INSPIRING CHANGE

Kenyan Woman

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

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Inspiring Change MARCH 8, 2014

International Women’s Day | march 8, 2014

Women walking back to their homes in Gumuruk, Pibor County, Jonglei State. picture: Plan International

Kenyan Woman

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

MARCH 8, 2014

Road to equality remains bumpy for Kenyan women Despite the country’s progressive and gender sensitive constitution, gender equality remains elusive even as MDGs come to a close in 2015

of Constitutional commissions, six percent of parastatal heads, 13 per cent of county secretaries and 21 per cent of county assembly clerks.

Framework As we seek meaning today around what this day signifies, there is need to fully operationalise the Constitution and enact laws that seek to ensure gender equity in major decision making organs.

Lichuma says that the realization of substantive equality is proving rather challenging and hence the need to develop a strong legal framework that binds everyone.

Lichuma cites the recent appointments of parastatal chiefs by President Uhuru Kenyatta that saw only two women appointed as heads of parastatals out of the 38 positions.

By Faith Muiruri

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She says that a technical team has been established by NGEC to come up with a framework on how the two thirds gender rule is to be realised.

s Kenyans mark the International Women’s Day, time is fast racing against the country’s bid to bridge glaring gender inequalities and empower women ahead of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) deadline.

The level of women representation in the country is still very low and with the apparent push by African countries for integration of the aspect of gender equality in the post-2015 development agenda, Kenyans will need to build on the foundations laid by the Constitution.

The Constitution has created a legal framework that clearly addresses gender inequality with women-specific interventions such as affirmative action and numerical quotas in public institutions thus recognising the insufficiency of bare formal equality.

Article 10 (2) of the Constitution sets out national values and principles of governance which include participation of the people, human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination and sustainable development.

These national values and principles of governance are an assurance especially to women that empowerment and gender equity will be achieved.

The national values and principles of governance bind all state organs, state officers, public officers and all persons.

Article 27(1) provides that every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law. Moreover, Article 27 (2) is defined to include the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and fundamental freedoms. Further, Article 27 (3) is categorical that women and men have the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.

In addition, the scope within which women and men are protected from any form of violence from either public or private sources is provided for in

She explains that the framework emanates from Article 27 (8) which states that the State shall take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than two thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender.

Martha Karua addresses a campaign rally prior to the 2013 General Elections during which she contested and lost the presidential polls. Scores of women like her are willing to take on political leadership but the society has not been as receptive. PICTURE: KENYAN WOMAN CORRESPONDENT

Article 29 (c).The State has also been limited in terms of discriminating any person on any ground such as race, sex under Article 27 (5).

In Article 27 (6), the State is charged to take legislative measures such as affirmative action programmes and policies designed to redress any disadvantages suffered by individuals or groups because of past systematic discrimination.

The Constitution of Kenya has also made a major step towards ensuring gender equity in major decision making organs. This is an important step because historically in Kenya, women have always been underrepresented in decision making on issues of governance. The Constitution does not, however, make provisions that give a 50-50 gender balance but a two thirds balance which has been aptly captured in Article 27 (8) for those seeking elective or appointive posts.

Representation However, this is largely on paper and has not translated to any meaningful representation.

The affirmative action clause in the Constitution notwithstanding, political representation of Kenyan women currently stands at a mere 15 per cent compared to Rwanda — 56 per cent, South Africa — 42 per cent, Tanzania — 36 per cent and Uganda —35 per cent.

Although this is the highest number of female representatives Kenya has ever had in the area of political leadership, it is still a rather poor showing in this day and age, where women’s political

Critics have argued that it is unfair for women to have dedicated electoral posts, but despite these affirmative action measures, the guaranteed 47 seats are still far below the 117 needed to satisfy the one third gender rule.

The dearth of Kenyan women in the top echelons is noticeably mirrored at different levels of leadership.

A technical team has been established by NGEC to come up with a framework on how the two thirds gender rule is to be realised.

Winnie Lichuma, National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) chairperson

participation has generally improved around the world.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

At both the senate and gubernatorial positions, all the elected representatives are male. Women serve as deputy governors and their numbers translate to a paltry 19 per cent in the 47 counties while at the Senate, women account for 90 per cent of the nominees and cannot vote.

According to the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) chairperson Winnie Lichuma, at the National Assembly, elected women account for a mere six per cent while their nominated counterparts stand at 33 per cent.

The same picture is replicated at the County Assemblies where the number of elected women translates to 6 percent. Further women account for 33 per cent of cabinet secretaries, 27 per cent of principal secretaries, 50 per cent as chairpersons of independent offices; 42 per cent chairpersons

“The team has been tasked to review all proposals towards the realisation of the two thirds gender rule while at the same time collating views from experts and Kenyans,” Lichuma explains She notes that the technical committee will first define timelines within which the two thirds gender principle is to be attained as the Supreme Court ruling did not delve into timelines as suggested by Commission on Administrative Justice.

“What the court said is that the framework has to be created by August 2015 and the technical team can either opt for legislation or an amendment of the Constitution. We are giving ourselves a time frame of 90 days which is already running to be able to have a framework,” explains Lichuma.

Ruling She says that the Supreme Court largely relied on the High Court ruling in a case filed by FIDA challenging the composition of the Supreme Court.

According to the High court ruling, Article 81 (b) is aspirational and it presupposes open ended schemes of decision making and programming which can only be effected over a span of time.

Another hurdle lies in the fact that the Supreme Court saw challenges in the attainment of Article 27, based on the perceptions of an existing contradiction between Article 27 (6) and (7) and Articles 97 and 98.

She says that issues regarding to powers, privileges and facilitation of the affirmative action beneficiaries are likely to present additional challenges Page3>>

MARCH 8, 2014

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Another key intervention includes the 30 percent affirmative action for women and youth to access procurement tenders advertised by the government.

Road to equality remains bumpy for Kenyan women

Challenges

<< from page 2 because ideally, they should be similar to those of elected members.

In class: Kenya makes significant gains in education as scores of girls enrol in school.

PICTURE: FILE

Her sentiments are echoed by Prof Wanjiku Kabira who notes that affirmative action clause is a critical component towards the realisation of the two thirds gender rule.

“Women have always lobbied heavily and helped to draft the new Constitution which has entrenched the affirmative action clause and guaranteed an additional 47 seats for women in the counties without which the numbers in the National assembly would be wanting,” notes Kabira.

In addition, the Constitution has created a framework of law that responds in a very direct and unequivocal manner to the age-old discrimination against women in Kenya.

Further, the Constitution contemplates the passage of various pieces of legislation to flesh out some of the rights it provides for. These include legislation on citizenship, culture, leadership and representation of marginalised groups.

Most of these pieces of legislation have not received any significant attention.

Further, for them to affect women there is need to ensure that they are in consonance with the Constitution.

Vigilance According to Daisy Amdany, chairperson Women’s Political Alliance, women, their representatives and civil society organisations must guard against the risk of dilution of the rights enshrined in the basic law by the expected legislations.

In addition there are many statutes that are clearly contrary to the spirit and intendment of the new Constitutional framework.

Lichuma cites the Succession Act as one such law which perpetuates inequalities between men and women.

Other areas where Kenya’s performance is still dire include access to essential reproductive health services for women, which is very limited especially in rural areas.

“The unmet need for family planning is high and unsafe abortion is a major problem predominantly for poor women and unmarried women leading to high maternal mortality, infections and infertility,” notes Lichuma.

This is against a backdrop of a spirited campaign by African countries to push for a stand-alone goal to achieve gender equality, women rights and women’s empowerment that is grounded in human rights and tackles unequal power relations.

The MDGs did not address the root causes of poverty, most especially women’s inequality, which made it impossible for the goals to be truly transformative.

Counting in the gender agenda

By Jane Godia

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ven as we mark the International Women’s Day today, Kenya will be standing tall in a few days’ time as it presents its position paper at the 58th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women scheduled to start on March 10 to March 21.

In highlighting its success, Kenya will be represented by a high powered delegation that will include a government delegation led by the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Devolution and Planning, Anne Waiguru which also houses the Gender Directorate. Other officials will come from various ministries including the Ministry of Education which will be represented by the Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang.

They will be joined by members of civil society and UN agencies.

Addressing the various stakeholders during a pre-CSW session at Treasury building, Engineer Peter Mangiti, Principal Secretary Ministry of Devolution and Planning noted that even though the focus of the meeting will be based on challenges and achievements of Millennium Development Goal Three, they will be looking at the nearing end of the MDGs as well as post-2015, which is the year that the goals come to an end.

“Ministry of Devolution is coordinating Kenya’s participation to the CSW, in a process that has been participatory,” Mangiti said. He noted that Kenya will have three major events in New York which will include the presentation of the country position paper, a side event and a documentary on Kenya’s achievements and challenges in relation to gender equality.

According to Mangiti, Kenya position will be well articulated.

Position He noted: “Africa has a well stated position that was well articulated in Addis Ababa early in the year.

We want to ensure that the Kenyan position is well articulated and that it resonates with the African Union,” reiterated Mangiti.He stressed that

the paper Kenya will be presenting was prepared through participatory process and is owned by the steering committee that included government, civil society and UN agencies.

Mangiti noted that there is a lot of interest in the CSW but unfortunately there are not enough funds to take everybody to New York. “We have not been able to accommodate everyone due to financial constraints,” he explained.

There will be a joint side event with the first will be kicked off by Anne Waiguru, Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Devolution and Planning who will give an overview of the event.

This will be followed by a panel discussion led by Government, civil society, National Gender and Equality Commission, Kenya Women Parliamentary Association and the Anti-Female Genital Mutilation Board.

It will be an interactive session and a demonstration by Kenya on how joint collaboration between the Government and Civil Society has worked well in delivering the Millennium Development Goals with a particular focus on education for women and girls. The panel discussion will be complemented with a documentary.

Gains The side event, therefore, will be held in recognition of the significant gains made by Kenya in Education.

The theme of the side even is Breaking Through: Enhancing the lives of Women and Girls Through Education. Panellists in this side event include Kipsang (Principal Secretary Education), Sabina Chege (chairperson Parliamentary departmental committee on Education Science), Jebii Kilimo (chairperson person Anti-FGM Board) and Winnie Lichuma (chairperson National Gender and Equality Commission).

While recognizing achievements made in education, the Kenya position paper also recognizes the challenges that face girls especially lack of information on how to deal with the growing up process.

Kipsang noted that Kenya has almost achieved gender parity in secondary

education. “This process has been made possible by the Government putting in place free secondary school day education,” he explained.

“However, there are disparities as we go higher in tertiary colleges and university education.”

The Kenya position paper also notes that women have made significant strides in developing their careers within the civil service.

It notes that in 2007 the Government put in place a policy requiring all public institutions reserve 30 per cent of all new appointments and promotions for women. As a result the number of women has been increasing from (32.4 per cent) 2008 to (38 per cent) in 2012.

Gaps However, placement of women in senior decision making positions in the public service remains tilted in favour of men. Women’s employment remains either within the traditional female occupations or within the domestic and farming sectors all too often as casual/unskilled workers.

Of significance is the new Government historical decision to appoint six women out of 18 cabinet secretaries to powerful dockets which include; Defence, Devolution and Planning, Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Environment Water and Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism.

