women and their supporters to monitor and report gender based violence during elections needs to be created to constantly highlight issues facing women candidates. It is incumbent upon IEBC and the security agencies to ensure full compliance to electoral laws as well as the laws of the land including the Constitution.

Verdict With nominations behind and elections barely a month away, the verdict is out: the goal of increasing the number of women in political leadership will remain a mirage unless the principle of affirmative action is respected and implemented.

Let us join hands to elect leaders who will prioritize implementation of the constitution in regard to gender provisions.

The writer is the Media and Peace Coordinator, Peace Initiative Kenya, a project of the International Rescue Committee.

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Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Aziza Abdalla How gender discrimination saw bright girl lose out in education …By Diana Wanyonyi

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he cultural inclinations that conspired to deny a young girl education three decades ago have come back to haunt her bid for leader-

ship.

Aziza Abdalla sat for her Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) in 1977 at Mtongwe Primary and passed with 22 marks. The results, she says could have enabled her to join secondary school. However that never happened.

Now in her early 50s, Aziza’s bid to vie for the Mombasa County Women representative seat or even that of County Ward Representative cannot be realised after she was denied a party ticket because she could not meet the education requirements outlined in the Political Parties Act under the Constitution of Kenya 2010.

Discrimination “I sat for my primary examination and was ranked among the best students with 19 points out of 36 points. My father was not proud of me. He kept reminding me that I am a woman and he will be a laughing stock in the community if he took me to secondary school,” Aziza recalls.

“To my surprise, he preferred to send my two elder brothers to Aga Khan Secondary School to advance their education. In 1978, I decided to repeat the same class as a way of giving him space to re-think his decision but he remained adamant,” she says.

Without the opportunity to continue with her education, Aziza found herself getting married at a time when her age mates were still in school.

Though she has potential to be a leader, the year that her father dimmed the bright light of her future still lingers in her mind.

And the reality is more pronounced now that her political ambition is quickly fading away.

“Even with my limited education I was not afraid. I entered the political arena in 2002 very confident that I would make it. I was the only woman among nine men contestants on KADDU ticket but I was defeated at the ballot box. I never gave up, I promised myself that I will try come 2013,” says Aziza.

She adds: “If it was not for conditions set for candidates, I would have dropped.”

Numbers Aziza’s case represents the plight of many potential women in the Coast region whose ambitions to contest for political seats have been nipped in the bud. Scores of women have been locked out of the political platform despite their ability to lead.

Like Aziza, many women at the Coast region dropped out of school due to cultural and religious biases. Most have ended up in early and forced marriages that have curtailed their opportunities to better chances in life.

Being denied the chance to complete her education, did not make her to deny her children education. “The pain that I underwent after being denied a chance to advance my education motivated me to make sure that I educated my children up to secondary level.

Already four of them have completed secondary education and the last one is in class seven,” she says.

Aziza would like to go back to school so that she can achieve her dream. Even though many people do not understand why a mother of five would like to further her education,

Aziza knows that this is the only way she can realise her dream. That of leading her constituents from either the County or national assembly.

She is now pleading with well-wishers to support her bid of going back to school to advance her primary and secondary education. Even though the country has a free primary education programme, Aziza cannot join the normal primary school. She can only advance her schooling through adult education of which she must pay school fees because it is not free.

Her resolve is the determination that she has. This is that one day she will lead the people in her constituency.

Track record Aziza is a community leader and a peace champion in the grassroots. She has worked hard at reconciling warring communities within the Coast and helped in demystifying the Mpwani and Mbaara culture that has been a main source of conflict in the region. She has also ensured and promoted peaceful-co existence.

Aziza was speaking in Mombasa during a media encounter organised by African Woman and Child Feature Service through the Peace Initiative Kenya Project that brought together grassroots women and journalists to discuss issue of electoral violence and gender based violence at the Coast.

Initiative Peace Initiative in Kenya is funded by USAID to create a grassroots network that prevent and mitigate violence, including gender-based violence, in Kenya’s most conflict-affected communities. Genderbased violence has proven to be a defining feature of Kenyan General Elections since 1992 when the multi- party politics started in the country.

The project is being implemented by International Rescue Committee (IRC) as the lead partner, together with local partners: the Coalition on Violence against Women (COVAW), the Federation of Women Lawyers – Kenya (FIDA), PeaceNet, and the Rural Women’s Peace Link (RWPL), Sauti Ya Wanawake, Pwani, African Woman and Child and Well Told Story.

Peace Peace Initiative Kenya (PIK) Project is working hard to ensure that violence against women is stopped and peace prevails in the forthcoming polls. We urge all actors to uphold the rule of law and promote peace for the good of Kenya particularly women and girls.

Holding mature, peaceful elections under a new constitution will send the right message to the world that it is after all possible to go to the polls and emerge a united nation.

The project is also looking into issues of gender equality because it has been realized that gender based violence has often acted as a deterrent to many women who are aspiring for leadership positions within communities.

Aziza Abdalla is locked out of the election for failing to meet the required educational threshold. She had planned to contest for the Mombasa County Women Rep seat.

Women at the grassroots are especially susceptible to violence because they do not have anyone to turn to and do not know the channels which they can use to seek redress.

Experiences The media encounter was held to allow communities and journalists engage to share their experiences and disseminate knowledge on the linkages between electoral processes, conflict mitigation and gender based violence. The women will also be able to share with the journalists the challenges that they face in regards to electoral violence and gender based violence. The encounter was also held to build capacity of women’s groups to network to advocate for peace in their communities as well as identify peace champions who can be the focal points for early warning.

“I had wanted to contest for the women representative seat but now with the requirement that individuals should possess post-secondary school education to qualify as candidates, I cannot vie for the seat” — Aziza Abdalla, a community leader and a peace champion

Peace Initiative Kenya would like to ensure that there is no repeat of the 2007-2008 violence. It has taken into consideration the fact that these are the first lections under the new Constitution and tensions are already building in various counties across the country.

The early warning on conflict can only be done by peace champions like Aziza who have, like Peace Initiative Kenya realized the sense of a Kenyan identity that overrides ethnic and gender schism that have been used before to mobilise conflict in pre and post-election periods.

That is why even though Aziza will not be vying this time around, she will be championing peace at the Coast region which has been marked as likely to be volatile in the forthcoming elections. This is especially because of the calls for secession by the Mombasa republican Council which has also said that people from the region are not going to vote.

Already they have been accusations of women being threatened merely for registering as voters. Aziza and other women from Sauti ya Wanawake Organisation are already carrying out door to door campaigns imploring men from the region to be peaceful and not bar area residents from political activities.

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Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Fear factor dominates elections

…By Odhiambo Orlale

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enyan women leaders are an angry lot.

And they have all the reasons and rights to feel shortchanged for the second time around in the past six months by the powers that be and the political elites as the country braces for the first General Elections under a new Constitution First it was the Supreme Court that ruled that the gender rule can only be realized progressively from 2015.

The just concluded party nominations was another major disappointment that left most women candidates disenfranchised, humiliated and locked out of the political arena by the respective parties, they had planned to use as vehicles to get to the county assemblies, August House, Senate and Governor’s office.

Indeed, politics is a dirty game, but the recent nominations would make the following pioneers cringe: they are Mrs Grace Onyango, first Kisumu mayor and Kisumu Town MP; Dr Julia Ojiambo and Grace Ogot, the first women Assistant ministers; Mrs Nyiva Mwendwa, the first woman Cabinet Minister; and Water minister Charity Ngilu, who made history as the first woman Presidential candidate, Water minister.

Primaries But now that the dust is settling about the most chaotic and disorganized political parties primaries in the countries 50 year history, reason can prevail on the way forward for women aspirants.

The few survivors of the exercise will need more funds, security and resources to vie for the six elective posts against their well endowed and politically connected rivals.

The two biggest names so far in the winners list include businesswoman, Mary Wambui, the Othaya TNA parliamentary aspirant, who wants to replace President Kibaki, who has represented the area for the past 50 years; and Housing Assistant minister, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, who is the ODM Nairobi Senator who will face off of flamboyant Kamukunji MP, Mike ‘Sonko’ Mbuvi, nominee after losing her bid for the Nairobi Governor’s seat on a technicality after campaigning vigorously for it for the past three months.

The Bishop and the businesswoman are set for the battle of titans with their rivals from within outside their parties.

Kudos to the winners who sailed through the

fiasco despite the controversies. They are Higher Education minister, Prof Margaret Kamar (ODM nominee for Uasin Gishu County); Water minister, Charity Ngilu (Kitui Narc nominee for Senate); Gender minister, Naomi Shaban, who got the TNA ticket to vie for the Taita Taveta Senate seat; and Sports Assistant minister, Wavinya Ndeti, who clinched the Machakos Governor’s nomination on her Chama Cha Uzalendo party.

One of the most high profile victims of the shambolic nominations was of Metropolitan Assistant minister, Elizabeth Ongoro, who is the outgoing Kasarani MP. She was prevailed upon to step down from the Senate race in order for the ODM party to accommodate Bishop Wanjiru, who had been forced to abandon her ambition to be the city’s first Governor in a boardroom deal.

The Assistant minister’s rivals had been former Mumias Sugar CEO, Dr Evans Kidero, and former Nairobi Town clerk, Mr Philip Kisia, who want to represent Nairobi’s Narc Kenya Presidential aspirant Martha Karua 3 million residents. addresses a political rally as campaigns reach Even the Law Society of Kenya and the fever pitch. (Inset) Mrs Phoebe Asiyo who is the nine-members of the Team of Eminent Perchairperson of Team of Eminent Persons and sons have expressed similar concerns as the former Karachuonyo MP. Photo: Kenya Woman over 50 registered political parties try to put Correspondent their house and nomination list of their candidates to view for the Presidency, the Senaspirants hired venues for the primaries!” the ate 47 seats, the Governor 47 seats; County Women’s representative 47 seats; Member of women leaders said, and accused the 10th ParliaParliament 280 seats and County representative ment of mutilating the Constitution and electoral law to allow party hoping by MPs and aspirants 3,000 seats.

This confirms how high the stakes are in the even until the eleventh hour.

They criticized political parties saying the cenMarch 4, historic polls which will be the first under the new Constitution and it will usher the new tralisation of the issuance of nomination certificate crop of leaders since independence on December saying it further caused more confusion and tension.

12, 1963.

Mrs Asiyo reminded IEBC that it has a role to Addressing a quickly convened press conference at Serena Hotel, Nairobi, the chairperson play to deal with cases of violence and exclusion, of TEM, former Karachuonyo MP, Mrs Phoebe especially against female aspirants.

Asiyo, said: “We hold the position that there is still room to rectify the gross violations of law that have Last month, Education Minister Mutula Kioccurred. The IEBC should take action against the reported cases of violence and exclusion of some lonzo and Nominated MP, Ms Sofia Abdi had expressed similar concerns during a women’s forum candidates, especially women.”

In her statement, the leaders concluded that focusing on their preparedness for the forthcomthe entire nominations exercise fell short of the ex- ing polls.

According to the two leaders, one of who pectations of Kenyans and “was a sham; travesty of is vying for the Makueni Senate seat while the democracy and betrayal to Kenyans.”

“There was lack/absence of voting materials; other is eying the Ijara parliamentary seat held returning officers were compromised; and some by Defense Minister, Yusuf Hajji, fear of violence,

Preparedness

intimidation, harassment and rising cases of electoral fraud have continued to force women leaders to shy away from the political arena, under the belief that it is “a man’s domain” and/or “politics is a dirty game.”

Out of the 40 participants at the meeting in Nairobi, only two of them announced that they would be vying for a senior post past County representative and county women representative’s seat.

Says the minister: “I do not really blame them for going that way. Political parties have not changed their tolerance, and women instructively run away from violence and related problems. When they stand as county representatives, they feel safer facing fellow women. A fellow woman will not organise violence against a counterpart.

Political parties remain defiant of affirmative action rule and fail to pick women Continued from page 1

bilee Coalition presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta has William Ruto as his running mate. A similar scenario is replayed at the Eagle Alliance where the presidential candidate Peter Kenneth picked Ronald Osumba. The Amani Alliance frontrunner Musalia Mudavadi on the other hand nominated Jeremiah Kioni in the running mate slot.

This has in effect rendered the gender equality matrix void ahead of elections as the same trend is replicated at the county level.

In Nairobi CORD’s gubernatorial aspirant Evans Kidero has nominated Philip Kisia as his running mate.

Expectant Gender equality advocates are now waiting with bated breath to find out whether Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) upholds the provisions of Article 90 of the Constitution which dictates that party lists must reflect proportionate representation.

The National Gender and Equality Commission has petitioned the IEBC to reject party lists which do not uphold proportionate representation.

Article 90 dictates that elections for the seats in Parliament and for the members of county assemblies under 177 (1) (b) and (c), shall be on the basis of proportional representation by use of party lists.

Under Article 98 (1) (b), each party list comprises the appropriate number of qualified candidates and alternates between male and female candidates in the priority in which they are listed.

“I am calling on the IEBC to reject party lists that contravene Article 90 of the Constitution,” noted Winfred Lichuma, chairperson of the National Gender and Equality Commission during a national consultative forum for women aspirants and voters.

She added: “It is either political parties are not conversant with the law or have not understood the provisions or somebody somewhere has just decided to sit on them.”

The gender equation in the running mate slot has further been complicated by the lack of a constitutional backing to compel political parties to adhere to the principle of proportionate representation.

“The running mate position has no constitutional backing and thus political parties have a leeway to nominate candidates of their choice. In addition the gender principle does not apply when skirting for individuals to fill the slot because it is only one position to be filled per county,” explains Masheti.