The Government has also supported programmes towards the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 through the development of the National Action Plan with clear recognition of the importance of equal participation of women in peace and security processes, and the mainstreaming of gender in humanitarian action.

Efforts by the government through economic measures in strengthening women’s financial independence have also been captured and of particular mention are the Women Enterprise Fund, Uwezo Fund and Youth Enterprise.

Sadly, however, although the Government recently said all maternity services in public hospitals will be free, the Kenya Position Paper for the 58th Session on the Commission on the Status of Women says the Kenya Demographic Health Survey report does not paint a good picture. It notes that while in 2003 there 414 deaths per 100,000, this increased to 488 in 2008. However, it is hoped that things will improve with the interventions the Government has made since 2013 on the maternal and neonatal road map, including the free maternity services in public hospitals.

“The national maternal mortality ratio which was 590 per 100,000 live births in 1999 declined to 414 per 100,000 live births in 2003 then slightly went up to 488 in 2008/2009 indicating that the Millennium Development Goal target of 147 per 100,000 live births is yet to be met. The proportion of births attended to by skilled personnel was at 42.3 per cent in 2011 falling short of the 90 per cent target,” notes the report.

The Position Paper notes that to ensure that the reproductive health strategies are focused towards achieving the MDGs, the Government of Kenya has revised and aligned various national policy documents including the National Reproductive Health Strategy 2009-2015, The Reproductive Health Communication Strategy 2010-2012 and the National Family Planning Guidelines.

Interventions The Kenya Position Paper also notes that a Health Sector Gender Policy is also in the process of being developed as a framework to address the critical roles that health determinants such as social and cultural factors as well as power relations between women and men play in promoting, accessing and utilising health services for generally improved health outcomes.

Additionally, the Government has domesticated the global plan to “Eliminate new HIV infections among children and keeping their mothers alive by 2015” campaign which focuses on the 22 countries with the highest estimated numbers of pregnant women living with HIV. As a result of this campaign, new infections among children have been brought down significantly from an estimated 100 HIV infections per day to 36 infants infected with HIV every day.

However, owing to the high cost of maternal health care and the fact that 85 per cent of the national HIV programme is donor funded, the global economic recession constitutes a threat to the country’s gains. In addition easily preventable illnesses such as malaria and tuberculosis still claim many lives each year. Only one in ten Kenyans have health insurance and the public health facilities are faced with inadequate management, insufficient medical supplies and rigid bureaucratic procurement procedures.

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sought to bring clarity and certainty to the term of the Tenth Parliament while also removing any doubts as to the date of the next general elections under the Constitution of Kenya 2010.”

However, complications arose about how to proceed with the bill after it had undergone the First Reading, due to the fact that it had also contained an amendment to assist in clarifying the issue of the election date. Following the decision of the Constitutional Court with respect to the election date, the question arose as to whether bill should proceed as is, or be withdrawn and retabled after the section dealing with the election date had been excised.

Women members of the National Assembly and Senate join women from civil society organisations in a two day consultative forum to look at the agenda of advancing women’s rights.

Despite gender conscious legislations, Kenya lags behind her neighbours in terms of gender equality at decision making levels.

The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution advised the then minister in charge of Constitutional Affairs to withdraw the Bill and publish a new Bill, but this was not done.

Crisis In order to find a solution to the looming constitutional crisis, the Attorney General filed an Advisory Reference in the Supreme Court to seek a Constitutional interpretation of how the country should attain the gender equity principle.

The Supreme Court however ruled that the twothirds gender principle is ‘aspirational’ in that it lacks a normative framework for its attainment, similar to Article 177 which refers to the composition of county assemblies.

PICTURE: FILE

Are quotas Kenya’s panacea to inequalities in the political scene?

By Faith Muiruri

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he two thirds gender rule still remains the remedy in addressing gender disparities that have defined Kenya’s political landscape since independence.

The “winners-take it all” coupled by the First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system and the unyielding patriarchal political culture continue to undermine women’s participation in competitive politics.

While the Constitution gives express provisions for effective representation through affirmative action, it fails to provide a mechanism to facilitate the implementation of the principle in Articles 97 and 98 namely the National Assembly and the Senate.

Article 27 (8) of the Constitution directs the state to take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender.

The bill aimed at giving full effect to Articles 27(8) and 81(b) which provides that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender. The Bill also

But why has the provision of minimum gender representation failed to open space for women to

While the ruling at best was considered as a subversion of the new constitution and a denial of justice to the majority of the women who looked to the forthcoming elections with much optimism, it could provide a clear roadmap towards the implementation of the two thirds gender rule.

But the technical committee has to overcome a number of hurdles including defining timelines within which the two thirds gender principle is to be attained, as the Supreme Court ruling did not delve into timelines as suggested by Commission on Administrative Justice.

Prior to the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya in 2010, a number of options were tabled and discussed for the realisation of the two-thirds gender principle by stakeholders.

However, none of these proposals were accepted by the Cabinet or Parliamentarians in the Tenth Parliament.

Roadmap

The National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) has established a technical team to come up with the mechanism contemplated in the Supreme Court ruling.

The Constitutional requirement for one third representation in Parliament by either gender has had its share of misfortunes.

The principle is further replicated in Article 81(b): “The electoral system shall comply with the following principles [...] not more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender.” Article 177(b) in turn insists that a county assembly consists of “no more than

On the issue of a deadline for the attainment of the principle, the Supreme Court restricted itself to providing a deadline by which legislation providing for a mechanism to realize this principle should be introduced- as opposed to the deadline for actual attainment (as requested by the CAJ).

The Supreme Court appeared to suggest that that the doctrine of separation of powers may be impacted negatively if they were to go further.

With 2015 beckoning, the realization of two thirds gender rule is still fraught with uncertainties.

Dilemma

Another option included rotating of constituencies which relied on the fact that Article 97(1) (b) creates 47 special seats that would add to the number of women in the National Assembly. It also relied on the fact that Article 97(1) (c) provides for the nomination of 12 members to the National Assembly (by political parties, according to the proportion of their membership), 6 of whom must be women. This guaranteed a total of 53 women in the National Assembly.

two-thirds […] of the same gender”.

Further, the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2011, was introduced in Parliament by the then Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs on 19th October, 2011, following extensive discussions and negotiations between and among civil society organisations, Parliament, and the Cabinet.

participate in representational politics?

Key among them included the twining or multimember electoral system which called for the twining of proposed 80 new constituencies with pre-existing constituencies, and the twinned constituencies would then elect a man and a woman. This raised challenges in terms of its operationalization, given the autonomy of political parties to field candidates of their choice, and the sanctity of the right to vote.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Another hurdle lies in the fact that the Supreme Court saw challenges in the attainment of Article 27, based on the perception of an existing contradiction between Article 27(6) and (7) - and Articles 97 and 98.

The Supreme Court ruling granted Parliament a temporary reprieve which expires in 2015. After that anybody can move to court and seek dissolution of Parliament if the required legislation is not put in place Prof Wanjiru Kabira

NGEC chairperson Winnie Lichuma says that the Attorney General also introduced the issue of an ‘undue tax burden’ which may be played up within Parliament.

The two thirds gender rule is meant to increase women participation in politics and based on this principle at least 117 MPs should be female now that men are still dominant.

Currently, there are only 68 women in the National Assembly which is way below the two thirds gender threshold envisioned in the Constitution.

Prospects According to Jill Ghai, a legal expert on Constitutional matters, Article 81 (b) still holds

MARCH 8, 2014 bigger prospects for increasing the level of women representation.

The ruling on the two thirds gender principle relied on provisions of Article 100 and thus Parliament must enact the necessary legislation to give effect to the two thirds gender principle by August 27, 2015.

The legislation must also be enacted within the timeframe outlined in the fifth schedule of the Constitution.

“The Constitution also provides a recourse if the legislation is not enacted within the specified timeframe. Article 261 of the Constitution can be invoked to pave way for the dissolution of Parliament at the expiry of the grace period,” explains Ghai.

Article 100 is really meant to promote measures that may include education and providing incentives such as using the Political Parties Fund to reward parties that get women elected.

“While it is highly possible that they may have misunderstood the intentions of Article 100, the good news is that all laws under Article 100 must be passed by 2015 as stipulated in the fifth schedule of the Constitution,” Ghai explains.

Focus now shifts to Parliament to give meaning to the two thirds gender rule which is derived under Article 81(b) of the Constitution.

Options Parliament has an array of options including putting in place legislative measures it considers appropriate for the purpose of enforcing or securing the enforcement of the two thirds gender rule.

Parliament can enact the legislation contemplated in Article 27(8) or amend the Constitution as proposed earlier to have top up seats.

Prof Wanjiru Kabira says that Parliament must take advantage of the grace period to effect the gender rule within the stipulated timeframe.

“The Supreme Court ruling granted Parliament a temporary reprieve which expires in 2015.

After that anybody can move to court and seek dissolution of Parliament if the required legislation is not put in place,” Kabira explains.

According to Kabira, once the legislation is enacted, political parties can decide to nominate more women to parliament to bridge the gender gap.

“Once the necessary legislation is in place, political parties can still nominate more women to parliament to meet the two thirds gender rule. But even if this is not done, women will be assured of a solidified gender quota during the 2017 General Elections.

The Kenya Human Right Commission (KHRC), nevertheless, feels that Parliament needs to explore legislative mechanisms that include amending the Elections Act and the Political Parties Act to enforce the gender rule.

“Asking Parliament to amend the Constitution could result in reversal of gains. It will set a bad precedent of resorting too quickly to constitutional amendment whenever there is a challenge,” the Commission avers.

The Kenya Government has in the past signalled its belief in using ordinary legislation to achieve gender balance. Its periodic reports to Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (even before Constitution of Kenya 2010) indicate that it is possible to achieve that objective through the instrument of the Political Parties Act.

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We are there yes, but we need support on empowerment

to enable them develop skills, knowledge and confidence to formulate winning gender agendas, articulate them clearly and defend them all through without fear. This way we can promote and realize gender equality faster in Kenya.

By Jane Godia

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eing in parliament is one thing, but managing to navigate the terrain that goes with being a political representative is another.

Women from single constituencies are also accused of drawing a line between themselves and those who are representing counties.

As Kenyans went to the electioneering mood that culminated with the General elections in March 4, 2013, women were rocking the hitherto quiet waters in areas that were male dominated.

This should not be the case as they need to have seamless boundaries despite their political parties or constituency representation.

Women went on to win in elections that saw them competing against men, and the result of this was 16 women out of 290 single constituency seats.

Juma notes: “There are so many issues that are looked at as women’s issues. Fear of women representatives competing with those from single constituencies is derailing the unity that is needed.” She adds: “Women must be challenged to speak with the same voice as an inspiration to their presence in the august House.”

Another 47 came from the single county constituencies as well as an additional five that was nominated.

However, the challenge that the women are now facing is how to balance their presence in the august House and political survival.

However, Ghati says there is need for women to strategize more, find their course and move with it. This is why the women leaders are coming together to work with the women’s movement.

According to Patricia Nyaundi, Commission Secretary, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, the challenge the women politicians are facing is one of being relevant.

“It would be a shame if women fail to deliver,” Ghati says.

Ghati explains: “Women’s representatives are struggling and strategizing. Some have resorted to using their networks for fundraising to support their projects.”

Agenda “Sadly it seems the understanding of relevant issues is defined by the party affiliations and larger party agenda. The women need to problematize gender,” Nyaundi advices.

According to Nyaundi the fight for gender equality is being affected by other factors such as ethnic alignment, noting that failure to commit to gender equality does not cost political votes.

However, Dennitah Ghati, Migori County Member of Parliament, observes that most women in the legislative assembly came from a background without a public life. They are, however, now in the full glare of the whole nation. In their small numbers, women have been forced to learn how to lobby to have issues that are sensitive to their course supported by men.

This is supported by Mishi Juma, Mombasa County Member of Parliament, who says women are trying to be at the forefront but they still need capacity building on several skills to enable them wade through the parliamentary terrain.

Capacity Despite training by the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA), women still do not know how to come up with motions.

Juma notes that women must be empowered and supported to push crucial bills.

“It is important that forums are held every time there is a crucial bill in the house to analyse it so that women understand how they are going to vote,” observes Juma. She explains: “At times women end up voting wrongly not because they wanted but because of confusion over where to vote.”

Juma says that due to political alignments, women in the august House are still challenged over having the same voice in the House.

Ghati says women are quietly learning the tricks of the House. “We will be more engaging this year as we are looking at a few benchmarks such as the Millennium Development Goals and trying to see how Kenya fared.”

Under Kewopa, the women leaders have decided to take a bipartisan approach to issues so that women’s voices are heard.

Women are still far, they need more numbers.

They need continuous capacity building on many areas including team building and resource mobilization.

Joyce Emanikor, Women Member of Parliament for Turkana County However, balancing political survival with pushing for gender equality remains a challenge for the women. Women, who are on the government side, or Jubilee Coalition, are accused of not wanting to be seen to be going against the grain.

Survival According to Millicent Wamaitha, Acting Programme Coordinator Foundation for Women’s Rights women leaders are too engaged in protecting their political careers.

“At times they get compromised and cease to actively defend laws that protect gender equality despite the fact that they should be at the forefront. Sometimes many, particularly the new women leaders do not have the guts and sharp skills to stand up to aggressive or experienced male leaders,” explains Wamaitha. She adds: “The fear takes precedence forcing them to watch silently or from a distance as good legislations are mutilated and rendered ineffective to address gender balance issues in the country.”

Wamaitha notes that there is hence need to build the capacities of first time women leaders

However, the women leaders who came from the corporate sector are particularly challenged in terms of raising money for their constituencies when they cannot get government funding.

Ghati says there is need for the women leaders to continue having a working relationship with the women’s movement.

This is reiterated by Joyce Emanikor, Women Member of Parliament for Turkana County who says they need money to build the capacity of women even at the grassroots level. “We want money to go into capacity building for women to empower them from the grassroots whether it is politically, socially or economically.”

Participation According to the Beijing Platform for Action, women’s equal participation in decision making is not only a demand for simple justice or democracy but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women’s interests to be taken into account. Achieving the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision making provides a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society and is needed in order to strengthen democracy and promote its proper function”.Women leaders in parliament are already an inspiration to those out of the august House. To serve the unity of purpose, weaknesses and challenges that women are facing need to be identified and tackled to show that the space they so hard fought for rightly belongs to them.

As Emanikor says: “Women are still far, they need more numbers. They need continuous capacity building on many areas including team building and resource mobilization.”

Women must be able to bring into the house meaningful participation. Meaningful political participation requires certain institutional arrangements in society to link people’s activities to the policy making processes. Real engagement can only come through genuine opportunities for participation and communication.

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Few men walked beside women

A report on the Implementation of Quotas: African Experiences by Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) reveals that over 20 countries on the continent have either legislated quotas or political parties have adopted them voluntarily.

By Duncan Mboyah

S

Among countries that have registered remarkable progress in the level of women representation through quotas include Rwanda which accounts for the highest number of female representation at 64 percent.

ince the early 1960s when the country gained independence, it has been a long tiring walk for women.

However, they have made some strides since they started fighting for their freedom and equality in the.

Experts in constitutional matters reveal that Rwanda is one step ahead. For having enforced the gender rule in the constitution (Article 9 (4)) which accords at least 30 percent of positions in decision making to women. The 80 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected as follows: 53 members elected by direct universal suffrage through a secret ballot but using a closed list of Proportional Representation, 24 women two from each province and from the City of Kigali by an electoral college with a women only ballot; two members elected by the National Youth Council and one member elected by the Federation of the Association of the Disabled (Constitution Article 76).

The Constitution of Kenya 2010 crowned it all as it gave women opportunities that were previously unthinkable.

However, even as the women took the walk, they were not alone. A few outstanding men put up a serious campaign to support the women’s quest for gender equality.

Among these notable men are the late Mutula Kilonzo, late Dr. Oki Ooko Ombaka, Dr. Willy Mutunga (current Chief Justice) and Cyprian Nyamwamu.

Account

Kilonzo played a key role in the enactment of the new constitution that gave women powers that had not been seen since independence. He was at the forefront in campaigning for the new constitution, not only as a politician but also as the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs. It was under his docket that the Constitution of Kenya 2010 was promulgated.

Hon Charity Ngilu with scores of women who joined the race in the 2013 general elections.

During the campaigns for the enactment of the new constitution, majority of those opposed to the new Constitution were actually not supportive of women’s gains in the new laws. Mutula stood firm and assured women to vote for the constitution for their future or else their long struggle would still not be achieved.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, is known as having been a committed activist in the pro-democracy movement in Kenya since the 1970s. During this period, Mutunga agitated for gender rights.As the Regional Representative for Ford Foundation, where Mutunga was foreseeing all grant making in East Africa mainly focusing on human rights, social justice and protection of women’s rights.

Mutunga interacted with many women and helped encourage them to upscale their call for recognition.

Projects He approved funding to projects that were aimed at liberating and creating change among women in the grassroots level and entrusting them with leadership.

He has authored a number of widely published articles, the rights of detainees, the role of NGOs and civil society in democratization, the constitutional rights of Kenya’s nomad pastoralists, and the rights of tenants.

Even when a case was sent to the Supreme Court to determine the two thirds principle, Mutunga was the only one in the Bench who supported its immediate enactment.

Mutunga is the only one who held a dissenting view and proposed the immediate realisation of the principle.

PICTURE: Kenyan Woman Correspondent.

The late Mutula Kilonzo, then as Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs in a past function. Kilonzo played a key role in the enactment of the new constitution that gave women powers that had not been seen since independence. PICTURE: FILE In its majority view, the Supreme Court noted that the passage of legislation to redress an injustice is a process that must run over time, given the need to conduct studies and develop legislative proposals.

Another notable man who supported of women’s walk to attaining gender equality and empowerment is the late Dr. Oki Ooko Ombaka. He worked with various international organisations for the furtherance of human rights, gender and development issues. He edited Women and Law in Kenya with Mary Mbeo which notes: “Although the law in Kenya is discriminatory in its application to the sexes, it gives women some rights but most women are not aware of them. The immediate problem is, therefore, not the absence or inadequacy of legal rights but the lack of awareness. Women form more than half of the adult population in Kenya but many are suffering discrimination and abuse.”Another book that is tied to Ombaka “Women and Property Rights in Kenya”, gives a reflection of women’s

championed constitutional changes that led to women’s gains in the new laws.

Ombaka’s writings can be said to have helped shape the constitutional making process in support of creating room for gender equality. During the debates, references were made from his works that led to the change of attitude of men in adopting what women negotiators proposed.

ChiefJustice Dr Willy Mutunga.

PICTURE: FILE property ownership.

At the time of his death, Ombaka was the first vice-chairperson of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC), the body that

Ombaka was involved in public interest law projects through the provision of legal aid, legal policy research focusing on human and civil rights governance, environmental, and consumer protection. He pioneered human rights non-governmental organisations when civil space was limited and was instrumental in the setting up of various human rights organisations in Kenya.

Recognition Cyprian Nyamwamu, Chief Executive Officer of the National Convention Executive Council (NCEC), an

organisation that is credited for engaging the Kenyan government during President Moi’s era for constitutional reforms has managed to steer the organisation into championing for the rights of men and women.

NCEC through mass action was able to force the regime to initiate dialogue with the opposition and civil society groups.

Nyamwamu’s contribution helped in demystifying the state and its forms of violence and proving what it could carve under pressure. Through Nyamwamu’s contributions NCEC emerged as the only civil society movement to sincerely expose the regime’s dishonesty and disinterest in initiating constitutional changes that would lead to women’s empowerment.

These few men made it possible through their own contributions to have a constitution that had provisions in favour of women. They helped lure several men in joining women for the fight for their rights.

Kenyan women have not been able to break the glass ceiling in political leadership

By Joyce Chimbi

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hile there are many women who have been willing to take on political leadership, the society has not been as receptive. Not even the gender progressive laws have made the going easier for women in politics.

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

Article 81 (b) stipulates that not more than two thirds of members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender.

Articles 177 (b) and 197 states that the two thirds gender principle must apply in both County Assemblies and County Executive Committees.

Currently parliament has a paltry 68 female MPs in the 349 members of the National Assembly which is way below the 30 percent requirement.

According to figures by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the 2013 General Election, out of the 197 women who vied for a National Assembly seat, only 16 made it to parliament. This is in comparison to 1,908 men who vied for the same position and 274 were elected.

The 16 women who were elected represent a paltry 12 percent of the total number of women who vied for a National Assembly seat. Women now account for a mere five percent in the National Assembly.

Article 27 (6) demands that the state take legislative and other measures including affirmative action programmes and policies to redress any disadvantage suffered by individuals or groups because of past discrimination.

Struggle

At the county representative contest, 623 vied for the position and only 77 of them were elected. This represents 12 per cent of women who contested at the ward level. The same position attracted 9,287 men contestants, where 1,393 were elected.

But Kenyan women are not in this battle alone, the same trend can be seen across the continent with a few disparities. In a bid to improve women representation in political leadership, African countries have three main quota systems namely the Constitutional quotas, Election law quotas and the political party quotas. Some countries, including Kenya, Burkina Faso and Uganda, have constitutional provisions reserving seats in national parliament for women.

While a number of women eyed and vied for the Senate position, none of them got in. At the gubernatorial level, only six women vied for the post against 2,301 men contestants. None of them were elected. Only one woman contested in Presidential race against seven men and performed dismally.

Election law quotas are written into national legislation, as is the case with Sudan while in the case of political party quotas, parties adopt internal rules to include a certain percentage of women as candidates for office. This is the case with the governing parties in South Africa and Mozambique.

In Tanzania, women account for 36 percent of representation in Parliament. Tanzania adopted a system where every political party which contests for Parliamentary elections must propose and submit to the electoral Commission names of eligible women candidates for nomination as Members of Parliament for “Women Special Seats” as stipulated in the Elections Regulations 2010, Article 67 (1).

As at January 2012, there were 350 members in the National Assembly of whom 126 are women.

Seven additional members can be appointed by the President. Of the 126 women, 21 are directly elected from constituencies, 102 elected under special seats for women, two (of a total of five) from Zanzibar and one is appointed as Attorney General.