She notes that the only way that gubernatorial candidates can be compelled to uphold the gender principal is by rallying voters to support aspirants who nominate women in the running mate slot.

She cites Makueni Gubernatorial

CORD aspirant Kivutha Kibwana who has received overwhelming support after nominating Adelina Mwau as his running mate.

The Gender Commission at the same time laments that the level of discrimination against female candidates is worrying.

Lichuma points out that most women were discriminated against both at the national and county level during the primaries. In Lamu, she points out, the ballot papers never arrived but nomination certificates were fraudulently issued to preferred aspirants.

Lichuma observes that the pastoralist elders endorsed their preferred candidates and none of the selected candidates were women.

Article 27(3) of the Constitution is categorical that both women and men have the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.

Performance Article 27(4) of the Constitution further prohibits discrimination against any person on any ground including race, sex, pregnancy, marital status, health status, ethnic or social origin, colour, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, dress, language or birth.

Lichuma observes that during the political party primaries, all players opted to suspend the constitutional

provisions. “All that mattered was how well individuals were connected to their respective political parties and this is the reason for the fraud and irregularities witnessed during the nominations,” she says.

Lichuma at the same time says that most political parties used the Supreme Court ruling to lock out women who otherwise given a chance would have made it to the ballot.

“The just concluded nomination exercise by political parties registered the worst performance by women aspirants with some of the seasoned female politicians losing out in the primaries,” notes Lichuma.

She blames the dismal performance by women aspirants to the fact that Kenya’s political arena has been dominated by men due to the patriarchal nature of the society.

“This means that women who attempt to venture into the male dominated field are subjected to ridicule, harassment, violence and humiliations aimed at maligning their engagement with their male counterparts,” she explains.

The chairperson notes that women political careers have suffered over the years as political party machineries have not worked for female candidates.

The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that voters have not been aligned to embrace women leadership.

However, most women aspirants have pulled a clever political stunt.

Majority managed to bag tickets from smaller parties that charged less nomination fees. In other instances some gave them direct nomination.

The Centre for Multi-Party Democracy report notes that whereas the direct nomination has granted them a possible mileage in the political contest, most of these parties have less political appeal across the country.

“It is, therefore, not possible to predict whether their direct nominations will guarantee or even increase their chances of being elected to various political offices,” says Betty Murungi, a legal expert during a national consultative forum for women aspirants and voters recently.

Resources According to Deborah Okumu, Executive Director Caucus for Women Leadership, most women aspirants lack the financial might which their male counterparts are able to exploit and marshal overwhelming support during political contests.

Okumu observes that based on past electoral trends, some counties will have to nominate additional female candidates to bridge the gender gap at the county level.

“Political parties must be compelled to uphold the Constitution which has mainstreamed gender with not more than two thirds of either gender being in positions of power and authority,” says Okumu.

5

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Coast women ready for the elections …By Robert Nyagah

W

omen in Coast Province have refused to relent in their quest for leadership. They are determined to compete for the various political seats despite fears of violence ahead of the elections.

Drawn from various women groups and organizations in Mombasa and Kwale County, the women leaders say that they will compete equally for the seats and will not be cowed by acts of violence.

In a media encounter with journalists in Mombasa organized by the African Women and Children Feature Service (AWC) under the Peace Initiative Kenya project, a cross section of women indicated that although Gender Based Violence (GBV) was rife in the region and sometimes targeted women, they are ready to seek redress through existing legal machinery.

The women agreed that the region has in the recent past witnessed acts of violence mainly blamed on the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC).

Loise Dama, a women leader from Bamburi notes that unlike in the past, majority of women in the area now understand the constitution and their rights against any form of discrimination especially during the elections.

“We know that in the past and mainly during the 2007 Likoni clashes in Kwale District, women and children suffered immensely and thus we are committed to ensure that this does not recur,” says Dama.

Women leaders from Mombasa County freely mingle with journalists during a meeting organized by the AWC to increase their visibility ahead of the elections. (Below) Christine Mwikali who is a lawyer with the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) during the AWC meeting held under the banner of Peace Initiative Kenya.

Resources Although those who participated in the discussions with the media still felt that politics was still dominated by men. “Men command immense financial resources which they use top buy votes and thus the need for women to use funds generated in their merry go round groups to fund their campaigns during the electioneering period.

The women participants further said that some husbands dictated which candidates they should vote for The women also vowed to reject enticements from their male counterparts in order to endorse their candidature.

The women leaders said that although culture had in the past been used to give men an edge in politics, the constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender and allows them to compete for various positions in employment and in politics.

“If we unite and sensitize both the women and the general public that the constitution outlaws gender discrimination, we shall be able to compete at all levels and bridge the gender gap,” said Aziza Abdalla.

Women, Aziza insisted must discard retrogressive practices and start pushing for their rights to education as boys in some parts of the region still enjoy more favourable treatment than girls.

“The African culture and religious groupings still treat women as inferior to men. The girl child has thus in the past been openly discriminated despite the fact the new constitution provides equal opportunities to men and women,” she says.

Empowerment Aziza who dropped out of school at standard 7 explained that she had personally suffered discrimination at family level but had vowed to ensure that her daughters did not suffer the same fate and would access education.

Francisca Nyatome, who has declared her interest for the Kisauni women representative noted that although the constitution was favourable to women, there were some electoral requirements which discriminated against women.

She cited the exorbitant nomination fee which barred women from engaging in politi-

cal contests.

“Some electoral conditions and fee required are costly and out of reach to some ordinary women,” argues Nyatome.

A lawyer from the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in Mombasa Christine Mwikali Kipsang notes that unlike in the past when women were oppressed, majority are now aware of their rights which they are pursuing with firmness,” she says.

The lawyer said that gender based violence should be tackled right from the family level adding that women play a critical role in peace building.

“Peace making starts with you and me and that should come from the family level and move to the level where you associate with other Kenyans,” she adds.

Security Women, she said had enormous opportunities to access education and other rights including loans in financial institutions and that way they needed to be more assertive and encourage one another to get adequate education and battle for senior positions at all levels.

“Education institutions are today accessible and they are quite flexible in their programmes meaning that even women can access certain levels of higher education even without huge financial resources,” says Kipsang.

Kipsang notes that women need to read and familiarize themselves with the electoral code and further take personal responsibility about their safety during the electioneering period.

The lawyer also advises the journalists to avoid glorifying violence during the elections as had happened in the past where violence seemed to be given more prominence instead of peace.

The media, she says should always respect the privacy of women and their families during electioneering.

“There should be deliberate plans to avoid violence at all levels and especially if that violence targets women and children during elections,” she notes.

The FIDA lawyer asked women to report incidents of violence including cases of rape during elections to the police.

The lawyer said that historical and legal barriers which acted against women participation in politics and senior management positions

have been eliminated by the new constitution.

The lawyer expressed satisfaction at the pace at which women were battling for education and business opportunities.

“Women have woken up, they are walking tall and acquiring property and profitably managing family businesses with great success, this is the reason why you women should feel encouraged to pursue political positions without fear,” she adds.

Fatuma Said another women leader however noted that men were not entirely to blame for the abuses visited on women.

“Sometimes women have failed to support one another, they have failed to realize that they are very powerful politically and even when resources are available, they adopt expensive lifestyles which denies them as chance to be trusted as managers,” adds Said.

Some women participants during the media encounter noted that high level politics sometimes favoured notable women at national level hence denying the ordinary folk a chance to fight for some of the positions.

They spoke against stereotypes fanned by the media and singled out the description of the Presidential candidate Martha Karua as an Iron Lady, the women said clearly gave her a tough tag, which made her be viewed as controversial or different from other women.

Some women also felt that the media did not give women balanced coverage as compared to men, but media experts from the AWC asked the women to fight for media coverage by making information about them available to the media.

Measures Mombasa based psychologist Millie Odhiambo stressed the need for counselling for women and children affected by general and gender based violence during the elections. Professional counselling she said brought healing and must be pursued at an early stage to avoid instances where such abuses reached psychiatric levels.

“You should allow those who are abused or

subjected to gender violence during the elections to talk openly about their suffering, discussing the tribulations helps the victims to heal” says Odhiambo.

“Allow the victims of abuse to empty their pain, allow them to cry and do not stop them… the tears and all that heals them, “adds Odhiambo.

She said the women had a role in fighting against GBV during elections by reporting such cases to the authorities.

A women group leader from Mombasa Binti Ali Kisa notes that women could also fight against GBV through village, residential and neighbourhood watch groups.

“Women should start neighbourhood watch groups where they could be able to monitor violence at family and neighbourhood level and employ local means to reduce such violence or report the cases to the authorities before or after they occur” suggests Kiza.

The neighbourhood watch groups, Kiza say could also be used in creating of awareness on human rights.

She said that her neighbourhood watch group was engaged in door to door campaigns to encourage people from her areas to register as voters.

6

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Jane Susan Mwathe

On a mission to demystify campaign violence …By Waikwa Maina “Don’t kill and don’t die for any politician,” this is the message that has endeared to Mathira constituents, where it is believed that at least one or two people must die each electioneering period in violence related to campaigns.

The seat has attracted more than ten wealthy aspirants, some very experienced in politics but Mwathe is not bothered by the fact that she is the only woman aspirant.

“I see my opponents not as men but as aspirants and, therefore, I count myself as an aspirant and not a woman aspirant. I want Mathira people to treat me as a leader. I am vying as a potential and able leader not as a woman,” she says.

In all her campaign rallies, Mwathe reminds the electorate that those deaths are just a myth, and can be avoided if voters ignore politicians who incite them and refuse to be used to cause chaos. “They should also respect each other’s political stand and opinions,” says Mwathe.

So far, Mwathe is the only woman candidate who has declared interest on Mathira Constituency parliamentary seat in Nyeri County. A constituency with a history of bloody and violent campaigns, intimidations, harassments, dirty politics, mudslinging and voter bribery. Mathira has always been the hottest campaign spot in Nyeri.

Passion However, Mwathe is not scared and is determined to change that history if anything.

A retired teacher, Mwathe was born at Kirimukuyu ward, in Mathira.

“I attended a local primary school before joining Limuru Girls’ High School. Later, I joined Kirinyaga Technical Institute where I trained in cloth-

ing technology and fashion design, before joining Kigari Teachers College where I trained as a teacher before training in sales and marketing. I later resigned from teaching to engage in community development activities,” explains Mwathe.

It is this exposure that she intends to use to uplift the living standards of Mathira people if elected as the first woman parliamentarian.

She has served as executive member of the Parents Teachers Association at Tumutumu Girls’ High School, which over the years recorded impressive results.

Suz, as she is popularly known in Mathira is also a Member of Board of Governors at Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls’ High School among others.

Leadership Her leadership started as a young student at Kigali Teachers College in Uganda where she was the deputy head of students.

“I am a devoted Christian and I hold various leadership positions in church including serving as the PCEA church affairs’ leader. I have served as a presiding officer in most general elections among other leadership positions that have motivated me into joining active politics to make change,” says Mwathe.

Agenda Her key agenda for the youth is to improve the informal sector through training of small scale traders, business mentorship partnership with successful business people, motivational talks and establishing technical training facilities in the area.

“Mathira has no technical training facility and this has contributed to joblessness, motivating young men to joining criminal groups for lack of forums where they can positively

spend their time and earn a decent living,” notes Mwathe. She adds: “Having trained in the informal sector, I believe the sector can be used to mitigate the social and economic challenges facing our young men, not only in Mathira but in entire country.”

Her other concern is the fact that despite Mathira having the biggest and active open air market located in Karatina town, it has not helped the young people and women economically due to lack of exposure and guidance.

Potential The other key area of focus is talent harvesting among the young people and failure to address issues related to generational gap which frustrate the youth in getting proper guidance. This she hopes to achieve through introduction of guidance and counselling and related exchange forums.

“I will transform Karatina to a business hub by developing cottage industry and incorporating women and youth in the same. This will be achieved through training and offering mentorship programs to youth and women,” Mwathe says. She explains: “Women are good in forming common interest groups but they lack support and skills on how they can effectively invest and reap maximum benefits through their chamas.”

Mwathe observes: “We have many educated and exposed women and we must tap their knowledge as way to give back to the community. But this can only be achieved through good leadership that will encourage partnerships but not frustrate or engage in fights fearing that they will graduate to political opponents.”

Empowerment She says that civic education needs to be conducted in the area, since most voters are still not conversant with elec-

Ms Jane Susan Mwathe, an aspirant for the Mathira parliamentary seat seeks to promote peace in the constituency during the electioneering period. Photo: Waikwa Maina toral issues as contained in the new constitution and entire constitution.

She promises to ensure that civic education will be a continuous activity if elected to parliament.

Key challenges facing her are financial, going by Mathira’s history of voter bribery and for other logistics.

However, she appreciates that voters listen and appreciate her to cope with this. She is keen on door-door campaigns, which, she believes are the best type of campaign because as an aspirant she is then able to relate oneon-one with the voters as well as understand them, their challenges and priorities.

The other challenge is cultural where while men can campaign at any hour of day or night, a woman still has domestic responsibilities that cannot allow her out of the house in the late hours of the night. There is also the issue security and the fact that she can’t campaign in entertainment joints which can later be misinterpreted and

used against her while the same is not done to men who spend hours campaigning and buying beer to the voters.

Mwathe is also of the view that campaigning in the bars is a waste of time and resources as drunkards forget everything the moment the drinking spree is over.

Her Christianity and moral standing also dictates against her campaigning in pubs, wondering how one can condemn excessive consumption of alcohol, which has brought down families while at the same time use the same platform to campaign.