In Uganda, women representation stands at 35 percent. The Parliament of Uganda is comprised as follows: 238 Constituency Representatives; 112 District Women Representatives, previously indirectly elected but since 2006 elected by all voters on a special ballot in each district for women candidates only; 10 Uganda People’s Defence Forces Representatives of whom two must be women. Five youth representatives of whom one must be a woman, five representatives of persons with disabilities of whom one must be a woman and five representatives of workers of whom one must be a woman.

In South Africa and Mozambique, women hold 30 per cent of the seats in Parliament. These two countries have met the international threshold.

Women’s representation in national parliaments across sub-Saharan Africa equals the world average of about 15 per cent.The Frelimo Party in Mozambique has used gender quotas since 1994. The party’s policy requires that 40 per cent of candidates to National Assembly and local government should be women. In addition, the quota system was accompanied by a commitment to balance the distribution of men and women through the list. Currently Frelimo holds 191 seats of a total of 250 seats in the national assembly.

In Burundi, women representation stands at 30.5 per cent, the gender rule is entrenched in Article 164 of the 2004 Constitution which assigns a 30 percent quota for women in Parliament.

Article 38 (3) of the electoral code stipulates that lists must take account of the gender balance,” and Article 147 demands that “One in four candidates must be a woman”.Although the figures are still low, gender and political experts contend that Africa is headed in the right direction.

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

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Women representation beyond numbers With no funds to support development, county women representatives walking the tight rope, writes Jane Godia

single constituencies that were there before devolution. This has left the women county representatives without any resources through which they can meet the election pledges they made to the electorate.

Ghati notes that they are facing double discrimination. “The Constitution recognises women county representatives as MPs, yet when it comes to funding, it is the single constituency MP who finds funds ready and the women representatives have nothing.”

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Parliament in session. PICTURE: FILE women caucus to support the female members of parliament deliver what was envisioned as the benefit of their presence on the august House corridors,” notes Nyaundi.

This is echoed by Joyce Emanikor, Turkana County Member of Parliament who observes that numbers are adding value as women are now visible and able to talk when they can.

Intervention

However, the big question is whether the numbers are adding any value, one year after the General Election?

Ghati notes: “To realise one third of commitment to women was a good start having come through affirmative action.”

Her sentiments are echoed by Patricia Nyaundi,

The rise of female leaders in Africa is a hugely positive statement of the direction Africa is headed to. Some of the women who have risen to the top include:

President Catherine Samba Panza Catherine Samba-Panza is the interim president of the Central African Republic and she is the first woman to hold the position.

Born on June 26th, 1954 in Fort Lamy, French Equatorial Africa, prior to becoming president, Samba-Panza served as the mayor of Bangui, capital city of Central African Republic. She was sworn in as interim president on January 23, 2014.

She adds: “The President failed to give a proper directive on Uwezo Fund. He should have directed that as Jubilee, the, members in the august House needed to support the fund to be managed by the women County Representatives.”

Today there are about 86 women in the National Assembly and Senate following the March 4, 2013 General Election. These numbers look great and are indeed an achievement not only to the womenfolk, but the country at large.

This is echoed by Dennitah Ghati, Migori County Member of Parliament, who notes that progress has been made to recognise that women can do something.

A

frica has seen a rise in the number of women leadership position in recent years. The continent has evolved from a place where women were only seen as only

“Uwezo Fund was fought for by women County Members of Parliament, yet the men fought and voted for it to go to single constituencies,” Emanikor explains.

Impact

Achievements

good enough for household chores to an era where women hold the top most job of the country.

By Hellen Kivaya

According to Emanikor, there is no value women are adding if men are going to use their numbers to fight against women because everything is subjected to voting.

It was through the women’s movement that efforts were consciously made towards ensuring and enhancing the participation of women in the electoral process. Through these efforts, the affirmative action was entrenched in the Constitution of Kenya that was promulgated in Kenya on August 28, 2010. One of the key gains was the increased number of women to the National Assembly. This was brought about by Article 97 (1) (b) which states that the “National Assembly consists of 47 women, each elected by the registered voters of the counties, each county constituting a single member constituency”.

She adds: “The women leaders are pushing gender issues faster and referring them to the relevant authorities for address.”

Africa’s great women have made history

Ghati poses: “How are people going to benchmark and evaluate women’s representatives’ work when we have less than four years to go?”

The increased number of political parties opened more possibilities for participation by women.

However, although women registered alongside men in the emerging parties, they were conspicuously missing from the top party leadership. They also failed to capture the various political constituency seats. In 1992, 19 women were nominated by political parties to contest the elections but only six won and one was nominated.

“First and foremost with the many women leaders, there is greater and wider representation of women’s issues in the houses. Generally most of the women leaders are more approachable by members of the public as such the real gender issues are clearly known to them,” says Wamaitha.

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She reiterates: “As a County Member of Parliament, I have eight constituencies and 40 wards in Migori, while a single constituency MP has only four wards, and in some cases seven at the most.”

he reintroduction of multiparty politics in 1991 significantly changed the political situation in the country. It expanded space to accommodate various interest groups, and women soon became vocal pressure groups lobbying for gender equity and social justice, especially in political representation.

According to Millicent Wamaitha, Acting Program Coordinator Foundation for Women’s Rights in Kenya there is tangible value addition with the high number of women in the National Assembly, Senate and county assemblies.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Wamaitha argues that all these interventions entrenched in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 have resulted to an increase in the number of women in leadership positions and a higher representation of women in diverse decision making platforms.

The Constitution recognises women county representatives as MPs, yet when it comes to funding, it is the single constituency MP who finds funds ready and the women representatives have nothing denita ghati, migori county women rep.

Secretary, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights who says that numbers in the august House are important.

“We cannot slight numbers. The achievement of these numbers is something we must build on as we plan ahead. There needs to be a push by the

She notes that the gains as entrenched in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 have not only given women of Kenya a voice but have also given them assurance that they are equal to men in the eyes of the Kenyan law.

“This confidence is pushing women to increasingly participate in making decisions on issues pertaining to their families, communities, county and national governance processes,” she says.

However, the women in parliament are constrained by numbers and resources. The society is yet to acknowledge women’s leadership rights or abilities.

This is a challenge that women in the August House are facing and especially when men feel that they do not need to get any resources.

Constraints While the Constitution recognises the women county representatives as single constituencies, other institutions like the Constituency Development Fund do not recognise these constituencies held by women as legitimate to deserve a fund. The CDF is still operating under the auspices of the

This is echoed by Ghati who notes: “The Government had promised to give Uwezo Fund to women representatives but nothing is forthcoming. The President and Government needs to be serious about women. They must commit to women representatives.”

Commitment According to Ghati, women County Members of Parliament are working on a shoe string budget that comes from their salaries to meet the people’s needs. She says there is a rethinking and serious commitment needed on the part of the government.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Johnson is the President of Liberia in her second term in office. She was inaugurated in 2006 and became the world’s first elected black President and Africa’s first elected female head of state.

Born in October 29, 1938 in Monrovia, Liberia, a military coup in Liberia forced Sirleaf into exile in 1980.

A mother of four sons and six grandchildren, Sirleaf is a graduate of the college of West

Africa at Monrovia. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Madison Business College, Wisconsin. She also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Colorado and a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard University.

Samba Panza has worked both in the insurance field and as a corporate lawyer. She was active in women’s rights movement campaigning against female genital mutilation.

Since she took over leadership, peace has been restored in Liberia and the country’s economy has greatly improved to the extent that they are debt free.

“We need money because we know that a woman with any small amount of money can do wonders. Money can make a woman powerful and I think this is the fear that most men are having,” Ghati observes.

President Joyce Banda.

The Women County Members of Parliament have pushed for another bill through which they hope to get funds for activities. They have worked on the Social Development Fund Bill which they hope parliament will approve.

Banda took office on April 7, 2012 following the sudden death of President Bingu Wa Mutharika.

According to Emanikor, they had hoped to be given 1.5 per cent of the national budget, but this was slashed by the committee in charge of legislation to 0.5 per cent. “We are hoping the MPs will support this,” she says.

The Social Development Fund seeks to support areas where the women representatives say have not been catered for by the CDF. The women representatives made a conscious decision to take up areas not catered for. They are looking into projects that will support the vulnerable groups.

According to Mishi Juma, Mombasa County Member of Parliament, the Social Development Fund bill “will cater for social issues like disability, drugs, youth, and women.

Joyce Hilda Banda was born on April 12, 1950 in Malemia, Malawi. She became Africa’s second female president and Malawi’s first female but forth president.

Banda holds a certificate from Cambridge School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education from Columbus University. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Gender Studies from Atlantic International University USA and a Diploma in Management of Non-Governmental Organisations from International Labour Organisation Centre in Turin, Italy.

Banda’s success has inspired her to help other women achieve financial independence and break the cycles of abuse of poverty.

She is the founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation which seeks to provide better education for Malawian children and orphans.

She is the founder of the National Association of Business Women in Malawi that was established in 1990 with the main objective of lifting women out of poverty by strengthening their capacity and empowering them economically.

Banda is considered a champion of women, children and underprivileged. She was hailed as one of Africa’s most powerful women by Forbes magazine.

Aminata Toure Aminata was born October, 12 1962.

She became Prime Minister of Senegal from September 1, 2013. She is the second female prime minister of Senegal after Mame Madior Boye.

Dubbed the iron lady for her tough stance on corruption, Toure served as Justice Minister from 2012-2013 until her appointment as prime minister.

Toure has worked with the United Nations population Fund. At the UNFPA, Toure was chief of the Gender Human Rights and Culture. She has also worked with women rights in her previous position.

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hile Africa boasts of these women, Latin America records the highest number of female heads of state. Some of the female presidents in Latin America are;

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Michelle Bachelet — Chile

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Dilma Vana Rousseff — Brazil

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Laura Chinchilla — Costa Rica

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Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner — Argentina

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Mireya Moscoso — Panama (1999-2004)

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Rosalia Arteaga — Interim President of Ecuador (1997)

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Violeta Chamorro — Nicaragua (1990-1997)

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Lidia Gueiler Tejada — Interim president of Bolivia. (1979-1980)

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Isabel Peron —Argentina (1974-1976). She was also the first woman president in Latin America.

Since the 1970s, eight of the 29 women elected as presidents in the world have come from Latin America or the Caribbean.

America has the world’s highest regional average of women in the lower houses on congress. It’s about 20 per cent.

A series of quota laws in certain countries have guaranteed that, women at least at the national level, will be in the running for political positions.

Argentina was the first country to put in place the quotas when in the early 1990s it established a law mandating that 30 per cent of the legislative candidates be female. Bolivia, Costa Rica and Ecuador soon followed with laws indicating that every other candidate on a political party’s election list must be a woman.

Leadership is a skill that can be learnt by women if they know where to look.

Women should start early, set goals you identify with and network. Women should always have clear plans and course to follow for them to make it through. Reaching out to people to know your ideas is quite important to boost yourself.

“Do not be afraid to denounce injustice, though you may be outnumbered. Do not be afraid to seek peace, even if your voice may be small. Do not be afraid to demand peace,” Sirleaf once said to encourage women.

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No relenting in the fight to empower women in Busia

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

MARCH 8, 2014

By Gilbert Ochieng

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omen who were nominated to the Busia County Assembly have unanimously agreed in one accord to utilise every opportunity to push for introduction and enactment of a law that will effectively deal with violence against women.

According to Rachael Omolo, they have managed to come together and put in place what they referred to as “Women Caucus” whose main objective is to enlighten and encourage women at all levels to come out and vie for various leadership positions.

“The major purpose behind the formation of the women caucus is to carry out a marathon sensitization forums at the grassroots level through churches and chiefs’ barazas so that our fellow women can be able to shed off the ageold traditional belief that a woman’s place is in the kitchen,” explains Omolo.

She says they have also served the Speaker of Busia County Assembly with a memo asking to be provided with an office within the assembly as well as a customer care desks in respective ward offices where matters pertaining to women can be effectively addressed.

A mind shift among spouses should also be encouraged so as to give full support besides embracing the changing role of women in homes.

Rachael Omolo, a nominated member of the Busia County Assembly

Groups The female county assembly members want women to benefit from the KSh10 million allocated by the Busia County Government to each ward to cater for development activities.

“I have managed to organise a fundraiser for various women’s groups assisted by my counterparts to enable them engage in various income generating interventions that would help improve on their standards of living,” says

Rachael Omolo, a nominated member of the Busia County Assembly. She has been very vocal in the formation of the Women Caucus in the county which seeks to enlighten and encourage women at all levels to come out and vie for various leadership positions. PICTURE: FILE

Omolo.

The women leaders have also encouraged those in their areas to register with the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) so that they can comfortably cater for their medical bills.

Omolo, who is also the chairperson of Poverty Eradication for Development Organisation (PEDO) says there is urgent need to fight the high level poverty being experienced in Busia which currently standards at 68 per cent.

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he performance of women legislators in the first session of the 11th Parliament as far as moving motions is concerned is nothing to shout home about.

According to the Hansard and the official motion tracker of the National Assembly, only 19 women MPs moved a motion or seconded one by their male colleagues last year from a list of 145.

The 19 were led by Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso, who doubles as the Sotik MP, Nairobi

Women County representative Rachel Shebesh and Priscilla Nyokabi Kinyua (Nyeri), Florence Kajuju (Meru) and Grace Nyasuna Wanga (Homa Bay) as well as Nominated MP Amina Abdallah.

the proceedings of the august House while the motions’ tracker provides an overview of the current status of all motions before Parliament.

Others were Kitui South MP Rachel Nyamai; County Women’s Representatives Sabina Chege (Muranga), Joyce Emanikor (Turkana), Mishi Juma (Mombasa) Halima Ware Duri (Tana River) and Susan Musyoka (Machakos). There is also Sarah Paulata Korero who is a nominated MP.

Members

The Hansard is the official verbatim report of

Parliament has 349 MPs, 290 were elected in constituencies and 47 women were elected in the counties while 12 were nominated by political parties.

In the Senate, there are 67 members, 47 of them were elected, 16 women were nominated and

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Road to gender equality riddled with hurdles

She says stakeholders from all sectors of the County’s economy should allocate resources that will be utilised to empower women economically considering the pivotal role they play in society.

“The women of Busia County need capacity building and training in functional areas such as finance, literacy, marketing, production and managerial skills among others,” says Omolo.

She adds: “A mind shift among spouses should also be encouraged so as to give full support besides embracing the changing role of women in homes.”

Women parliamentarians in deep consultations after a meeting.

Women in the National Assembly are not in decision making bodies.

The women county assembly members have managed to remain focused on what needs to be addressed in Busia. They are already planning on peace building activities for women in and out of the County assembly.

“As legislators we will come up with a motion aimed at bettering the living standards of women in Busia County and once we register our association we shall work with partners and donors to facilitate most of our activities,” she says.

Out of 35 wards in Busia County, only Bukhayo West ward elected a woman who was given chair in one of the committees.

two seats were reserved for the youth and also for people with disabilities. There are 18 women who were nominated to the Senate.

Half of the committees in the Senate are chaired by women namely Zipporah Kittony (Health, Labour and Social Welfare); Dulo Fatuma Aden (National Security and Foreign Affairs; Judith Sijeny (Delegated Legislation); Daisy Kanainza (Implementation); Martha Wangari (Devolved Government) and Adille Halima Mohamud (Education, Information and Technology).

The report also notes that women do not have access to business information and opportunities to fully benefit from international trade since most businesses are small and informal. Registration of small companies is still costly, rigid, and based only in major urban areas such as Nairobi and therefore discouraging to women. However, men and women’s equal participation and engagement is paramount for this to be achieved.

Challenges

Achievements

However, they are faced with several challenges among them going into the Assembly late following the prolonged court cases in various political parties. By the time they were sworn in, all key positions had already been filled up.

Access

The report notes that the low participation of women in productive employment activities in major sectors in Kenya can be attributed to factors that curtail women’s mobility in the labour market due the constraining nature of occupations where domestic responsibilities cannot be easily combined with economic activity.

“The public sector and formal financial organisations should be sensitised on the value of gender balanced participation in the informal sector enterprises,” explains Omolo. She adds: “A major goal should be to promote the social and economic empowerment of women as they constitute a vulnerable social category that is critical in sustainable development endeavours,” she says.

The women members of Busia County Assembly have already identified viable income generating projects that would help improve on the living standards of women.

to property ownership, land rights and gender inequalities. Women make up nearly 50 per cent of all owners of micro and small enterprises (SMEs) and 40 percent of smallholder farm managers, but access less than 10 per cent of available credit and less than one percent of agricultural credit.

There is no boundary for gender equality. It is equality in every respect, economically, socially and politically. For Kenya to achieve gender equality it should spread across the board and not be limited to politics.

Omolo notes that access to credit by women entrepreneurs at the level of micro and small-scale enterprises should be facilitated through innovative programmes and financing arrangements that go beyond the conventional approach which require collateral and capital among other conditions.

Latest scorecard of women’s performance

By Odhiambo Orlale

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

PICTURE: KENYAN WOMAN CORRESPONDENT

By Jane Godia

J

ust a year short of the deadline set for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, reports indicate that all is not well.

One of the goals to be attained through the Millennium Development Goals was to promote gender equality and empower women.

Gender equality refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female.

Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognising the diversity of different groups of women and men.

Development Gender equality is not a women’s issue but should concern and fully engage men as well as women.

Equality between women and men is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centred development.

Empowering women, on the other hand, means increased appreciation for and understanding of

women’s pivotal role in the development process and have these reflected in national goals and priorities.

Empowering women is also an indispensable tool for advancing development and reducing poverty.

Empowered women contribute to the health and productivity of whole families and communities and to improved prospects for the next generation.

The target towards achieving gender equality and empowering women is in ensuring that gender discrimination in education is eliminated and that there is an increased number of women in nonagricultural employment.

According to Patricia Nyaundi, Commission Secretary Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, “gender equality refers to equal treatment and recognition of all gender in all spheres of life.

It is an acknowledgement of the inherent value of all individuals and Kenya has progressed well in terms of legal recognition of this.

Nyaundi states: “We have a robust constitution that has as one of its pillars the promotion of gender equality and a commitment to improve the status of women. There are sector specific gains like the increased enrolment of girls in schools.”

Representation She adds: “However, to ensure that we fully attain these deliberate steps as has been made at

political level, representation must be made at all decision making levels.”

The 2014 Kenya report on Millennium Development Goals indicates that there has been an increased number of girls being enrolled at the first stages of education. The numbers indicate that in 2011, there were 1,194,518 girls compared to boys at 1,175,000 boys at early childhood centres. However, at the primary school level things changed and there were more boys (4,979,700) than girls (4,880,200). There are 86 girls for every 100 boys enrolled while tertiary and college education stand at 94 girls for every 100 boys. This trend declines as they progress to institutions of higher learning such as university level with fewer girls compared to boys. The report notes that a key challenge is girls’ low enrolment in science, technology and mathematics, which then constrain their uptake of non-agricultural employment in science and technical areas.

These are the subjects that can enable women take up wage employment in areas that are nonagricultural.

According to the Kenya Economic Survey 2013, between 2011-2012, the key sectors driving the economy are agriculture and forestry; wholesale and retail trade; transport and communication; manufacturing and construction. These are areas where women are largely unrepresented due to myriad challenges including those related

Another constraining factor could be limited access to required skills especially during the undertaking of education and training programmes. Cultural stereotypes about women’s aptitudes, skills and dispositions, and reproductive responsibilities could also work to hinder women’s participation in some production sectors.

According to Millicent Wamaitha, acting Programme Coordinator Foundation for Women’s Rights fighting for political survival is a reality in the political field noting that Kenyan politicians have perfected the art of political survival, and this also affects the fight for gender equality.

“Once a leader is elected or appointed to a leadership position they begin strategizing on how they can protect their positions ‘like it is their heritage’,” she states.

Wamaitha notes un-principled leaders often gang up to vote out legislation seeking to entrench gender equity at policy levels. “The leaders engage in such acts to gain acceptance with fellow leaders and members of the public who are opposed gender equality,” she reiterates.

“Other leaders particularly men continue to corrupt their way to leadership positions through voter bribery. This results to elimination of many qualified women contestants due to corrupt leaders who are only seeking political survival,” Wamaitha observes.

Resources She adds: “Realistically most women embrace honesty and do not even have finances to fund their campaigns let alone bribe voters. There is hence need for the relevant authorities to put stringent measures to curb this malpractice which could surely kill the fight for gender equality in Kenya particularly in securing leadership positions which is viewed by many as men’s domain.”

However, Wamaitha argues for so long participation and representation of women in leadership and decision making platforms in Kenya has been feeble, the entrenchment of affirmative action on gender equity spelled out in Article 27(8) increased the chances for women to participate more in decision making position in the country .

The article states that: “The state shall take legislative and

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Road to gender equality riddled with hurdles <<from page 11

other measures to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender”.

Wamaitha notes that this article has resulted to appointment and nomination of women in public leadership positions as the not more than two thirds of same gender representation threshold has to be met.

Case in point is the 2013 General Elections where women had to be nominated in the county assemblies to fulfil the threshold constitutional requirement.

“This is a wake-up call to Kenyan voters to vote for women in subsequent elections failure to which they will continue carrying the burden of paying salaries to the large number of honorable members who of course include the nominated women members,” Wamaitha states.

Regulations She notes that the Political parties Act 2012 requires that all political parties meet the not more than two thirds of the same gender representation threshold in parties leadership and nomination lists. “This demands that women are incorporated in the political parties’ leadership.”

The Elections Act 2012 has outlawed election offences and spelt out strict penalties against culprits. “This is a step in the right direction in encouraging more women to step out of their cocoon and vie for leadership positions without fear of election violence which is usually meted on women aspirants by their male contestants forcing many of them to drop out of the race prematurely,” Wamaitha states.

Realistically,

achievement

of

inadequate recognition of the Deputy Governor’s office. This has forced me to work twice as hard to ensure visibility of my office and influence over decisions in significant political matters.

Gender equality and empowerment of women particularly in this patriarchal Kenyan society is a process that will take time for it involves changing of people’s attitudes and mind-set.

Adelina Mwau who is the Deputy Governor, Makueni County. Mwau doubles up as the treasurer of the newly established network of women Deputy Governors dubbed Kenya Network of Women Governors.