“I like challenges, I have never shied away from them, I like it when I achieve for my people by winning the battle, have enough time and commitment to serve Mathira people just as I have done through other platforms. I am also urging people to eat well for their own benefit, which will eventually reduce disease rate and financial implications that come with poor nutrition,” she concludes.

Women in Western Kenya ready for polls

…By Omondi Gwengi

A

s the scramble for political positions takes place in various counties, women from Western Kenya are bracing themselves for what is intended to change the political landscape in the region.

Battle lines have been drawn as women aspirants get ready for a bruising battle to vie for various seats in the build-up to the next General Elections.

Even though the Constitution provides women with various opportunities in leadership, women are nonetheless prepared to face it out with their male counterparts.

“Women just like any other citizen of this country have a democratic right to vie for any elective position in this country. They should, therefore, participate in a peaceful election,” affirmed Easter Achieng during threeday training on leadership and mentorship of women in politics by the Kenya Female Advisory Organization (KEFEADO) in Bondo, Siaya County.

Constraints During this meeting, women aspirants were able to share their experiences on the achievements and challenges that they are facing in their campaigns.

According to Risper Akinyi Pete who is contesting for Deputy Gover-

nor’s seat in Kisumu County, stereotypes that women cannot lead still reigns in the region and a time has come that this must be changed in order to achieve vision 2030.

“Emerging from a region where men are believed to be the only leaders, it is hard to win the confidence of the electorate to vote for women.

Through such trainings, we do hope that we are going to approach the electorates in a different way and hence win their confidence,” observed Pete.

Two things that emerged strongly from the meeting included the culture where the electorate expects money from aspirants and violence against women during elections. However, it was resolved that in order to change this, the electorate should be educated on how to demand for development projects from the aspirants instead of handouts.

of long term issues,” suggested Achieng.

Insecurity and violence against women have for a long time been the biggest challenge facing women in politics.

Going by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), civilians, particularly women and children, account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict, including as refugees and internally displaced persons.

“We are shunning any form of violence against women during elections so that they can participate in a free, fair and peaceful election,” notes Participants attend a three-day training workshop on leadership and mentorship Achieng. of women in politics organised by the Kenya Female Advisory Organization (KEFEADO) in Bondo, Siaya County. Photo: Omondi Gwengi

Tact

However, women expressed fears that their opponents sometimes use media to destroy them. They also noted that media sometimes solicits money from aspirants in order to publish or broadcast stories.

Speaking in one voice, the women aspirants who attended the training agreed to support fellow women to win parliamentary, senate and governor seats instead of settling on county ward or women representative.

“We are leaving here saying that

“We should educate our communities on how to ask for construction of schools, health facilities and access to clean water because handouts are to blame for poor leadership in most areas,” noted Pete.

According to Achieng, handouts given by politicians will always create a lot of insecurity and economic constraints.

“It is unwise to exchange one’s vote for as little as KSh50.We should think

Media

During the training, women politicians expressed various challenges that they face when dealing with the media.

According to Media and Communication specialists from Maseno University, women do feel discriminated by the media because they sometimes do not understand how the media works.

“In order to gain the confidence of the media as an aspirant, you should package your message well,” said Naomi Senda.

nomination should not be the case of women,” said a participant.

According to Easter Achieng who facilitated the training, the more than 30 women drawn from Western Kenya resolved that they will no longer use funerals as political campaign platforms.

“We have in the past witnessed how funerals turn into battlefields after politicians incite their supporters.

As women politicians, we are not going to use other people’s grief as our joy,” noted Achieng.

7

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Women, youth ill-prepared for elections …By Elizabeth Awuor

I

n as much as electing the right representatives is critical to addressing challenges facing the electorate, it beats logic when voters are ill prepared for the elections.

Women and youth are hard hit with majority not only displaying ignorance in the number of contestants for the various positions but also not being sure of the elective positions.

However a good number of registered voters in Mombasa blame the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for abdicating their role in civic education.

Others claim they are too pre-occupied with their daily activities that they may not have sufficient time for civic education.

Candidates for various elective positions in Mombasa are worried that if proper civic education is not carried out within the remaining time, then people are likely to vote in wrong leaders.

Campaign The Coast region chairperson for Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organization Sureya Hersi says she has to explain to people the position she is contesting for and teach them about the other five.

“I have gone round Mombasa County and established that most people including the educated group of voters do not understand how the county government will work,” she adds.

Hersi who is vying for the women representative seat in Mombasa County using the Republican Council party ticket is concerned that women and youth in the rural areas might not have the chance to clearly understand how to vote come March 4.

She says every citizen who wishes to see a better Kenya should embark on civic education regardless of their political affiliations.

According to her own assessment, Hersi believes Radio can be an effective tool in carrying out voter sensitization at the Coast.

A university student Antoinette Mwitta only knows that she is supposed to vote for a president, governor, senator and women representative. She is yet to understand the other two positions of a county ward representative and that of a member of parliament.

She believes it is the mandate of IEBC to effectively carry out voter education. Antoinette is worried that the remaining time will not be enough for the commission to reach all the voters who are still in the dark. She is also against the reliance on media as the only channel of carrying out the education process.

“IEBC should just go and meet the people instead of using the media only. We might assume the me-

“I have gone round Mombasa County and established that most people including the educated group of voters do not understand how the county government will work.”

— Sureya Hersi, Coast region chairperson for Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organization

dia reaches everyone but in most cases the education in media does not allow for question and answer sessions,” she affirms.

The Mombasa head of Caucus for Women’s leadership Amina Zuberi is concerned that women form the highest number of voters in Mombasa but they are likely make mistakes come elections day.

Nominations She cites the party nominations saying that women turned up in large numbers to vote but were not conversant with the political positions on the ballot papers.

“We had a difficult time explaining these positions including the women representative one,” she says.

Zuberi claims most women in Mombasa do not understand how important it is to elect credible people to serve in the county government.

“If those in the urban areas are not sure of how the county governments will run, then those in the rural areas are in real darkness”, she adds.

She underscores the need to undertake vigorous voter education and calls on civil society orga- A Mombasa based University student Antoinatte Mwitta who says she is yet to nizations to fill in the gap. receive effective voter education. Photo: Elizabeth Awuor

Initiative A college trainer Abraham Mabachi says his preparedness for elections under the new constitution is as a result of his own personal initiative.

He is aware of the representatives he is supposed to vote for and understands how the county governments will work.

Mabachi is worried that women and youth who do not have access to the media especially the newspaper may never know issues surrounding

elections and are likely to blunder on the voting day.

He cites voters who think the president and gubernatorial positions are the most important.

Under the new constitution, voters will be expected to elect the president, governor, senator, Member of Parliament, county representative and women representative.

The next parliament will be composed of two hundred and ninety

members representing constituencies, forty-seven women representing counties, twelve members nominated by parliamentary political parties.

The senate consists of forty-seven members (senators) representing counties, sixteen women members who shall be nominated, two youth representatives one male and the other female, two representatives of persons with disabilities one male and the other female.

Mauritius increases the number of women in government

M

auritius has increased the number of women representation in the local government following the amendment of its Constitution to allow for affirmative action.

Women’s representation increased from 6.4 per cent to 26.2 per cent during the elections held in December.

The Local Government Act of 2011 was amended to compel political parties to field a minimum of one third of candidates of either sex for the municipal and village council elections.

Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam announced that there will be major electoral reforms for the next parliamentary elections scheduled for 2015, to extend the quota for women to national parliament, and sign the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development.

“Mauritius has shown us that with political will, nothing is impossible,” said Colleen Lowe Morna, Chief Executive Officer Gender Links. She added: “The challenge now is to follow through this phenomenal breakthrough.”

Provisions Mauritius and Botswana are the only two Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries that have not signed the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.

Mauritius cited the provisions in the Protocol on affirmative action as the main reason for not signing.

“The Constitutional changes to allow for a quota in the local government elections have effectively nullified Mauritius’ reasons for not signing,” said Lowe-Morna.

She added: “This phenomenal result should also encourage Mauritius to extend the quota to the national level for the 2015 elections.”

Among its 28 targets, the SADC Gender Protocol aims to achieve gender parity by 2015, also the deadline for Millennium Development Goal 3 – Gender equality.

This is the first time in the history of Mauritius that a critical mass of women has made it into local government. The increase is a result of years of activism, supported by drivers of change like Minister Herve Aimee in an article titled New Act set to increase women’s participation in local government.

Parties Two major political alliances contested the elections: the Labour Party (Ptr) and PartiMauricien Social Democrate (PMSD), which contested for seats with the Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM) and MouvementSocialisteMauricien (MSM).

A total of 90 councillors had to be elected in five municipal councils: Port Louis (24 councillors);

Beau Bassin – Rose Hill (18 councillors); Quatre Bornes (15 councillors); Vacoas-Phoenix (18 councillors); and Curepipe (15 councillors).

Ptr and PMSD cleared 33 female candidates out of 90 while 32 candidates contested for the seats using MMM and MSM tickets. Of the 489 294 registered voters, 247 298 Mauritians voted.

Thus the two alliances ensured that they nominated one third of women to vie for the election in line with the 2011 Local Government Act. Thirty three women (36.6 per cent) won municipal council seats out of the 90 seats earmarked for the election.

In the 130 villages, 3984 candidates including 1183 women participated in the election for the 1170 village council seats. 297 women (25.4 per cent) and 873 (74.6 per cent) men won.

Out of the 1260 seats contested for in municipal and village elections, 330 women (26.2 per cent) made it into local government after the December 2012 elections.

From second lowest, Mauritius now occupies sixth position in SADC region after Lesotho (48 per cent), Namibia (42 per cent), South Africa (38 per cent), Mozambique (36 per cent) and Tanzania (34 per cent).

The local elections in Mauritius

mark the first time in the SADC region that a quota has dramatically increased women’s representation without constituencies being reserved for women.

Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique have a Proportional Representation (PR) or list system, in which voters vote for a party, rather than individuals, with candidates presented in prioritised lists. The PR system coupled with legislated or voluntary party quotas works well in increasing women’s representation.

Lesotho and Tanzania have First Past the Post Systems. But in these countries, 30 per cent of the seats are reserved for women, and these are distributed on a PR basis. When Lesotho tried the alternative method of reserving constituency seats for women candidates in an earlier election, this was met with resistance and backlash.

Approach What distinguishes the Mauritian elections from others in the region is that parties had to field one third either women or men, but with no guaranteed or reserved seats for them. The danger with such an arrangement is that voters can decide not to vote for women.

“What is unique about these elections is that voters affirmed women candidates,” said Lowe-Morna add-

ing that this reflects a high degree of mobilisation, conscientisation and political commitment by all.

Cehl Meeah, a Member of Parliament and leader of the Mauritian Solidarity Front (FSM), commented at a political meeting at ValléePitot on 27 November that women have no right to be involved in politics.

Thus the increase in women who have been voted into local government shows that citizens are moving away from stereotypes towards a more affirming position that women make a difference in politics.

Empowerment Gender Links Mauritius trained several women candidates in the run up to the elections. The women were trained on such things as building relations with the media, campaigning and creating campaign slogans.

Activists must now ensure that they scrutinise the number of women who will become Presidents of District Councils and Mayors. Prior to the December 2012 local elections, there were no female Presidents in District Councils. Mauritius only had one female Mayor. It is imperative that the women who have been elected be trained to lead the different councils and in turn serve as role models to other women who aspire to become politicians.

Courtesy of Gender Links

8

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Strong women emerge to lead in Maasai land …By Antony Tiapukel

T

hrough the Affirmative Action, Maasai women can at last contest for political seats and many other opportunities available to them through the Constitution of Kenya 2010.

As the country gears up for elections in two months, the race for Narok County women representative seat has intensified following entry of Soipan Tuya, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.

Tuya being the more educated of the other four front runners, has an upper edge having been proposed by a section of opinion leaders in the community to replace the late Patricia Parsitau who died last year.

Tuya is the daughter of former Narok South MP Samson ole Tuya and has a keen interest in public interest litigation. She is also an advocate for gender integration as a critical tool for sustainable development.

Education Tuya undertook undergraduate studies in law at the University of Nairobi and later on pursued a Master of Laws degree at the University of Washington, in the United Staes of America.

She is described as a blessing to the Maasai women following her vast experience in the area of human rights, gender and access to justice.

Tuya also worked with the Ministry of Justice, Kituo cha Sheria, Mainyoito Pastoralist Integrated Development Organization (MPIDO) and the government task force on community land and USAID. She is a member of the Law Society of Kenya, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples and the Global Indigenous Women Caucus.

Discrimination For a long time, the Maasai community has discriminated against women like Tuya when it comes to leadership positions due to the retrogressive cultural practices and dominance of men in a deeply rooted culture.

In the rich history of the community only three women have defied odds to be elected as leaders in Narok County.

The three in Narok and Trans Mara county councils played second fiddle to men. These are former County Council vice chairperson Agnes Pareiyo from Sakutiek ward who has also set her eyes on the Narok County Women Representative seat, Lorna Nkokuwa who represents Ildamat ward and Lucy Ololngojine who represents Shurtuka ward in Transmara in the last local Authrotiy assemblies.

No women have ever been elected to parliament by the community.

Gender Rule The provision on one third gender rule in the new constitution has acted as an eye opener and empowerment to the Maasai women who can now have a say in public and political representations.

Lydia Ntimama who seats at the Cord’s election board, said the new Constitution guarantees women at least one-third minimum in elective public bodies.

“It ensures that gender equality is maintained in political parties providing a basic requirement for

Soipan Tuya, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya has joined the race for the Narok County women representative seat. Her candidature enjoys support from local opinion leaders. Inset Caption: Lydia Masikonde who is a member of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) election board. Photos: Antony Tiapukel political parties as amongst others to respect and promote gender equality,” says Ntimama.

The Constitution provides that Parliament shall formulate a law to promote the representation of women, persons with disabilities, ethnic and other minorities and marginalized communities in Parliament.

Ruling However, the Supreme Court in an advisory to the Attorney General ruled that this should be progressive and cannot happen in the 2013 elections but should wait until 2015.

The new dispensation ensures that women and men will have the right to equal treatment and opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres without discrimination.

The women representative seat is already overcrowded with seven aspirants in the race down from eight after the death of Patricia Parsitau.

Among those who have interest and are ready to face off with Tuya are Lydia Masikonde, daughter to Heritage Minister William ole Ntimama, Female Genital Mutilation anti-crusader Agnes Pareiyo, former teacher Janet Nchoko, Eunice Marima, a former media broadcaster and women’s leader as well as wife to the former Narok North MP Moses Marima, Immediate university student Mercy Cherotich Tembur and Agnes Shonko.

Challenges Despite the new constitution, most of the women are still shying from elective positions due to the dominance and dictatorial tendencies by Maasai men.

So far no single woman has declared interest to contest for the gov-

ernor or the senate positions. In the six constituencies in the County only one woman has come out to appeal to the voters to give her a chance to be their member of National Assembly.

However, Janet Naserian, the first wife of the former Internal Security Minister Julius Sunkuli, is eying Kilgoris seat on an ODM ticket.

Apart from those who have shown interest in elective seat, Everlyne Chepkurui Wastabei, who unsuccessfully contested Narok South Parliamentary seat in 2007, is now gunning for the position of Deputy Governor.

Resources The inability of women to run for the gubernatorial, senate and parliamentary seats is due to lack of resources to mount a serious campaign like their male counterparts.

“Culture among the Maasai and the Kipsigis has subjugated the women for long.

Women on the other hand have yielded to this warped thinking.

That they deserve less than men,” says Ntimama during an interviewed with Kenyan Woman in Narok town.

She challenged women not to be contended with what she calls ‘kiti ile yenu’ and added that the women should come out and use their numerical strength to win the several seats in the county government.

Crisis Women rights activist Mary Simat fears that it will be hard to conduct the activities of the county government if the one-third rule is not achieved.

“Over 98 per cent of the aspirants for the Members of County Assembly are men. How then will the County achieve the one third?” posed Simat.

Simat accuses men over the current

state of affairs adding that men have upheld a culture that women should be led and women have believed in the same.

“For a long time the Maasai culture has been patriarchal and it will take time to change this.

Majority of the women have been made to rely on their husbands in decision making. They have not been given opportunities to prove their leadership,” says Simat.

She urges men to give women a chance to prove their leadership abilities.

Violence “Women shy away from politics because of violence and harassment by their men rivals. We must give women their chance to seek political offices and lets us not scare them,” she observes.

Maasai Professionals Chairman Joseph ole Sonkori says women have

shied away because of the perception in the society that they are not good leaders. He terms the move as unfortunate because it has worked against them for a long time.

“A perception that has been created is that women must be led.

Many have even used religious stories to spread and maintain such belief. Maasai women like other women from Kenya have the ability to be good managers,” says Sonkori.

Attitude He refuted claims that lack of resources make women shy away.

Some women are even wealthier than some male aspirants seeking elective posts,” observes Sonkori.

He adds: “We have had young men who don’t have resources trounce wealthier men. Women need to change the attitude that they have and go for these seats that the new constitution has created.”

9

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Firearms syndicate thrives in Northern Kenya …By Hussein Dido

I

t is a busy market day at Dadajibula border town and the searing heat brings new hope for women conducting business in makeshift structures.

Women clad in bui bui are engaged in booming business with majority selling tea, coffee, water and khat to residents who take refuge in the makeshift structures.

To many, it is business as usual at the Dadajibula border post but behind the scenes is a well-orchestrated cartel that engages in illegal firearm trade with ease.

The cartel comprises of women and men clad in turbans, kanzu and bui bui as they carry out the intricate trade with precision in selected homes that are owned by their fixers and local agents.

Deals The trade is usually done in meetings held in the afternoon to wade off suspicion. The meetings are very crucial and are meant to seal illegal firearm deals. Here money is collected and firearms delivered by the Al-shabaab militia groups near Dadijibula.

Agents arrange couriers in their preferred methods of fetching the cargo to various towns in Eastern province, North Eastern and other parts of country.

According to our source in Dadajibula, the meeting takes place once a week due to current security arrangements along the border. The Kenya Defence Force has been waging war against Al-shabaab at the Kenya-Somali border and has been able to capture major towns.

When we visited the border town in trail of underworld arms trading, we established that the meeting is held once a week due to the heavy presence of security personnel in the area In the past they used to frequent the area to meet with their local contact persons but things have changed now as they only come once a week

and they prefer Fridays as they are able to mingle with people in the mosque for special Friday prayer and sneak to houses of their contact persons undetected.

They are always five agents and they move and walk separately. It is hard for authorities to detect them as they have lived here in Dadijibula for many years and they are from a local sub clan. So it is hard to know them unless you know the network very well,’’ he said.

The meetings only last for two hours and the deals are sealed before the delegation moves back to Somali through undesignated exit points and they move in tactical methods where each individual moves separately and they converge at one point when they cross the border.

The meeting is always attended by five Al-shabaab agents who report back to a deputy commander based in Kismayu. They collect cash which can either be in the form of dollars to the local agents in Dadajibula or alternatively they are asked to deliver the money to Al-shabaab agents in Nairobi, Mombasa, Garissa, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu, Isiolo, Meru, and Moyale.

Proceeds But our source within the arms trading business informed us that Al-shabaab prefers arms payment paid to them through agents spread across Kenya as it is the most secure method and it is easier for Al-shabaab franchise in Kenya to use funds in recruiting idle Kenyan youths to join its Jihad training camps in Kismayu and Bardera and also procuring medical services from Nairobi based medical fraternity sympathetic to Al-shabaab cause and struggle.

The local Al-shabaab franchise in Kenya is also tasked with the role of using part of the arms proceeds to source for legal services to any of its sympathisers arrested and charged in Kenyan courts.

Dadajibula town which is the epicentre of the illegal trade hit the

headlines when Al-shabaab fighters stormed the town to rescue a foreign fighter who was intercepted and arrested by Kenyan police as he was trying to sneak into the Somalia side of the Border. The rescued suspect was indeed a British national Mr Jermaine Grant rearrested in Mombasa with cache of explosive.

Transactions Freelance agents will pick the money and immediately dispatch it to another agent and the same transaction will go through a chain of agents in Kenya before it is finally sent to an agent in Somalia town who will withdraw and deliver it in cash to the Al-shabaab deputy commander.

The Al-shabaab agents are changed each week to collect and remit the cash and seal new arm deals.

Local agents are also trained on procedures and methods of evading surveillance or knowing if they are being trailed and if the customer dropping the money is under surveillance or closely followed.

Changing of the agents across the country indicates that the Al- shabaab has established a strong network in Kenyan towns.

The intricate web has evaded government officials and protected their informal money transfer agency that rakes millions of shillings in the illegal trade.

An insider in the informal money transfer industry intimated that Alshabaab and other criminal networks in Somalia and Northern Kenya use

illegal money transfer agencies set up as wholesale and business enterprises only to transfer money to another enterprise or individual based in Somalia and northern Kenya urban town.

The transactions are based on trust and an enterprise in Nai- Women engage in lucrative trade in the makeshift robi will collect structures at the Dadajibula border point. Inset: Police officers man Dadajibula boarder point following the cash from increased insecurity in the region. Photos: Hussein Dido Al-shabaab agent and orders busiopted for black market where they nessmen in other towns or businesses to pay certain deposit money in shops, wholesales, individual the cash that was depos- lodges, spare part shops, hotels food ited with the enterprise. Such modes stores which are purposely estabof payments has gained currency and lished to act as a front to international popularity that criminal network like crime and transaction that are transAl-shabaab and Kenyans groups pay- acted behind that business. Every ing handsomely for arms escape any month the network transacts millions detection in term of financial trans- of dollars to pay for services, arms and other crimes. The government needs action and money transfer records.

According to Ibrahim Derre , to move fast and close these illegal ena clerk with one of leading money terprises.’’

A source who sought anonymtransfer agencies based in Garissa, the criminal networks and other people ity alluded to various businesses doing illegal business have resorted to set up by Al-shabaab in Kenya with backdoor methods of paying for their proceeds from arms sales, human illegal products or crime and bypass- trafficking payments, tax evasion of ing registered money transfer agen- goods from Kismayu port and dumpcies that are accountable to Kenyan ing it in northern Kenya and millions flowing to them from Middle East authority.

Individuals or networks doing and other sympathisers based in the dubious and illegal transaction have diaspora.

Proliferation of small arms blamed on porous border

…By Hussein Dido

S

afer World International and Peacenet Kenya have attributed the proliferation of small arms and light weapon in the region to a porous border and the need by the pastoralists to protect themselves against attacks and raids.

Abdia Mohamed a peace activist in the region urged women in the area to be in the forefront of promoting peace and measures to curb the proliferation of arms and weapons in the region.

She said Safer World International will revive community based policing to enable the community expose individuals who engage in the trade.

Vulnerability Mohamed said women and children are more vulnerable when conflict erupts.

She said hundreds of women and children are languishing in Internally Displaced camps where they have sought refuge owing to conflicts largely blamed on the proliferation of small arms and light weapon and called for policy to address the menace once and for all.

She spoke shortly after she received an

Abdia Mohamed and Hussein Mursal spearhead a peace campaign to urge communities to surrender small arms and light weapons. The exercise is supported by Safer world International. Right: A herder takes his camels to the watering point. It is highly suspected that some firearms are secretly sneaked into the country through herders who move from one place to the other.

Photo: Hussein Dido

award for promoting peace and fighting against small arms and light weapon in the region.

She says she opted to crusade for peace in the year 1997 at the height of inter-tribal conflict in Isiolo where hundreds of women were displaced and others widowed.

Abdia told reporters in Isiolo that peace work was in her heart and urged women to come up strongly and form organizations that are aimed at addressing challenges faced by women in the country.

10

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Slum women championing peace and proper sanitation …By Carolyne Oyugi

E

lections’ fever is in the air and many Kenyans are already in the campaign mood as evidenced by posters of aspiring leaders wooing the electorate.

Most aspirants for the six elective positions up for grabs are focusing on slum areas, because of their dense population.

Around the slums, the colourful posters are bigger and cover every available space. According to Doris Museti, a resident of Mukuru kwa Reuben slum, this strategy is deliberate.

“Everyone knows that the slums are densely populated and if you convince the voters to back you for parliamentary, gubernatorial or senate seats then you are sure of winning,” observes Museti.

…By Diana Wanyonyi

W

omen aspirants at the Coast have petitioned the government to provide them with security.

According Dorcas Gibran, the chairperson of Sauti ya Wanawake Pwani, many women aspirants dropped their political bids citing threats from either their opponents or unknown people.

“We are worried about the safety of women aspirants. In 2007 some women were beaten and injured during their campaign rallies,” said Gibran.

She added: “Reports to police have never been acted upon to date. No suspects have been arrested or arraigned to court.

Most women aspirants are afraid because of lack of security.”

Gibran who leads the largest women’s network in Mombasa said the government must come out and speak about security for women who cannot afford to pay personal bodyguards.

“We are pleading to women aspirants to report cases of violence to relevant authorities for prompt action and the cases should be dealt with firmly without taking sides,” she lamented.

Numbers Mukuru kwa Reuben, for example, has a population of over 600,000 and many families live in corrugated iron shacks measuring 10 by 10 feet.

Museti, however, regrets that politicians have been misusing women and youth in the area because they are poor and desperate.

“All that the many women and youth are doing is to sing around the politicians for only KSh50 each,” she explains.

It is for this reason that 20 women from this informal settlement with support from Muungano wa Wanavijiji, an umbrella group championing the rights of the residents, with emphasis on Women and Sanitation, have come together to solve issues that affect them directly. Top in their list is sanitation and peace-building.

This women group that started last year September will not rest until they achieve their goal which is to have a clean and secure environment.

Lack of proper sanitation facilities in residential areas has a negative impact on the health and economic development of communities concerned. And when there is poor sanitation it is the women and girls who are hit hardest.

In Mukuru Kwa Reuben, near Nairobi’s Industrial Area, residents are in physical contact with human waste.

A walk along the narrow corridors of the poorly planned slum is full of raw sewer that flows past door steps.

There are also plastic bags of dumped human waste scattered around.

Challenges According to Museti this is a big challenge for women because they have nowhere to dispose their sanitary towels during their menstrual period.

“Being a densely populated area, every day there must be a woman who is in her menses yet we have nowhere to dispose the soiled towels,” Museti laments. She adds: “It is embarrassing to see soiled sanitary towels strewn carelessly everywhere.”

Other than issues of hygiene, general security is also worrying for the women. Phyllis Mulewa, also a resident of the slum is concerned about the security issues.

“Here you cannot walk out of your house after 7 pm. Chances are that whoever you meet at that time is either a thief, drunkard or rapist,” Mulewa. The situation is trick especially if one and yet has to answer to

Plea for security ahead of polls

the call of nature.

Even using the plastic bags for toilet proves challenging especially for those with children. Initially the women would call each other and go out in groups, but insecurity has made that impossible for them now.

“We used to call each other and go to an open field as a group for security reasons even though this also came with risks,” says Mulewa. She notes: “We would still be attacked by thugs who pretended to be women in our midst.”

Gaudencia Ambei, another resident, is concerned about the children.