Implementation However, the Kenyan government has made tremendous steps towards achieving this goal as evidenced by the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and other relevant legislations. All that is required now is for the relevant institutions to implement the constitution and other legislation in letter and spirit in order to protect and promote Gender equality and women empowerment in Kenya.

The MDG report notes that in the public arena, the Government put in place a policy requiring all public institutions reserve 30 per cent of all new appointments and promotions for women. As a result the number of women has been increasing from (32.4 per cent) 2008 to (38 per cent) in 2012.

However placement of women in senior decision making positions in the public service remains tilted in favour of men. Women’s employment remains either within the traditional female occupations or within the domestic and farming sectors all too often as casual/ unskilled workers.

Of significance is the new Government decision to appoint six women out of 18 cabinet secretaries to powerful dockets which include; Defence, Devolution and Planning, Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Environment Water and Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism.

The Government has also supported programmes towards the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 through the development of the National Action Plan with clear recognition of the importance of equal participation of women in peace and security processes, and the mainstreaming of gender in humanitarian action.

We have a robust constitution that has as one of its pillars the promotion of gender equality and a commitment to improve the status of women. There are sector specific gains like the increased enrolment of girls in schools.

Patricia Nyaundi, Commission Secretary Kenya National Commission on Human Rights

Women leaders pictured during a previous event.

The glaring gender gap has continued to define the political landscape in the country. PICTURE: RUTH OMUKHANGO

PICTURE: COURTESY

Women urged to be vigilant to bridge inequalities

By Jill Anne Anami

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he journey towards gender equality remains long and winding. Despite the Constitution granting women the right of representation at decision making levels, this has not helped to resolve gender inequalities.

This became clear during the launch of FIDA Strategic Plan where participants engaged in a heated debate over the lacklustre treatment of women and their issues since the Constitution was promulgated on August 28, 2010, more than two years ago.

According to Winnie Lichuma, chairperson National Gender and Equality Commission, women have continued to be largely absent from relevant decision making bodies.

Lichuma urged civil society organisations to remain vigilant especially in ensuring that the not more than two thirds principle is observed at all levels of decision

making.

Discrimination She cited the recent appointments of the 26 chairpersons to various boards of state corporations and parastatals by the President which contravened the gender principle as envisaged in the constitution.

“With these examples, there is need for women to engage, Lichuma said noting “nice girls do not sit in corner offices. They sit on the discussion tables”.

According to Lichuma, Kenyans are looking for people who can defend their rights yet there is so much happening where women need to be engaged.

She challenged FIDA to be vigilant so as to denounce injustices that occur in the country.

In addition, she said that the organization together with other

gender and human right activists should be able to challenge Members of Parliament to support bills that seek to increase women participation at all levels.

Represenation This was reiterated by Christine Ochieng, Executive Director FIDA who observed that women are side-lined in national and local governments.

Currently, the representation of women in the government falls short of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number three on promoting gender equality and women empowerment.

Article 27(8) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 states that, “the state shall take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive body heads shall be of the same gender”.

However, a Gender Audit of the General Election held on March 4,

Nine women at the helm as deputy governors

By Odhiambo Orlale

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he last General Election saw nine women who were running mates to governors take up their positions as deputy governors.

Although the nine may sound like a drop in the ocean considering that there are 47 Governors, they have at least made it to the management of county governments.

Coast and Eastern provinces are proud of having the lion’s share of women leaders who made it as deputy governors in the last General Election.

Out of the nine women leaders who were honoured with that coveted seat, three are from Coast region and another three from Eastern region.

Despite the gender principle embraced and enshrined in the Constitution, none of the 47 Counties in the country elected a woman as a Governor.

That was even after an aggressive sensitization and affirmative action campaigns carried out at the national and grassroots level across the country.

The supreme law states that the governor’s post is an elective while the deputy is appointed by the winner of the gubernatorial race, who must name the same person as his or her

running mate. There are 38 male deputy governors The Deputy Governors Forum is chaired by Everlyn Aruasa who represents Narok County.

From the Coast are Hazel Katana (Mombasa), Fatuma Mohamed Achani (Kwale) and Mary Ndiga Kibuka (Taita Taveta).

The other three are from Eastern region namely Dorothy Nditi (Embu); Peninah Malonza (Kitui) and Adelina Mwau (Makueni).

The others two are Susan Chepkoech Kikwai (Kericho) and Ruth Odinga (Kisumu.

Adelina Mwau Makueni Deputy Governor remains a woman for all seasons

By Odhiambo Orlale

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mong the nine women Deputy Governors in the country, Adelina Mwau is the most politically seasoned among

them, thanks to her five-year stint as an Assistant Minister and Nominated MP. The Makueni Deputy Governor is a former gender programme officer with Oxfam Kenya, and was at the forefront with fellow women leaders in mainstreaming gender in the new Constitution under the Ufungamano Initiative.

Mwau doubles up as the treasurer of the newly established network of women Deputy Governors dubbed ‘Kenya Network of Women Governors’.

Mwau hit the ground running after her swearingin as a Nominated MP, by President Kibaki’s Narc party in 2003, where she joined her fellow female colleagues like Martha Karua, Charity Ngilu, Beth Mugo, Njoki Ndung’u and Nyiva Mwendwa among others to promote the gender-agenda in legislation, policy formulation and budget-making.

In her wealth of experience, Mwau served as founder and Board Member of the Coalition on Violence against Women (COVAW), Kenya Women Political Alliance and Institute for Social Transformation in Uganda among others.

During her stint as an Assistant Minister for Labour and Human Resource Development, Mwau served as a member of Public Accounts Committee, where she worked behind the scenes with her colleagues to promote the engendering of bills, motions and budget-making process in the ninth Parliament.

The following are excerpts of a recent interview with her on the challenges she is facing in Makueni County under Prof Kivutha Kibwana.

Question: Who are your local role models and mentors, and how did they

help you?

Answer: My mother tops the list of my mentors.

She is a former nominated councillor of Kilungu District. Others include the late Nobel Laureate Prof Wangari Maathai as well as Prof Wanjiku Kabira and Prof Judith Mbula Bahemuka of the Institute of Development Studies, Martha Karua and all the women in the women’s movement.

They exposed me to leadership and prepared me for political battles. The lessons learnt from their experiences and struggles taught me to respect and appreciate women. They also made me realise that nobody gives you power, you just take it.

Question: When did you plunge into politics?

Answer: It was in 2002, when former President Mwai Kibaki’s administration came to power under National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). In 2003, I was nominated as a Member of Parliament and later appointed as an Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Management.

Question: Since you took over the management of Makueni County as deputy governor, what are your major achievements and challenges so far?

Answer: I was nominated for the Award of OGW (Order of the Golden Warrior) by the Devolution and Planning Ministry. I am spearheading a project that seeks to address menstruation management and hygiene practices in rural public primary and secondary schools.

The project is aimed at ensuring that girls from poor families have access to sanitary towels and underwear. Besides, my office is liaising with various stakeholders and donors to support

construction of girl-friendly toilets in schools.

I am also working with colleagues to advocate for Affirmative Action and tow third gender representation in all processes within Makueni County. I am actively involved in engendering county budgets and the County Assembly.

Others activities are in advocacy, lobbying and community awareness on gender, adult education, reproductive health, human rights and development issues in addition to continuous education and awareness creation on devolution as well as opportunities available for women, youth and people with disabilities through the tendering process. We are also encouraging formation of groups in order to benefit from above.

Question: What have been your challenges Deputy Governor?

Answer: Lack of clear definition of the roles of a Deputy Governor and inadequate visibility of the Deputy Governor’s office due to lack of gender sensitive media coverage.

Question: What are the functions of a DG and how have you carried them out?

Why are the women deputy governors not visible?

Answer: There is lack of specific functions for the deputy governors including a well-structured job description. In most of the counties, deputy governors have largely been overshadowed by governors thus remaining in the background and only venturing in public when performing delegated duties.

Question: How was the media treating you before your appointment and has it changed now that you have a big high profile office?

Answer: The Kenyan media still continues to perpetuate the culture of male dominance in politics by failing to accord both male and female leaders equal coverage. There is need for increased coverage in various print and electronic media as this will increase visibility of women deputy governors.

Question: As one of the nine women deputy governors, how does it feel working in a male dominated environment and making an impact?

Answer: I have encountered challenges due to

Question: As a member of the D Governors’ Forum, what impact, if any, has it made to lobby your issues at the national level? What is your agenda for this year?

Answer: We have filed a petition at the Supreme Court demanding that the Senate amends the County Government Act so as to clearly define our roles.

We are also demanding that the Supreme Court gives a constitutional interpretation regarding the impeachment of a deputy governor.

Our forum has gained recognition so far through wide media coverage which has given it visibility and this has encouraged debates and dialogue among citizens on the role of deputy governors.

Question: So many women and girls are looking up to you for inspiration.

What can you share with them as far as leadership is concerned?

Answer: To pursue their dreams that they can be whatever they want to become if they concentrate on their education by working hard, setting goals and focusing on achieving them so that they can live better lives and become powerful and influential leaders in the future.

Question: What would you like to see being done to commemorate the International Women’s Day locally and internationally?

Answer: Recognition of exemplary women or heroines who have stood out and touched lives of others in the community. Celebrate economic, political and social achievements of women.

Increase media coverage on the need to empower women in economic, social and political spheres.

I would also like to see the revival of women’s movement in Makueni County with a key focus on the women’s agenda and the cooperative movement for women.

There is need to emphasise on visibility of women’s roles in all sectors in addition to an increased understanding of devolution and opportunities available for women including the benefits of devolution to both women and men.

Question: The Constitution has embraced affirmative action which the Supreme ruled would be implemented gradually in the National Assembly within the next five years and not immediately as had been expected by the women’s movement, do you have a comment?

Answer: Kenyan women are slowly but surely breaking the barriers that have so long hindered their effective participation in politics and decision-making. Affirmative action will help solve the gender disparity that has been in existence for many years. If fully embraced, women’s representation in politics and in key decisionmaking positions is likely to improve.

Question: Is it being implemented in your county, if not, why not?

Answer: Women in Makueni County are determined to use affirmative action to negotiate for space and visibility. However, women still have miles to go before they can sleep.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

MARCH 8, 2014

MARCH 8, 2014

Bringing women to the top makes economic sense However, with efforts from the women’s movement calling for gender equality in all levels of decision making, more women are now ascending to positions of leadership and decision-making.

The law now compels appointing bodies to abide by the two thirds gender rule as outlined in Article 232 (1) (i) which calls for values and principles in public service to “affording adequate and equal opportunities for appointment, training and advancement at all levels of public service of men and women; members of all ethnic groups; and persons with disabilities”.

A study conducted by the Grant Thornton International in 2008 reveals that women still hold less than a quarter of the senior management positions in privately held businesses globally.

This translates to 24 per cent of senior management positions, a figure that is identical to 2007 with a marginal improvement from 2004 when only 19 per cent of senior level positions were held by women.

Study A similar study by the Business Women’s Association in South Africa found out that since 2005 there has been a steady increase in the number of women serving as directors from 10.7 percent to 11.5 per cent.

Other studies have shown that the environment for women in senior roles improves when a third of leaders at that level are female. It also indicates that when a critical mass of 30 per cent or more are women at board level or in senior management organisations produce the best financial results.