They are exposed to things that they do not even understand hence risking their health.

“I feel a lot of pain when I see children playing with used condoms. They innocently play with them thinking they are balloons,” says Ambei. She notes that because of this some children have contracted strange diseases with symptoms like red lips and rashes on their bodies.

Action Due to the challenges of hygiene and insecurity, the slum women have been mobilising the residents to clean up the area on a monthly basis. They unblock the drainage and collect garbage. However, even these noble efforts are not without challenges. “At times we clean the area and collect the garbage but the City Council does not come to pick it hence it flows back to the compounds,” says Museti.

But the slum residents are not giving up. They keep on trying to make sure that no matter what they will not give up. With time, the turn up for the clean-up has gone down because the residents are not seeing the impact.

“Some even claim that we are being paid so we should do all the work,” Museti laments.

It is because of this that they are rethinking how they will go about voting come March 4. “This is why we need to have leaders who will put

Support

Muungano wa Vijiji members clean up their neighbourhood in Mukuru Kwa Reuben slum. The women have been in the fore front fighting for a cleaner and safer environment.

Pictures: Akiba Mashinani Trust.

things in place, someone who can fight for our rights as clearly stipulated in the Constitution,” she reiterates.

The slum residents also blame the landlords for constructing houses without toilets and bathrooms. These landlords do not understand the importance of sanitation and they ironically say they cannot risk spending a lot of money constructing toilets while they can be evicted any time.

The area occupied by Mukuru kwa Njenga has been under dispute between title deed holders and the slum dwellers. The residents have already gone to court to lay claim to the land on which they have lived for years claiming that there are politicians who have interest in it.

Campaign Muungano wa Wanavijiji, has already started the court case and the women are collecting 10,000 signatures to support their case.

The group will also be claiming that the titles to these plots are no longer valid because the legal owners have failed to use the land for the purpose it was allocated.

Most residents fear that the ruling will be like a double-edged sword and will either improve or destroy their lives.

With all these problems being experienced in the slum, the residents and especially the women want to elect leaders who have their interest at heart and will make sure that they are safe and healthy.

Facilities This slum in Embakasi Constituency lacks basic facilities and yet last year it received a Constituency Development Fund (CDF) of KSh89,678,893 for the year 20122013. The funds must have gone to other activities that do not prioritise slum concerns.

Gibran at the same time called on men to support women who are contesting for different political seats.

“We need support from men, they should know that we are human beings and the constitution vests equal to both gender,” she added.

According to Millicent Odhiambo, Mombasa Residents Association, the Government must take necessary steps to curb insecurity ahead of the General Elections saying that women and children are most victims.

“Every time the country goes for elections, cases of insecurity escalate, a trend that has painted bad picture of the nation to international countries,” said Odhiambo. She added: “During skirmishes, men ran for their own safety leaving behind women and children to fight for themselves. The Government should take necessary action to prevent violence and bloodshed again.”

11

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Women won’t wait

…By Joyce Chimbi

A

t independence, the government identified poverty and unemployment as the twin challenges facing the country and embarked on a long and winding journey to address this challenge.

“Over the years, it has become clear that both men and women experience poverty in very distinctive ways. Poverty has for many years worn a female face. For a long time many women have been unemployed while others work in low income jobs, doing work that is unacknowledged and often unpaid,” explains Dr Wilfred Subbo, a lecturer in gender and development at the University of Nairobi.

In addition, women continue to spend most of their working hours doing heavy household chores such as walking for many kilometres in search of firewood and water.

While a significant number of women often have one leg in their reproductive roles and the other in their productive role, the sacrifices they make to ensure that they create a home for their families while still putting food on the table constantly goes unacknowledged.

…By Joyce Chimbi

W

hen the government set up the Women Enterprise Fund in December 2006, the objective was to create an avenue for women to access microfinance credit that was previously out of their reach.

The Government allocated KSh1 billion in the 2007-2008 financial year towards the Women Enterprise Fund.

This fund was a gender responsive strategy towards addressing poverty through socio-economic empowerment of women to enhance entrepreneurship among women.

Treasury allocates about KSh2 million to every constituency for women to access the money in form of loans.

“The establishment of the WEF to enable women to access micro finance has seen women in the informal sector become economically empowered,” explains Dr Wilfred Subbo, a lecturer in gender and development at the University of Nairobi.

Advancement Though the country is still struggling to address the twin problems, women have refused to wait for hand-outs, or for a good Samaritan to address their plight.

The country is now witnessing the emergence of the woman entrepreneur. This is a woman who is ready to face the challenges of earning a living, and making a name in industries that since independence were established and run by men.

Based on years of concerted efforts to improve the socio-economic status of women, more and more women are becoming household names in their respective fields, making millions of money in profit every year.

Testimony Tabitha Karanja, the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Keroche Breweries is one such woman. “Keroche is the first ever brewery to be owned by a Kenyan and a woman.

She battled it out in a male dominated industry to emerge as one of the top players in the breweries business,” explains Tony Ndegwa.

He notes: “When she launched her products, we saw high level government officials trying to stand in her way, but she is still going strong. A testament that what men can do, women can do.”

Karanja invested in a KSh1 billion plant to fund a dream whose products are well known to many Kenyans. And she is not stopping at alcoholic goods. Her vision is to quench the thirst of all Kenyans by including soft drinks in her production.

Sue Muraya is another outstanding woman who has touched the lives of many Kenyans through Suraya Property Group, a real estate firm that has provided many Kenyans with decent, modern and affordable housing.

“With the cost of owning a home skyrocketing every year, real estate developers have come on hand and they have something for everyone,” observes Jane Ndung’u.

Providing homes for Kenyans is not all Muraya does though. The married mother of three is known to provide wise counsel to those yearning to possess their own homes such as cautioning potential home owners to carefully read the fine print before signing the contract.

Brand When Njeri Rionge co-founded internet service provider Wananchi Online, now known as Wananchi Group Holdings, many did not envision its success. At the moment, this company is among the biggest brands in East Africa, providing Pay-TV, broadband internet and VoIP services.

Eva Muraya is also not a stranger to many Kenyans. Muraya, who is the founder and CEO of Brand Strategy and Design, a regional brand strategy development agency, was for many years known for her success as the power behind Color Creations Africa Limited, a branded merchandise company she established and nurtured to great heights.

Women empowered through micro finance

Research

Tabitha Karanja, the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Keroche Breweries is among women who have excelled in field’s previously considered male domain. Keroche is the first ever brewery to be owned by a Kenyan and a woman

He observes: “This is important because poverty is gendered. Men and women experience poverty in very different ways. Research has shown that there are more women living in poverty than men because more women are illiterate, thus limiting their chances of exploiting employment opportunities that can afford them (a) decent living.”

Budget Jyoti Mukherjee, CEO of Software Technologies Limited joined forces with her husband to open a printing supplies shop in Nairobi over two decades ago. Today, the company which begun with only five employees is one of Africa’s leading software distribution companies.

Achievement Mukherjee is one of the few women who have founded and run big technology firms in the region. In 2007 she was recognised as the Top ICT Businesswoman in Africa at the African ICT Achievers Awards.

Like many people who actualise a dream, Joanne Mwangi may have had big plans when she founded Professional Marketing Services (PMS), but it may not have occurred to her that 16 years later, the small agency would with time transform into a leading marketing group.

In 2010 PMS was voted number one in the Top 100 SME competition in Kenya.

In 2009, the chairperson of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Associations (FEWA) beat women entrepreneurs from 75 countries worldwide to emerge winner of the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT) Woman of the Year award.

“It is important to note that these companies, established and or run by women are not simply about personal success, they are also a big part of the national economic development picture.

“It is important to note that these companies, established and or run by women are not simply about personal success, they are also a big part of the national economic development picture” — Jane Ndung’u

Thousands of Kenyans have either directly or indirectly derived their livelihoods from such companies,” Ndung’u explains.

Recently, six Kenyans made it to the list of Forbes’ 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa.

These women included Julie Gichuru, a renowned journalist and broadcaster. The women were selected for having had the biggest impact on African business, technology, policy and media. They were all under 45 years.

Inclusion However, socio-economic success is not just about the educated career women, it is also about the estimated 80 per cent of women who provide labour to the agricultural sector and those who run small business.

Women who may not have acquired education beyond the gates of the primary schools they attended but have a drive to run their own small businesses.

These are the same women who have for a long time been considered unbankable. The Government of Kenya in 2006 sought to respond to the financial needs of these women.

When educated career women rise to the top as the list of women living from hand to mouth continues to grow, this does not reflect women empowerment.

Study A study on employment in Kenya by Jacob Omolo reveals that: “Women employed in the formal sector increased marginally from 26.2 per cent in 1995 to 29.5 per cent in 2000, depicting a 3.3 percentage point increase over the five-year period.

“The proportion of women in formal sector employment remained constant at 29.6 per cent in the period 2001-2004 but declined to 29.4 per cent in 2005. It then increased marginally to average 30.2 per cent over the 2006-2008 period.”

It is, therefore, a step in the right direction to note that while the list of top women entrepreneurs enlarges, so does the list of women in formal employment, as well as women running their own business outfits.

The national budget has been an opportunity for the Government to show its commitment in raising and spending resources, it is also through this budget that the Government has been able to address feminization of poverty in Kenya for instance through providing resources to keep Women Enterprise Fund afloat.

Gender responsive budgeting is a reflection of gender sensitive planning and practical solutions towards ensuring that gender inequalities in all facets of society are addressed.

“Gender budgeting response doesn’t mean that the treasury develops two budgets; one for women, and the other for men. It means that the government shows an awareness of the fact that some problems are (particular) to men and others to women," Jacinta Nyachae, an advocate in human rights expounds.

Approach Although women empowerment is an end itself. It is also a means to an end.

Raising the country’s Gross Domestic Product, and increasing national revenue demands participation for all.

In a bid to achieve Vision 2030, more and more women must stand up to be counted among those moving the economy.

"Integration of all into the mainstream development process is in itself a realization of the objective to achieve sustainable development. It is also a means to bridge the development gap between men and women. It can also create transparency and accountability because women have been found to be efficient and effective implementers of public funds and resources," Subbo says.

12

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Financial intermediaries put on notice

…By Waikwa Maina

F

inancial intermediaries that breach terms and conditions spelt out by the Women Enterprise Fund will be blacklisted and have their contract with the kitty terminated.

At the same time, the fund has embarked on aggressive initiative to assist women beneficiaries of the Women Enterprise Fund in value addition and marketing of their products.

Among the initiatives are Intra-County Forums, Inter-County Forums and National Forums where the women can meet to exchange entrepreneurial ideas as well as form and create business partnerships.

“We have started with Intra-County forums where women from a given county can meet and learn from their successful counterparts. This is an inter-linkage exercise we want to roll out in all counties in the country,” said the funds marketing and research manager Mr John Njogu.

Partnership He adds that the initiatives seek to increase women’s access to markets and networking through interactions, since, it is easy for the women to get markets for their products when they share ideas.

The kitty has also partnered with other players such as Kenyatta University for Export Promotions Council among others, all to assist in market research and quality products.

Ms Virginia Kuria, the funds ICT manager said the management is taking stock of financial intermediaries that have made it cumbersome for upcoming women entrepreneurs to access the funds.

“We have conducted empowerment programs with the intermediaries so as to reign in on those that continue to exploit women or fail to honor our terms and conditions. Culprits will be blacklisted and the fund will cut their link with them. We have also conducted a research on challenges facing both the women and the intermediaries and everything has now been harmonized,” said Ms Kuria.

The fund has 105 intermediaries spread all over the country.

In a bid to monitor how the funds are utilized, each intermediary is required to submit its reports to Women Enterprise Fund every three months on how they have released the funds.

The minimum ceiling for group applicants will also be increased from Ksh50, 000 to Ksh200, 000.

Launching of the Intra-County program in Nyeri was done at Ms Rebecca Mwangi farm, who has created an empire out of the Ksh35, 000 loaned to her from the kitty in 2008.

In Central Province, land scarcity is a key challenge facing families. Majority of the homesteads rely on half an acre for subsistence farming, while in others, it has become impossible to subdivide their land, with dwelling houses squeezed in the only available piece of land.

The land factor together with poor land management skills, lack of commercial farming skills and lack of capital to engage in diversified commercial farming practices has contributed to high poverty levels in this region.

Model But Miss Rebecca Mwangi from Kangocho village in Mathira constituency Nyeri County is a testimony of how determination to commercial farming can change lives.

She has created an empire and job opportunities out of her less than one-acre parcel of land, all from an initial capital of Ksh35, 000. On average, she is now earning between Ksh750- Ksh1.2 million from her one acre piece of land annually.

Out of this piece of land she is able to edu-

cate her two children in universities paying an average of Ksh150, 000 for every year, while two of her other children are in private boarding schools.

“Last year, my son was very sick but I was able to meet hospital bills amounting to over Ksh300, 000 out of my farming activities,” says Ms Mwangi, whose son was admitted in different hospitals last year due to bleeding ulcers.

Management The farmer admits that poor land management and lack of capital are key issues affecting many farmers.

“I was in similar situation; I could not even afford to pay women goround groups contributions and I was blacklisted in most of them, eventually, I had to retreat in solitary confinement. Our small piece of land could not afford to feed the family leave alone paying school fees,” she recalls.

But she had ideas on the type of farming she wanted to do, she was convinced that with proper management her small piece of land could transform the family’s lifestyle.

The turning point came when she attended a funeral where the chief talked about the Women Enterprise Fund. She went for more information on the kitty from chief.

Later, she visited Taifa Sacco to apply for the loan.

“The branch manager could not trust me. I was frail and looked older than my age. It took a lot of time to convince the manager that fish farming project I wanted to undertake was able to repay back the loan. Due to that persistence, he advised me to do a proposal, I told him I have never done one but he told me to put down whatever I was telling him in writing in any language even if it was in Kikuyu, I did it and took it to him the following morning,” she recalls.

Progress By this time, the manager had started to admire her courage and sincerity, but he had more doubts when he visited the hilly location where Ms Rebecca wanted to do fish farming, but finally, the manager decided to take the risk.

She started with one fishpond and used its returns to invest in two more fishponds.

After repaying the loan, she applied for another one amounting to Ksh80, 000, which she repaid and applied for Ksh100, 000 more, and, from that time, life has never been the same again.

Ms Rebecca is engaged in six farming projects in her small farm namely dairy goat, bee keeping, fish farming, rabbit farming, bricks making and coffee farming each complementing the other for maximum returns.

Out of her fifteen beehives, she is able to harvest an average of 365 kilograms of honey each selling at an average of Ksh600 per kilo.

Proceeds In the same farm, she has five fishponds each producing an average of 500 fingerlings selling each at Ksh10, while mature fish sells at between Ksh80-Ksh120 per harvest depending on mar-

Women Fund ICT Manager Ms Virginia Kuria during the launch of Intra County Linkage Program in Nyeri. Inset: Women group leaders in Nyeri follow a training session during the launch of Intra County Linkage Program in the area. Photos: Waikwa Maina ket. On average, the fish farming project brings her an average of Ksh 200, 000 annually, and she is able to harvest 75 percent of the fish/fingerlings during each harvesting season.

She recalls that during the first harvest, she only harvested 400 mature fish out of expected 600 fish in a fishpond measuring 125m by 5m and 3feet deep, as many died due to stress and lack of proper skills on fish farming.

The recommended depth of a fishpond is normally three feet but the farmer says that

“We have conducted empowerment programs with the intermediaries so as to reign in on those that continue to exploit women or fail to honor our terms and conditions” — Virginia Kuria, WEF ICT Manager.

with experience, she has learnt that best depth is five feet deep, for water security reasons, giving the fish enough breeding and playing space among others. She does not recommend an inch above the 5feet deep it will be extra cold for the tilapia fish and poor circulation of air.

She says the recommended weight for harvest is between 350grams to 400grams, a size most preferred by customers in major hotels.

In the same farm, she has daily goats that bring her between Ksh80 and Ksh120, 000 annually.

Rabbits occupy a small space in her farm but they all rake in an average of Ksh300, 000 annually.

Ms Virginia Kuria, the ICT Manager with Women Enterprise Fund described Ms Rebecca as a role model in the Women Enterprise Fund.

13

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Women in Narok take a second chance at education

…By Joseph Munene

F

or years, women in Narok have been without education and hardly participated in decision making platforms. This has left them at the mercy of men with majority living in abject poverty.

Majority have been forced out of school and married off at a tender age in actions that have shattered their dreams for education.

Despite their hard work, women in Narok County are often side-lined in the management and use of resources they have helped to generate.

However, the scenario is quickly coming to an end as scores of women have enrolled for adult education programme in a bid to reclaim their place in the community.

Over 2,000 women in Narok have enrolled for the adult education programme despite the myriad of challenges.

Among them is Margret Ntutu who is sat for her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination last year. She is grateful she had a second chance to go back to school and hopes she will achieve her dream of obtaining a degree in Early Childhood Education in the near future.

Schedule “It has not been easy to double up both as a student and a mother.

I am glad that I have made it and I will sit for my KCSE this year. I am expecting grade C plus and above,” says Ntutu, who has been working as an Early Childhood Development teacher with Narok County Council.

“My life as a student ends in the classroom because once I get home I become a wife and hardly get the chance to revise or do assignments,” Ntutu notes.

Having completed her primary school education at 15, Ntutu was immediately married off to an old man, but this did not kill her passion for education.

Scores of women attend classes at the Ololulunga Narok Centre for Adult and Continuing Education in Narok town.

“In those days culMajority of these women have enrolled for the adult education programme to reclaim their place in the community. ture was the overriding Photo: Joseph Munene factor and rarely did a girl disobey her father’s as a waste of time and a ploy to avoid you although they are illiterate,” says required to pay fees and buy learning decision. Rescue centres materials that makes it hard for many were also few and I had no option,” work. Sometimes this has fanned dis- Florence Partungas, an adult learner.

A mother of three, Partungas says who cannot afford. unity in the family. It is even worse she recalls.

The mother of five children sat for when a husband and his wife attend that although she passed well and KCSE together with her second born the same class and the wife scores was to join Naivasha Girls’ Secondary For Winnie Ntutu a house wife School, her parents could not afford child. She says her choice to go back higher marks than the husband. and mother of two who had dropped the fees. to school did not go well with many “I was then married off against out of school due to early pregnancy, but she remained determined. Even Some members of the commumy wish. I promised myself to con- adult learning programme will enher children and husband could not nity also try to label female adult tinue with education because it is able her achieve her aspiration of beunderstand her decision. learners as ‘promiscuous’ but this has never too late,” she explains. coming a leader. not deterred them from going back to “The new constitution has given Narok is one of the counties with class. women many opportunities and a high number of school drop outs She has been going to Ololulunga “You have to remain firm and and if adult education gets more sup- rights and without education it is Narok Centre for Adult and Continuing Education in Narok town, the determined because you are the only port many women will benefit. Adult hard to realise them,” she says.

She encourages women to get only adult secondary school in the one who knows your aspirations. education is not factored in the free There are so many people out to jeer education to become enlightened deeducation programme.

Learners are county. spite the challenges that they encounLike many other women Ntutu ter. “The Government should also believes that education will open up “You have to remain firm and determined campaign for adult education to help new opportunities. Many of them are saving money to pay for school fees because you are the only one who knows your eradicate illiteracy,” she observes.

Although discrimination against and buy learning materials. aspirations. There are so many people out to women has been overtaken in some Most women are married to men parts of the county such as Loita and with no education and this has in jeer you although they are illiterate.”

Mosiro, girls are still dropping out of some cases curtailed their bid to join school in large numbers. adult learning centres as they see it — Florence Partungas, adult learner

Ambition

Stereotype

Determination

One man’s war boost’s girl child education …By Yusuf Amin

P

oor leadership in Ganze District in Kilifi County has been blamed on poor education standards among women in the area.

Anyone visiting the district will be welcomed by faces of frustrated women who have lost hope in life due to low levels of education in this semi-arid district. In the late 1990s, the Giriama woman’s role was confined to domestic and family responsibilities of cooking and caring for their children.

Disregarded Women would sit under trees and discuss issues relating to education but more often than not their suggestions would be dismissed by the men. They would be asked to forget about education and instead concentrate on their domestic roles. This is one of the reasons as to why Ganze women have been left behind in education compared to those from other districts in the country.

Leaders in the area have also been blamed for not offering comprehensive ideas on how to promote girl-child education.

However, through human rights activists in the area, efforts are being made to ensure that the number of women accessing education in Ganze increases so that they will be able to get their share of leadership positions.

For the last one decade, Nzai Baraka has been conducting civic education within the community on the importance of educating a girl child.

Baraka who is based in Vitengeni division has been at the forefront in making sure that the leaders recognise girls’ education. However, his noble efforts, have received resistance from men.

“The resistance came after some of the leaders started discriminating the girls and giving priority to boy’s education,” he notes.

Baraka calls on leaders from the region to recognise and respect all genders and stop discriminating children for the sake of development in the district.

Impact “Discriminating girls in educational matters has contributed to increased cases of school dropouts and early marriage that have been experienced in Ganze over the years,” he

observes.

Many a time, Baraka will be found sitting under a tree as he contemplates on how he was going to rescue child brides who have been forcefully married off to old wealthy men who target young girls for marriage.

Resources However, it has not been all smooth. Baraka’s biggest challenge has been lack of resources to enable him move around despite threats from parents who have taken dowry from the wealthy old men. To meet his objective, Baraka conducts secret civic education with young girls on the importance of education and on how they can counter the vice of early and forced marriage that has adversely affected the education levels and enhanced poverty in the area.

“There are days when I conduct civic education to young girls with the help of assistant chiefs in certain locations to sensitise them on the dangers of getting married while still young,” explains Baraka.

He is of the opinion that local leaders are to blame for not introducing a special kitty for girl child education leading to low num-

bers of girls pursuing secondary education in the area.

His efforts are supported by Betty Menza, who advocates for the rights of girls in the district. Menza says that measures should be put in place to increase the number of girls enrolling in and going through school.

Menza urges leaders and parents to promote girls’ access to education just like they do for boys so that development can be enhanced in the district.

Through the effort made by the activist for the last two years the number of girls accessing education in the district has increased and the leaders now can sit in groups and discuss on their education and related issues freely.

Success The success of the campaign has been enhanced by the introduction and implementation of free and compulsory primary school education in the past decade.

Hopefully, Ganze will soon see most of her girls complete secondary education and be able to join post-secondary tertiary colleges to enable them compete favourably with those from other regions in the country.

14

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Mathematician dreams of serving her community through politics

…By Adams Kiprop

T

he race to become the first woman representative for Bomet County has attracted four candidates who are keen to make a difference in the lives of the people of the county.

The race is expected to be stiff with every aspirant using their experience in both private and public sector to endear themselves to voters.

The Kenyan Woman caught up with one of the aspirants, Cecilia Ngetich, a former director and Chief Executive of the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology in Africa (CEMASTEA).

Ngetich is upbeat that what man can do, a woman can do better. She says that the women representative seat creates room for girls to take up challenging courses especially in sciences that could help bring development to the county in line with vision 2030.

“If girls are encouraged and guided, they can excel very well in sciences,” she says. Born in Tegat village, Bomet County, Ngetich was brought up in a society that did not appreciate education especially for the girl child. “Then the community valued cultural activities such as shift cultivation and pastoralism,” she recalls.

Foundation “Educating a girl was also seen as a ‘waste of resources’ as the girl was regarded as an outsider and would eventually be married off to another family,” Ngetich says.

Luck was on her side because her father who was a polygamist and worked with the Kenya Army enrolled her at a school in Nakuru together with two of her siblings.

The cosmopolitan environment

was life changing. She learnt to interact with children from other communities and through hard work she excelled in her class work.

“I was always bold in the classroom and would be the first to raise my hand up whenever a question was asked,” she recalls.

Her stay in Nakuru was however shortlived as she had to relocate to her rural home after her father died in 1971 when she was in class four.

This was the most trying moment in her life and she briefly suffered a ‘culture shock’ after she discovered that back in the village her classmates did not take education seriously.

Teachers were also few and most used local dialect even when they taught languages or explained scientific matters.

Cecilia Ng’etich, a former director and Chief Executive of the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology in Africa and an aspirant for the Bomet County Women Representative seat. Photo: Adams Kiprop

Passion However, Ngetich appreciates these smaller beginnings saying that it worked to her advantage. She says that when the teachers explained science in Kalenjin, it always left her thirsting for more.

“While such lessons always remained a mystery to many, they always provoked curiosity inside me,” she says.

Discovering her love for Science, her uncle would later take her to St. Mary’s Boarding Primary School in Narok where she met pupils from different backgrounds and finally sat for her CPE in 1974.

She, however, recalls some ‘historic’ events that rocked her education.

In 1974 the CPE exams, which was then shipped from London in Great Britain was delayed for ten days after the ship for some unknown reason failed to arrive on time.

Ngetich then sat for her O-levels at Narok High School (now boys’ school)

in 1978 when Kenya’s first president Jomo Kenyatta passed on and discussions of his legacy bred uncertainty about the country’s future.

In 1982, as first year student at Kenyatta University College, their education was suspended for one year following the abortive military coup.

She says that the one year break was a nightmare for the university students, as the government believed they held vital information about the coup.

Challenges “After the coup the government directed that every Monday, university students must report at the local chief ’s office for interrogation with the police,” recalls Ngetich. She had to trek for 10 kilometres to the chief 's office every Monday for one year.

Her teaching career would begin in 1985 after she graduated with a degree in education majoring in Biology

and Mathematics.

With a teaching career spanning over 23 years and laced with multiple academic awards, Ngetich says that she has seen many students go through her hands and excel in different fields.

A remarkable feat is for the entire period she served as a principal at Kaplong Girls’ High School (19932000) where she was ranked as the best head teacher in Bomet and Bureti districts.

She was also ranked the best biology teacher in the district and was declared the best Biology teacher in Rift Valley Province in 2000.

At CEMATSEA, Ngetich had risen from being a graduate teacher to a chief executive. She says the promotions were due to her professionalism, commitment and sheer determination to change the lives of those she was entrusted to nurture.

“I always aim at making the future brighter for the students by laying a firmer foundation,’’ she says.

Record With a membership of 34 countries in Africa, Ngetich says that the organization is tasked with changing learners’ attitude towards science subjects through equipping teachers with practical teaching techniques.

She says that since its inception in 1998, the attitude towards subjects like physics has changed and now more students are taking it in secondary school.

Ngetich joined the organization as the CEO in 2009 and her responsibilities spanned from administration, human resource management to financial management.

The mother of six feels that she has gained enough experience and exposure while serving the country and the continent and it is time she goes

back to serving the community that brought her up.

Ngetich believes that with the leadership skills she has gained over time and her passion for education she can make a difference in the lives of the women and especially the girlchild. She says that despite the 50 years of independence and efforts made by the government to improve the livelihoods through various policies, many women in her county still wallowed in poverty due to poor implementation of these policies.