An analysis by the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) reveals that there are a total of 1,091 board seats for state corporations and 449 in listed companies. Women account for only 20 per cent in state corporations and 12 per cent in listed companies.

This is despite the fact that women make up 50 percent of the total Kenyan population.

Success There are many success stories for women in corporate sector in Kenya. Some of them include:

• Tabitha Karanja — Chief Executive Officer at Keroche industry.

• Caroline Ndung’u — Marketing Director at East African Breweries Limited.

• Dorothy Ooko — Communications Manager, East and Francophone Africa, Google.

• Mary Barra — CEO, General Motors.

• Gina Din Kariuki — Founder and the

• Angela Mwirigi — Director, Marketing and Communications, Kenya Commercial Bank.

Barra served as an Executive Director of Vehicle Manufacturing Engineering of General Motors Corporation (now Motors Liquidation Company) until July 2009.

• Suzanne Kilolo — Investor Relations Manager, Safaricom.

• Agnes Wahito — Supply Planning and Inbound Logistics Manager, Unilever East and Southern Africa.

• Maggie Ireri — Managing Director, IPSOS Synovate.

• Esther Kagiri — Managing Director, Globe Track International.

• Lois Akoth — Head of Legal Affairs, Telkom Kenya.

Benefits There are organisational advantages in integrating women in leadership since “we share differences in attitudes, interests and experiences”. The presence of women in boards can help enrich board discussions as new perspectives and ways of solving problems are brought on the table. This affects the overall performance and profitability of an enterprise.

Kenya should borrow a leaf from Rwanda, which has done much in ensuring gender parity. It has been found that companies where gender parity is applied are more influential in the economy.

For instance, Norway has made huge strides towards gender justice in corporate governance.

It is the first country to have introduced a quota system for women on company boards. The system which was introduced in 2003 has helped to increase the level of women representation to 40 per cent with companies that failed to comply being sanctioned.

The Norwegian experience reveals that a quota is the key to successful implementation as it not only creates pressure for fundamental change in appointments but it also triggers public debate on gender equality in the wider society.

Getting women in the boardroom is not just about better representation at the top, it is not just about bringing a more colourful and construct outlook into the boardroom but it makes economic sense.

It is one of East Africa’s leading providers of payTV, broadband internet and VoIP services. In 2011, the company raised $57.5 million (KSH48.87 billion) in growth capital from a group of international investors.

She served as Vice President of Global Human Resources at General Motors Company from July 30, 2009 to February 1, 2011.

• Agatha Gikunda — Head of Applications, Services and Developer Ecosystems, Nokia East Africa.

Although talents are distributed evenly among men and women, male dominance in company boards leads to underutilisation of women’s skills.

N

She served as Senior Vice President of Global Product Development at General Motors Company since February 1, 2011 and served as its Chief of Product Development.

• Elizabeth Njeri — Head of Legal, Google, Sub-Saharan Africa.

This list shows how women have risen to top leadership positions in boardrooms. Women now hold top positions and show good governance and decision making at their work.

jeri Rionge is the co-founder of the internet service provider Wananchi Online that has since been transformed into Wananchi Group Holdings.

Barra served as Executive Vice President of Global Product Development and Global Purchasing and Supply Chain at General Motors Company from August 2013 to January 15, 2014.

Chairperson of Gina Din Corporate Communications (GDCC).

• Sophia Mukoba — Financial Controller, British American Tobacco East Africa.

ary T. Barra has been the Chief Executive Officer of General Motors Company since January 15, 2014.

photo courtesy of PMS website

The fight for women to be included at the decision making table has come a long, and 50 years since independence Kenya is still struggling to ensure women are in decision making positions.

Njeri Rionge

Tabitha Karanja

T

abitha Karanja is the founder and chief executive officers Keroche Breweries.

Karanja founded Keroche Breweries, the first ever brewery to be owned by a Kenyan. Some of the challenges that Karanja has faced include; competition from multinationals, high taxation and meddling from high powered government officials.

Karanja has shown good resilience that has seen the business grow into a respected company.

She served as Vice President of Global Manufacturing Engineering at Motors Liquidation Company from February 1, 2008 to July 2009.

She began her career with General Motors in 1980 as a General Motors Institute (Kettering University) coop student at the Pontiac Motor Division. She has been Director of General Dynamics Corporation since March 15, 2011.

She was named one of Automotive News 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry in 2005, and 2010.

With its flagship brands, Summit Lager and Summit Malt, the brewery has proven resilience in the market.

In 2010, she also earned Kettering Alumni Association’s Management Achievement Award for her specific contributions with positive and lasting effects in the field of management.

“When Keroche commenced operations fingers were pointed at us and the rumours of theycannot-do-it was written on the faces of many who never believed a Kenyan company could penetrate a grid-tight multinational market where the end justified the means even if the means is not justifiable,” says Karanja.

Barra has been known to drive some of her company’s more racy models during weekends at the track.

Beyond the expectations of her detractors, Karanja invested in a KSh1 billion ($11.6 million) plant with the capacity of producing 6,000 half-litre bottles per hour.

Gina Din Kariuki —

Joanne Mwangi

J

oanne Mwangi is the founder and chief executive officer of Professional Marketing Services Group

Sixteen years ago, Mwangi founded Professional Marketing Services, a group that currently has five subsidiaries and a presence across the East African region.

Mwangi has steered the Professional Marketing Services Group from a small agency to a leading marketing group providing a full range of agency services, including advertising, public relations, event management, trade promotions, consumer promotions, trade merchandising and marketing strategy development.

Over the years, Professional Marketing Services has grown in size and its clients include Reckitt Benckiser, Prigat, Airbus and East African Breweries (EABL).

In 2010 Professional Marketing Services was voted number one in the Top 100 Small Micro Enterprise competition in Kenya.

Business Lounge, another of Rionge’s ventures, is helping other entrepreneurs build successful businesses. The Lounge acts as a business incubator for start-up companies and as a business club for more established firms and individuals. Rionge is also a motivational speaker and life coach.

Eva Muraya

E

va Muraya is the founder and chief executive officer of Brand Strategy and Design, a regional brand strategy development agency.

Muraya’s entry into the business world came only after a great personal tragedy, the loss of her husband.

Muraya started Colour Creations Africa Limited, a branded merchandise company. Until recently she was still the chief executive officer at Colour Creations.

Mwangi also won the Lady Entrepreneur of the Year award at the same competition sponsored by the Nation Media Group and KPMG. In 2009 she beat women entrepreneurs from 75 countries worldwide to emerge as the winner of the Organisation of Women in International Trade (OWIT) Woman of the Year award.

In addition, Muraya is an alumnus of the Legatum Pioneers of Prosperity and her business Colour Creations was a top finalist in the 2006 Africa Business Awards.

Mwangi is also the chairperson of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Associations, an organisation that seeks to create an enabling business environment for women.

An advocate of the economic empowerment of women, Muraya co-founded the Kenya Association of Women Business Owners.

She is also a chairperson to the board of the Zawadi Africa Educational Fund (Kenya), an organisation that provides scholarships for needy and academically talented girls.

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G

ina Din Kariuki started being an entrepreneur at 15 years. Her parents owned a hotel in Nanyuki and she needed to make pocket money. So, she started a disco night in the hotel.

Together with her husband, Mukherjee opened a printing supplies shop in Nairobi in the 1980s after moving to Kenya from India.

Kariuki’s focus is on making her brand an African brand.

Mukherjee has steered Software Technologies Limited from humble beginnings with just five employees to one of the largest software houses in eastern Africa with a presence in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, India and the United Arab Emirates.

In 1991 she started Software Technologies Limited (STL), one of Africa’s leading software distribution companies making hundreds of millions of Kenyan shillings in sales every year.

Her biggest impact in the industry and the person she grew most with professionally is Michael Joseph, former chief executive officer at Safaricom.

photo courtesy of Gina Din website

Rionge once said in an interview with Forbes Magazine: “I create companies serially because I believe that Africa is the next economic frontier and we must build indigenous organisations that will support this growth.”

yoti Mukherjee is the chief executive officer Software Technologies Limited.

Founder and Chairperson of Gina Din Corporate Communications

Her memorable moments include spearheading the ‘Kenyans for Kenya’ campaign which was started in July 2011. The historic initiative was in response to famine and deaths from starving Kenyans in Turkana.

Kenyans were mobilized to redound to the campaign.

Over KSh700 million was raised. Kariuki is also the Kenya Red Cross goodwill ambassador.

A typical serial entrepreneur, Rionge has over the years founded a number of successful companies. She currently runs Ignite Consulting, a firm that engages in coaching, strategy facilitation, organisational effectiveness and skills training.

Muraya has had various success stories and awards including the premier Goldman Sachs Fortune Global Leaders Award. She was also nominated to receive The International Alliance for Women (TIAW) World of Difference 100 Award.

Jyoti Mukherjee

Software Technologies Limited today can count over 150 corporations in East Africa as its clients, making Mukherjee one of the few women who have founded and run big technology firms in the region.

photo courtesy of GM Website

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ue to the patriarchal tradition in African, women have been at the periphery of leadership and decision making.

Mary Barra

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TABITHA NJOROGE

By Hellen Kivaya

Kenyan Woman

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photo courtesy of Njeri Rionge website

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In 2007 she was recognised as the Top ICT Businesswoman in Africa at the African ICT Achievers Awards.

Mukherjee also founded the Institute of Software Technologies (IST), a fullyfledged ICT training institute that provides education for IT professionals, developers and business analysts.

photo courtesy of Brand Strategy and Design limited website

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Women Enterprise Fund… committed to empowering women

“To empower a woman is to empower a family and in effect the whole nation” is the statement that defines Women Enterprise Fund. Vision 2030 has placed an emphasis on women empowerment. The 1st and the 3rd Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on poverty reduction, gender equality and women empowerment, that form a crucial platform for the Vision 2030, champion the support of economic growth of women in order to realize economic growth in the country. These MDGs champion the objectives of the Vision 2030 by making fundamental changes in four areas;

partners who have supported its work.

Achievements • Disbursement of Ksh 3.8 billion benefiting over 800,000 women spread in the 290 constituencies. In effect, the Fund is promoting financial inclusion and equity in access to financial services to previously marginalized women.

• In the last 8 months a further Ksh 538.3M has been disbursed to 80,175 women in the constituencies. Women borrowers have invested loans in agriculture related activities, trade, services and telecommunication, sectors thereby creating decent jobs for themselves and other Kenyans.

• Opportunity • Empowerment • Capabilities ,and

• We commend the Kenyan women for their integrity and faithfulness in serving their loans recording a national average repayment of 92%. They have proved that one does not need physical collateral in order to service a loan, a very useful lesson to traditional banks and other lenders.

• Vulnerabilities.

Statistics Kenya National Bureau of Statistics places the population of women at over 50% within 290 constituencies in Kenya. Out of this statistic the women in employment or in business stand at only 12%. It is with this in mind that the government of Kenya saw it fit to financially empower women. This led to the launch of the Women Enterprise Fund in the year 2007 in order to cater to the women in Kenya and ensure that they are accorded financial empowerment.

Women Enterprise Fund lends to groups and individuals (with emphasis to the groups).