“I will use my exposure and experience to encourage entrepreneurial skills among the women and the youths to equip themselves with skills in various areas such as motor vehicle mechanics, plumbing and civil engineering,” says Ngetich.

She is also advocating for participation of the men in empowering women.

Ngetich lauds the participation of the parents in moulding a child. She says that despite being widowed and illiterate, her mother always impressed the importance of education to her.

Married to Linus Ngetich, she praises her family saying that they have been very understanding and supportive throughout her career life.

Ngetich holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration (Human Resource Management) from Kenyatta University and has registered for a doctorate in human resource management specialising in strategic planning at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

She says that it is possible to bring up a family while progressing in your career. She asks those women keen on bringing up a family to start the journey early saying that as one goes up the career ladder, commitments increase.

Janet pledges to improve women lives …By Munene Maina

J

anet Seenoi Nchoko counts herself lucky that she never dropped out of school like most of her classmates.

“I remember several men sought the approval of my parents to marry me while I was still at school. But I thank my father who stood firm and declined their offer,” recalls the soft-spoken Janet.

She recalls that most of her age mates were married off at a tender age but today live in squalid conditions. She however notes that the community is changing and many girls are acquiring education as boys are no longer favoured.

“Despite the changes, women are still marginalized in Narok. The leadership has done very little to empower them yet they have been entrusted with important responsibilities in the society,” adds Nchoko.

Ambition The 45-year-old mother of six children has declared her interest in the women representative seat in Narok. She believes she has what it takes to champion for the interests of women and bring the much needed development in the county.

A teacher by profession, Nchoko says though she started showing leadership qualities while still at school she never thought that one day she will be gunning up for a political seat.

“I never expected that one

day I would vie for a political post. From my childhood I never heard a woman contest for leadership in my area since the culture barred them,” she says.

However, a leader in her own rights, Nchoko has been helping women in the County to address a myriad of economic challenges. In 2002, she started Enooduat organization which has been assisting the girl child acquire education besides supporting and guiding women groups to come up with income generating projects.

Several women groups are now earning from bee-keeping and green house projects despite limited funds. Several girls have also been supported in joining institutions of higher learning.

Constitution For Nchoko, the new constitution presents a new dawn and serves as an epitome for women’s victory. “The constitution has brought about changes; introduced new way of governance, gender equality and hence all Kenyans stand a good chance to improve their lives,” she notes.

She says she wants to be a role model leader to change the perception that women cannot lead and help her community understand the importance of education.

Born and brought up in Ololulunga, Narok South, Nchoko comes from a humble background. She says that she

is better placed to address the problems bedeviling women in the county better and can help solve them.

“My family was not economically endowed and we went through many challenges.

I therefore easily understand what many women are going through,” she adds.

Nchoko says leadership is not about wealth, but comes from God and it is about what one can offer to the society to up lift their living standards. She adds: “It does not matter where you come from, as long as you are committed and dedicated to serve the community effectively in any capacity.”

She maintains women should not sit and wait for others to fight for their rights, but should raise and fight for their place in society.

Once elected, Nchoko says her first task will be to eradicate retrogressive cultural practices and establish the place of a woman in the society. This, she says, will ensure girls are completing their education and discrimination targeting women stops.

She plans to conduct massive civic education campaign in the county to sensitize the community on women rights.

She intends to open up new ways for business opportunities that will see more women venture into self-employment.

Nchoko says there is great potential in agriculture which she observes with good leadership can be tapped to uplift

the living standards of many residents. “We had a farming project where we grew snow peas, French beans, sugar snaps and passion fruits for export in Europe. But due to lack of support the project collapsed,” she says adding that the county has plenty of arable land.

Challenges In a county where many women are still delivering at home oblivious of the risks and have to walk for long distance to access health care, the aspirant promises to ensure more health centres are built. She notes that traditional birth attendants also need training.

With a large percentage of girls still dropping out of school in Narok annually, Nchoko says she is committed to ensuring that no single child ever drops out. She explains that with more boarding schools, drop out cases will decrease as most problems emanate from home.

“Education plays a key role in life. We therefore need people who will fight for children’s right to education at any cost. I am ready for it.”

Nchoko whose distinguished talent in music has seen her travel to Kampala, Kigali and South America, pledges to nurture different talents to ensure youth benefit from them.

Her songs advocate for the rights of the girl child.

She also notes that there is need of more polytechnics where youth can learn technical

Janet Seenoi Nchoko, an aspirant for the Narok County Women Rep seat is the founder of Enooduat organization which has been promoting girl child education besides empowering women groups to engage in income generating projects. Photo: Munene Maina. skills.

She does not hide her disappointment at the pathetic state of infrastructure despite the county being a tourism destination. She promises to lobby for rehabilitation of roads in the county.

She further says she will also preach peace and unity to local residents adding that peaceful coexistence cannot be overemphasized.

Having been a teacher for over 20 years, working with the community and enjoying international exposure, Nchoko

steers a sense of confidence she is equal to the task of representing women.

Until her resignation, she was a teacher at Masaantare primary school in Ololulunga. She started schooling at Ololulunga day primary school after which she joined Kilgoris secondary school before proceeding to Tambach Teachers Training College. She has also been trained in many areas such as leadership.

The ther is confident that she will navigate the so called murky waters and emerge the winner.

15

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

At five per cent, women have come a long way …By Joyce Chimbi

T

he Kenyan woman has always found herself sandwiched between a rock and a hard place. There are those who succumbed to the oppression of a blatantly patriarchal society, others have remained strong, defied the system and fought for themselves, their daughters and the women’s movement.

Land ownership has been a thorny issue in Kenya since independence.

While both men and women have been aggrieved by historical injustices regarding who owns land, women, above all others groups have been the most affected.

Customary laws were for many years significantly gender insensitive, and in favour of men.

Across Africa, Kenya included, there have been highly progressive statutory laws that allow every individual including women to own and profit from land, but traditional laws rule.

Irony This is in spite of the fact that Kenya is largely dependent on agriculture and relies on its female population to keep the significant agricultural sector afloat. However, there is a glass ceiling that locks women from decision making positions. The inability of most women to have land title deeds removes power to make decisions on how this land can be used from their hands.

At independence, policies and regulations on land ownership did not favour women. For many years, land title deeds had to be in the name of the head of the house.

“Although the concept of female headed households did not emerge the other day, only one gender could head a home,” explains Tim Muli, a real estate developer.

The situation, therefore, becomes very complicated when a married couple separates because in Kenya, for many years, The Marriage and Property Act was silent on how land should be divided under these circumstances making it an exclusive reserve for the man in question.

There are women who fought tooth and nail in courts in order to get a share of the land that they had tilled and cultivated for decades when the marriage crumbled. Most were awarded very little once the case came to an end after many years of pursuing justice.

The inability of women to have their names on the title deeds has had a ripple effect and economic implications that have been felt for decades.

The most glaring being that most women have remained peasants and lack the economic muscle to use land title deeds as collateral to acquire loans from Women till land but majority rarely profit from the resource. Intense campaigns have been launched with various banks. This has limited their abilstakeholders to ensure that all women, especially in rural areas are aware of their rights to own land. ity to advance socio-economically.

The same hands that till from dawn to break were not allowed This is in addition to Article 27 in nation among my in-laws and I was bank loans continued to marginalize to sign their names on land cerwhich women and men have the right subjected to insults and ridicule. My women. tificates to facilitate land ownership.

“Currently, banks have accounts to equal treatment, including the right “The economy of most African husband left me for another woman countries depend on women who are and my girls got nothing from his targeting women in chamas. Financial to equal opportunities in economic institutions are now pursuing women. (as well as political, cultural and sodeprived the right to own land. They three acres.”

Although there are a vast number They have discovered that there is a cial) spheres. toil all day on land that they have negligible control over, they sustain the of cultural reasons that have contin- lot of liquid money circulating among breadbasket regions of many countries ued to bar African women from con- women,” explains Muli. He adds: Although it might be a number that are dependent on agriculture but trolling and profiting from land, these “Women are usually very organized, their labour is unacknowledged and marginalized women are no longer when they put their mind to it, they of years before the number of women with land title deeds rises to desirable poorly remunerated,” says Mwanaha- playing victims of harmful traditional often achieve much.”

The banks have also realised that levels, the ground is currently fertile misi Salimu, an advocate for women’s practices and attitudes. women are most reliable when it for women to advance. The law is on rights to land at OXFAM, Tanzania. comes to repaying loans and hence their side and culture does not suIn Kenya, the concept of ‘chama’ they are now targeting them even for persede the Constitution, a fact that many Kenyans are now becoming A sufficient food base is an undis- (merry-go-round) has revolutionised unsecured personal loans. puted prerequisite for development the financial situation of thousands Today land reforms are being en- aware of.

Over the years, women have with Kenya perceiving agriculture to of women. Chama is a group saving acted and these have favoured wombe more or less at par with industry and scheme where women save money en. “A key development in Kenya moved from not owning land at inother sectors of the societies. Nonethe- through table banking. Instead of shar- land tenure reform was the issuing of dependence, to the 1990s where they less, despite the massive contribution ing the money amongst themselves at title deeds in the name of the “head held only one per cent of all land titles that women invest in this sector in the end of the month, the money is of the family,” says Elizabeth Nzioki, deeds, to the late 1990s and early 2000 terms of labour, they remain marginal- saved and used to buy land for group a researcher. She adds: “The problem where they held only three per cent to ized in relation to controlling and prof- members. with the legislation is that the titled now, where they hold about five per “The land, as is in our case, is sold land is being transferred almost ex- cent. iting from this critical resource.

The numbers are still low but it is The situation is worse among con- for a higher price to enable the chama clusively to male individuals.” servative tribes such the Pokot where buy small pieces of land that can be Currently, according to the law, still a step in the right direction. Not land is only exclusively allocated to split amongst the members. Through specifically Article 60 (f) “Land in only do these women hold the title men and this has grave cultural impli- this strategy, I now own half an acre,” Kenya shall be held, used and man- deeds, but they can also make deciexplains Njoki. cations. aged in a manner that is equitable, sions on how the land in question In addition, banks have opened efficient, productive and sustainable is to be used, whether a loan can be In Kenya, women with no male children were for years barred from their doors to scores of women and in accordance with the principle acquired against that title deed or using land as was the case with whom they had earlier labelled un- that eliminates gender discrimina- whether the land can be disposed of at Miriam Njoki. “Giving birth to six bankable. Without title deeds and tion in law, customs and practices a price much higher than what it may girls and no boy was like an abomi- claim to property ownership, strict related to land and property in land”. have cost originally.

Reprieve

Discrimination

Scheme

African women seek ways to better land ownership

…By Joyce Chimbi

I

n comparison, Kenyan women are well ahead of their counterparts in Tanzania.

According to Mwanahamisi Salimu, an advocate for women’s rights to land at OXFAM in Tanzania the situation in the neighbouring country is not any different, with only about one per cent of women with title deeds.

“The piece of land is also a burial place, if a woman dies unmarried she is buried in the public cemetery which basically means she will be forgotten, this is likened to being buried like an animal and one is hence perceived an outcast even in death,” explains Salimu. She notes the possibility that most Chagga women who are a dominant community in Northern

Tanzania will do anything to get married simply for the sake of a burial site and withstand unimaginable levels of abuse from their husbands.

But even where the number of women who own title deeds is high such as in Zimbabwe women rarely profit from land. In Zimbabwe about 20 per cent of women own land and this regarded as one of the highest in Africa.

In Zimbabwe, women have joined SOFF (Small Organic Farmers Forum) and are using affordable organic inputs, which allows them to make a profit.

“We use indigenous seeds, manure, anthills and so on. In fact, we are now at a point where we are developing indigenous seed banks for sale. We will also soon begin selling other organic inputs such as anthills

to make money,” explains Elizabeth Mpofu, SOFF chair.

In Tanzania, “rather than wait to fight for the rights of widows, we are extending extensive campaigns with various stakeholders to ensure that all women, especially in rural areas are aware of their rights to own land.

These women are slowly exploiting various means of controlling land by negotiating with their partners for more,” notes Salimu.

In Malawi, women are working in groups and together are able to control and profit from land by leasing the land, or owning it as a group.

Of course these strategies pose various challenges especially in instances where women work as a group, management is an issue because most of the members do not understand the concept of running a

farm like a business, they have grown used to running a farm as if it were just a way of life; tilling, attending to the crops and harvesting without thinking of money matters because the men handle that aspect.

Empowerment In Kenya, the women movement has done its share of civic education.

Women are now fairly empowered even in marginalized communities, again, perhaps not to the desired levels but the foundation is strong.

The number of women in real estate is also growing. Even among the younger unmarried women, the desire to win and develop land is evident.

One of the most recognized names in the male dominated real estate field is that of Sue Muraya who has shown women that it can be done.

With a Constitution that has been hailed as one of the most gender sensitive, campaigns to put more girls in school and affirmative action, the best is yet to come for Kenyan women.

Owning a land title deed creates a sense of security among Kenyan women. Majority can now access loans without title deeds through Savings and Credits Co-operative Society (SACCO) that have become extensively popular in Kenya due to their attractive rates on loans and interests.

Land provides security for the woman as well as her children. Kenya is certainly a long way from independence, where decision making and property ownership are a reserve of men, but the journey ahead is still long and winding.

16

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Tanzanians want new law to address to gender based violence

…By Privatus Karugendo

F

or Tanzania to move forward and address issues of gender based violence, there is need for aggressive awareness and education campaigns to enlighten the public on the rights of women and children.

Tanzanians say there is a lot of gender based violence going on including violence against men and those who have embraced same-sex relationships.

According to Kaijage Mutembei, a Master of Arts student in Development studies at the University of Dar-es-salaam men are to blame for gender based violence.

“Gender-based violence is a consequence of gender norms and social and economic inequities that give privilege to men. There is mounting recognition in Tanzania that gender discrimination and gender equity to be some of the sources of violence against women and girls, but also against men,” Mutembei explained.

His sentiments are echoed by Mugana Mushambywa, leader of the Local Government in Tabata. However, Mushambywa says men too suffer violence and this needs to be taken into account when addressing the issue.

“In most cases, it is the wives who fall victim to the rage of husbands. However, it is imperative to mention at the onset that there are those women who batter men,” notes Mushambywa.

Statistics While Tanzania was rewriting its constitution, women in the rural areas told the Constitutional Review Commission that the envisaged new laws should have provisions that protect them from gender based violence, especially cruelty from husbands.

A recent study in Dar es Salaam revealed that 33 per cent of married women have experienced physical violence and 23 per cent have been subjected to sexual violence. In Mbeya, 47 per cent complained about domestic abuse and 31 per cent reported sexual violence.

“The women in nearly each region complained that their husbands often batter them and subject them to untold suffering,” notes Abdalla Mohamed, a human rights activist. He adds: “One of the most painful parts of being a woman in this country is vulnerability to violence.”

These discussions strongly indicate that men are the only perpetrators of gender based violence. However, focusing on men only, is not sufficient enough to reduce or eliminate gender based violence altogether.

“Gender-based violence cannot be blamed on a few perpetrators. Rather, these diverse forms of violence stem from the entrenched and enduring low status of women and girls around the world,” Ambassador Alfonso E. Lenhardt of the United States of America was quoted in the Daily News of June 2011.

“The United States is committed to working with governments, multilateral institutions, and a wide range of partners — from activists and advocates, to survivors and civil society leaders — to end impunity, and to ensure that laws that recognize women’s equality and right to be free from violence are implemented fully. We’re working to promote men’s engagement in ending the violence,” Lenhardt said.

What this means is that to address gender based violence; focus should also shift to the status of women and the economic and social issues that breed it.

The other area is to widen and respect the rights of minority groups.

Position The proposal by Tanzania Gender Networking Programme to include the rights of homosexual and lesbians in the New Tanzanian constitution, although progressive, was met with harsh words from public. It indicated that gender based violence can also be perpetrated by the public and people with sectarian interests.

The Archbishop of Dar es salaam, Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, was quoted saying: “Homosexuality is illegal in Tanzania. It is a social and religious taboo, one of the most heinous sins on earth. God said people should bear children to fill the world.”

“How can a sexual relationship between two men, or two women for that matter, fill the world? This is quite absurd,” Pengo lamented.

From the church, Mkwasa, the coach of Twiga Stars, a girls’ football team, whose members were reprimanded of their sexual orientation, said he dealt decisively with the issue.

Speaking to a local TV station, he said: “It is true that some of the players engaged them-

Most cases of gender based violence go unpunished. GBV requires an inclusive approach top help address the vice. selves in homosexuality but we removed them from the team on learning of their behaviour.

We took the decision regardless of the player’s ability and contribution in the team.”

He added: “There is this problem that these players want to behave and look like their male counterparts, just because they play football.”

In Tanzania, sexual acts between men are

illegal and carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Sexual acts between women are not mentioned specifically in Tanzanian law, though the autonomous region of Zanzibar outlaws same-sex sexual acts for both men and women.

It is these laws that are cited by people to mete violence against those who proclaim or are believed to be homosexuals.

Climate change exposes women to sexual violence …By Said Mmanga

T

he primary effects of climate change such as drought and crop failure have serious secondary effects that are rarely tackled in the interventions to mitigate effects of climate change.

The social impacts of climate change in Tanzania are massive. Due to climate change, there has been a sharp increase in the conflict between different social groups, especially farmers and pastoralists. The two groups have intensified fights over grazing and watering points as the resources shrink due to the impact of climate change.

Attacks and counter attacks by each group have left women and children bearing the brunt of the conflict. Cases of rape and defilement are high during these conflicts. Women are be-

ing raped as a weapon of war.

Other women are sexually harassed or killed to send a message to the enemy.

Prevalence For example, Kilosa and Rufiji districts in the Coastal Region have witnessed among other things rising levels of gender based violence as communities clash.

In 2002 during the clashes between farmers and herders in Kilosa District in Morogoro Region left eight people dead, among them three children and two women, with over 22 injured. The conflict occurred after farmers complained that pastoralists had invaded their land.

In May last year, massive destruction was witnessed in Ikwiriri village in Rufiji District, Coast Region when two communities clashed over graz-

ing and watering points. The women whose husbands or fathers died have been exposed to sexual violations by men taking advantage of their situation.

The effect of climate change as witnessed in the drying up of wells in Tanzania is another source of sexual violence against women. Due to this, the women are forced to walk long distance in search of water. In most cases, women are raped or sexually molested as they traverse through bushes in search of water.

Climate change is all about the weather, temperatures, drought, exposure to excessive rainfall, and wind to mention a few, which is directly linked to human activities. Some of the human activities that contribute to climate change are agriculture, fishing especially by using dynamite, deforestation from various activities like burning coal and

firewood and industrial activity to mention a few.

In Tanzania, climate change clearly is seen in various situations such as lack of rainfall, increasing of salinity in water wells and decrease of grazing areas in line with the increase of temperature.

Action What needs to happen is for the government of Tanzania and other stakeholders to analyse the effects of climate change from a gender perspective. There is need for environmental experts, policy makers and the international community to ensure that programmes are put in place that not only mitigate effects of climate change, but also empower women with skills on how to respond during conflict and other problems brought by climate change.

Floods wreak havoc as effects of climate change take an ugly turn. Climate change has been blamed for increased conflict between farmers and pastoralists.

17

Issue Number 34 • February 2013

Najia Zewari: Key to peace lies in women’s hand F …By Carolyne Oyugi

or decades now Afghanistan has widely been known as a battle field. It is a country that is always in conflict and dominated by activities of terrorist groups such as Haggani Network and Hezbi Islam led by Taliban. At least that is the picture painted by the media.

The website is awash with stories on how, the decades of war made Afghanistan the world’s most dangerous country, including being the largest producer of refugees and asylum seekers.

The country also experienced hundreds of assassinations and suicide attacks. According to the United Nations, the insurgents were responsible for 80 per cent of civilian casualties in 2011 and 2012.

With all this in my mind, I already had already formed an opinion of Afghanistan when I met Najia Zewari, High Peace Council Afghanistan while attending the High Level Conference on Women, Peace and Security in Nairobi.

Zewari admits that her country has seen the worst of wars and has learnt the hard way on the importance of peace.

Determination “I have spent all my life in Kabul, Afghanistan and I know how it feels to be in a country experiencing war,” she says. However, the situation has not killed her quest for peace and justice but instead made her more resilient and determined to fight for peace.

She believes that women are key to achieving peace in every society.

“Women are naturally peace builders.

A mother will make sure that both her

immediate and extended families coexist in peace,” observes Zewari. She notes: “Women are resilient and learn from each other. Women do not judge each other easily especially when confronted with the same problems and that makes it easy to solve most of their problems.”

A member and Deputy Secretary High Peace Council of Afghanistan, Zewari believes that peace being enjoyed in her country at the moment is as a result of women coming up despite their differences and stating clearly that they want nothing less than peace.

Strategy “Women held numerous peaceful demonstrations. Since they realised that our country is mostly influenced by religion we used it for our benefit,” she says adding that they would all wear the same colour of head scarves with different meanings.

“That attracted people’s attention.

Men wondered why one day every woman is in a blue scarf and the following day every woman is in a green scarf,” she explains.

The 53 year old activist and defender of human rights believes that the conflict in Afghanistan and many other countries including Kenya is because they are characterised by egoistic concerns that carries the feeling that women should not talk in public or in front of important people.

Zewari believes that if women are given enough space to air their views and stand for what they believe in, then the planet would be more peaceful.

Giving an example of how Pashtun women from traditional families such as Aziz’s who had very little contact with people other than their rel-

atives and are frequently overlooked by their own government came out strongly and persuaded the men in their lives to stop involvement with the Taliban.

“Everyone expected their efforts to go to waste but thanks to them most of their men withdrew and as a result we have a more peaceful country,” Zewari observes.

However, she is saddened by the ghost of domestic violence that has stuck in Afghanistan.

“Like many Muslim dominated countries, we are haunted by the high number of domestic violence being meted towards women,” she notes.

“Kenya has really worked hard on that and I congratulate the people responsible. In my country women are beaten in public by their husbands and at times mistreated by their in-laws.”

Impact Violence is not a new phenomenon in her country but she is optimistic that things will change because unlike before the cases are not confined to the houses.

Concerning the recent attacks in Tana River County and others that have been experienced in Kenya, Zewari believes that women always know when their men are planning war or simple attacks. It is then that she advises women to take action.

“Talk to the men in your homes quietly and make them understand the implications of their action,” she says adding that at the end of the day it is the women and children who suffer the most.

“When men are beaten and killed, women’s experience is not spared because they still experience sexual violence. We still have to take care of

Najia Zewari, a member and the deputy secretary of High Peace Council in Afghanistan during an interview. Photo: David Mbewa our children and husbands once they have been injured. Why can’t we stop it as early as we can?” she poses.

However, Zewari admits that some women also contribute largely in prolonging conflicts. For example, in some communities it is the women who sing songs of praise and cook a lot of food when their men come back with stolen cattle after raiding another community.

“Indirectly we are praising theft, murder and all the evils in the world,”

she says.

She notes that African women are more exposed to the vices in society unlike in her country where they are protected by their families.

Zewari advises people to go back to religion.

“There is no religion that preaches conflict. The Bible, Quran and all the other good books talk of love and peace. If only we could follow the teachings then I believe we would have a very peaceful planet,” she concludes.

Passion inspires woman to leadership …By Munene Maina

P

auline Naneu Kinyarkuoo has defied many odds to retain her passion in leadership She dropped out of school at class three shortly after she underwent circumcision and was married off to an elderly man. At a tender age of 13years, she had to endure relentless beating from her husband besides being forced to double up both as a mother and a wife.

Finally, Pauline decided to call it quits and separated from her abusive husband. This however subjected her to ridicule because separation was unheard off in the community A leader in her own rights, she resisted societal pressure to return to her estranged husband. “Eventually I became immune to their jeering and insults and decided to forge ahead with life,” she says.

Motivation She began to mobilize women under similar conditions to start income generating activities to support themselves and educate their children.

In 1994, Pauline founded Enaitoti Naretu Olmaa Coalition of Women in Narok. It started as a single group and grew into a community based organization made up of eight women groups. In 2008 the CBO was registered as a

non-government organization which is a coalition of 260 groups that include 30 groups of widows and three of widowers.

Pauline says her own circumstances moved her into action and she was able to mobilize women groups from grassroots to promote social justice in her Maasai community.

The groups are now involved in diverse community development and income generating activities, for the welfare of members and their families.

The hard-working mother of five saw her children through secondary school without her husband’s support and through her leadership scores of women have been able to generate enough funds to take their children to school through her organization. She has mobilized resources that have seen many orphans stay in school.

Pauline who is also ODM nominated councilor in Narok county council has been in the forefront of fighting retrogressive cultural practices that look down upon women often denying them a chance to exploit resources they have helped produce.

“My vision is to ensure women are empowered to achieve gender equality in the community. This is why I stepped up with no formal education to challenge retrogressive cultures. I hope in 10 years women will be fully respected,” she says. She however notes that in fighting retrogressive cultural practices, communities should

be involved so that they can reject discrimination based on gender.

“But good cultural practices should be maintained at all cost,” she adds.

Constraints She points out that the major problems affecting women in Narok include low literacy levels, water and poor economy. “Women should be confident to seek political seats and should not wait for men to help them,” she urges.

At 51 years, the nominated councilor says her low education qualifications bar from seeking for political seats. “Despite having leadership experience my education level limits my capacity to go for higher political seats. I will support candidates who will improve lives of the people,” she says.

Pauline has attended adult education programmes besides undergoing community empowerment trainings.

In 2010 she was awarded with a honorary doctorate in theology by International Faith Theological Seminary University College, in recognition of her noble work. Through her NGO over 1,300 orphans are enrolled for support and more than 200 commercial sex workers trained as peer educators to reduce sexually transmitted infections.

Pauline calls for a leadership that will solve people’s problems in Narok County such as the prolonged human-wildlife conflicts. An ardent

Pauline Naneu Kinyarkuoo is the founder of the Enaitoti Naretu Olmaa Coalition of Women in Narok which started as a single group and grew into a community based organization with eight member women groups. Photo: Munene Maina supporter of ODM, she is all praises for the party and William Ole Ntimama for elevating women standards in the community.

A powerful orator and shrewd women leader, Pauline enjoys helping the needy, making friends and travelling at leisure time.

Unlike her, there are very few women leaders in her community to champion the course of women.

Editorial Director: Arthur Okwemba Managing Editor: Jane Godia

The Kenyan Woman is a publication of African Woman and Child Feature Service E-mail: info@awcfs.org www.awcfs.org

Sub-Editors:

Duncan Mboyah and Faith Muiruri

Contributors:

Joyce Chimbi, Carolyne Oyugi, Wanjiku Mwaura, Diana Wanyonyi, Antony Tiapukel, Omondi Gwengi, Elizabeth Awuor, Hussein Dido, Odhiambo Orlale, Waikwa Maina, Yusuf Amin, Adams Kiprop, Munene Maina, Privatus Karugendo and Said Mmanga

Design & layout: Noel Lumbama (Noel Creative Media Ltd)

This paper is produced with support from HIVOS