Women in Kenya are finding that there’s strength in numbers: if they pool their resources together in self-help groups of their own creation, they can radically change their lives and the lives of their families and communities. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics places the statistic of registered self-help groups formed by women in Kenya at an average of 3000+ per constituency.

This could mean that there is an increase in the number of women using the self-help group mechanism to access funds in Kenya. This mechanism has made it possible for financial services to be availed to more Kenyans through the Savings and co-guarantee mechanisms that are the operating mantra within the groups.

Indeed majority of the funds that are lent by Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) are targeted to the self-help groups. WEF has two channels of lending 1. Lending through financial intermediaries.

This is done through banks, MFIs, Women owned companies and SACCOS where funds are allocated to these institutions at an interest rate of 1% for on-lending to women beneficiaries at 8% pa on reducing balance 2. Lending through constituency women enterprise scheme (CWES) channel. This is direct lending facilitated by constituency loan committees to self-help groups at ZERO interest with a one off 5% processing fee.

The Fund has thus been in the forefront to execute the mandates of Vision 2030 through facilitating access to finance and other business development services to women entrepreneurs,

The Women Entreprise Fund (WEF) chairperson Ann Mutahi during the official opening of eco toilets donated to Kiukini Primary in Kitui. PHOTO: FILE

• The Fund in collaboration with the Ministry of Cooperatives has facilitated the registration of 46 women owned and managed Saccos spread throughout the country. The Fund is investing in this initiative to enable women formalize the ‘chamas’ to legal entities that are owned and controlled by them as a guarantee to long term sustainability of women empowerment agenda.

• During the first half of the 2013/2014 financial year 29,624 women were trained in entrepreneurship in all the 290 constituencies

Members of WEF meet with Sisterhood Blind Women Group. PHOTO: FILE including capacity building and facilitation of access to business linkages among others. The Fund was established through a Gazette Notice and assigned five mandates, namely: 1. Provision of affordable and accessible credit to women for enterprise development.

2. Capacity building of women beneficiaries and their institutions.

3. Promotion marketing.

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local

and

international

4. Promotion of linkages between micro, small and medium enterprises owned by women with larger enterprises.

5. Facilitate and support investments in infrastructure that support women enterprises e.g. markets or business incubators e.t.c.

The Fund’s mission is “to mobilize resources and offer access to affordable credit and business support services to women entrepreneurs” and

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

the vision supported by this mission is “to socially and economically empower Kenyan women entrepreneurs for economic development” The Fund therefore performs to ensure that women throughout the country are empowered financially and are undertaking businesses that are stable and that contribute to their economic status and thus the country’s economy as a whole.

In the past half year the Fund has achieved major milestones in terms of empowering women in order to raise their economic status.

As we press on with the rest of the year we take this opportunity to share with Kenyans our achievements and challenges in the past half year. We welcome members of the public to scrutinize our work and point out areas that need improvement.

The Fund thanks the Government for its financial support over the years, as well as various

• To support the commitment to promote women’s participation in public procurement, the Fund will be rolling issuance of bid/ security bonds later this month. This will be on a pilot basis for the Nairobi region. A good percentage of the goods and services bought by the Fund are from women • The Fund has also not been devoid of CSR activities some of which are: 1. The Completion of the Kiukuni Eco Pit latrines on 13th February 2014 in the Eastern Region valued at Kshs. 300,000 2. Issuance of textbooks valued at Kshs.

279,700 to Hon Khalif Girls Primary School on 27th November 2013 in the North Eastern Region • The Fund has been in the forefront of ensuring that women benefit from training in collaboration with institutions of higher learning within Kenya. This includes a business incubation program with JKUAT - Juja Campus and a training program facilitated by the University of Nairobi on poultry and green house farming.

We urge women in Kenya who have not borrowed our interest free loans to borrow funds to create wealth for themselves and their families

WOMEN ENTERPRISE FUND SOCIAL SECURITY HOUSE, BLOCK A, P.O. BOX 17126 - 00100 NAIROBI, TEL: 0714606845/6 | WEBSITE: WWW.WEF.CO.KE PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY STATEMENT

MARCH 8, 2014

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Doors open as women come aboard councils of elders

By Ruth Omukhango

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“Women have been very useful in the council in articulating issues that affect the community and have been in the forefront of all our activities and our religion does not bar them from participating in any activities,” says Issa Abdulfaraj, Chairman of the Nubian Council of Elders.

Despite being custodians of culture, the structure of officials within the council of elders has majorly remained patriarchal even though most of the issues tackled by the elders have a direct effect on the lives of women and children. In fact in most of the communities, the council of elders retain the final word which is respected by the society.

“No matter how elite people are today, many people are still locked up in traditional cocoons in both private and public life and women have helped the council of elders to have wider lenses on gender issues that would have been ignored if men were sitting alone on the table,” says Dorothy Awino, a member of the Supreme Council of Luo Elders.

According to a publication on accessing justice and protecting the rights of the vulnerable through cultural structures published by the Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS, often than not, the power of the invisible little aspects of culture determines a woman’s standing in her community and the need for issues to be addressed from a gender perspective.

Numbers According to Awino, who served in the Luo Council of Elders first as a volunteer, the number of women in the Council has been increasing gradually and this has brought sanity to the Council as members are able to objectively make decisions on issues that affect the community.

Until 2006, the Luo Supreme Council of Elders had only one woman against 16 men but today out of the 20 members, seven women sit on the executive council.

Efforts have also been made to ensure that at the district level; at least one woman sits in the committees.

Equally, in the Nubian Council of Elders, there are three women sitting on the administrative committee out of seven men.

Women elders have been the custodians of their culture and established a peaceful co-existence with other tribes that live within the sprawling Kibera slums where a majority of them are to be found.

It is the women who carefully pass the culture from one generation to the other. Since the formation of the council, women have been involved in decision making though in subtle ways as most of the elders understand the value that they bring in every process as caregivers and those that look after at the welfare of families.

ince time immemorial traditional council of elders have played an important role in maintaining peace and fostering reconciliation among communities.

Notwithstanding the formal legal justice system, the councils of elders from different ethnic groups have in been at the forefront of addressing pertinent issues that affect men and women in the community, especially in the protection of rights of vulnerable groups.

However, with the changing times most communities have been forced to embrace women in the decision making structures and hence benefited much in terms of service delivery and impacting of the many lives in society whose majority are women.

community as a minority tribe that has been marginalised for over 150 years in Kenya.

Like the Luo Council of Elders, most of the Nubian elders are selected based on their repute and respect that they command in the community.

According to Abulfaraj, many times the Nubian community is misunderstood by other communities but the community has clearly defined roles for men and women.

Despite the fact that most councils have been constituted to serve different interests according to the needs of the communities, the qualification for becoming a member of the council of elders for both men and women is that one has to have attained the age of 50 years.

Members of the Nubian Community Council of Elders. Three women sit on the administrative committee out of the ten members who form the council.

PHOTO: FILE

Since elders are considered to be full of wisdom, the councils do not conduct democratic elections. The officials are handpicked based on their remarkable contribution and reputations in society.

This, therefore, explains the calibre of women that sit on the decision making table.

For a woman elder to be nominated to the Council of Elders, several factors have to be considered including her reputation in the community. She has to have charisma, be revered by many people and must have a good understanding about the culture.

However, most importantly in her own way she must have made substantial contributions to development of the society.

Contribution According to Phoebe Asiyo, who sits in the Supreme Luo Council of Elders, one of the reasons why she became an elder was the immense contribution she made to the community through empowering widows and orphans as well as her exemplary work during her tenure as a member of parliament.

She was also readily accepted by the community as her own father was a Ker, which is the highest position in the council of elders.

She confides: “The involvement of women in decision making processes within the structure of the Luo council

of Elders has brought a shift in perceptions and beliefs among the male elders especially in the area of discrimination against women.” Asiyo adds: “There is a change with regards to retrogressive practices that impact negatively on the lives of widows and orphans such as the right to land and property ownership.”

Asiyo says: “Although the Luo Council of Elders has also had women as members in their council, more women have not been enlightened and a lot has changed since women rose to the positions of decision making and much has been done to restore widows back to their homes after they were chased away following the death of their husbands.”

She adds: “The women sitting in the council have supported families and had consultations with male family members to understand issues of inheritance and to support their families.”

There is a change with regards to retrogressive practices that impact negatively on the lives of widows and orphans such as the right to land and property ownership.

Phoebe Asiyo, member the Supreme Luo Council of Elders

According to Asiyo, remarkable efforts in various parts of Nyanza have been entirely the work of women sitting in Council of Elders.

“For example, women elders in Nyakach have been able to rebuild houses for widows whose homes had been demolished because they refused to be inherited.”

Further, through support from donors, they have empowered vulnerable girls in their communities by providing them with bicycles to ride to school and protect them from insecurity.

Custodians In the slums of Kibera, Nubian Council of Elders was officially formed in 2001 to address the interests of the Nubian

“We have on many occasions given women an opportunity to speak and articulate issues themselves on pertinent issues that affect them” says Abulfaraj.

Successes Among their successes as a council especially with women’s contribution is the push for the rights of citizenry as minority. Further, the Nubian children can now access education, health services and women’s empowerment.

“In fact it is the women who participated actively in the establishment of a cultural institute that has enhanced their culture and traditions,” says Abulfaraj.

According to Khadija Doka, a member of the Nubian Council of Elders and a founder member of the Kibera Women for Peace and Fairness, the women have played their role in working with the elders in addressing issues of violence and insecurity in Kibera and as a result the rate of crime has reduced drastically.

“Crime rate in Kibera is relatively low as compared to other urban slums in the city. This has greatly been associated with the Council of Women Elders who emphasise on the need to embrace culture which is live and let live,” says Yusuf Ibrahim, Secretary General of the Nubian Council of Elders.

Despite the successes in influencing the council of elders, Asiyo feels there is still need for more to be done in order to change mind-sets as some of the elders tend to stick to the traditional way of thinking and are adamant about change.

With the increase in the number of women in leadership, Asiyo hopes that the council of elders will remain alive to changes including the Constitution to see more women come on board.

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

MARCH 8, 2014

Figures According to statistics by Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Kenya only five per cent of the land in Kenya is owned by women.

According to Odenda Lumumba, coordinator Kenya Land Alliance National “since women’s interests are largely not recorded on title deeds, the land on which they have customary user rights and on which they may depend for livelihoods can be disposed off without their knowledge or consent”.

Lumumba notes that married women are unable to exercise any control over the transfer, sale, or subdivision of matrimonial property. The large majority of women in Kenya leave their father’s land to go reside with their husband on property that he may have previously purchased or inherited.

Lumumba urges Kenyans to work hard to ensure that women own land like their male counterparts.

A farmer tends to her crops at Wambugu farm.

Tradition has in the past been used to deny women their rights to inherit land from their families.

PHOTO: FILE

New land laws, a reprieve for women to inherit land

By Henry Kahara

W

omen have over the years borne the brunt of injustices in Kenya with land as a resource emerging as a tool for discrimination.

Due to cultural practices, many women have been denied their rights to own land. Tradition has been used deny women their rights to inherit land from their husbands or fathers. However, culture has evolved and the modern woman is now fighting for her share.

Liz Wangari, 50, a single parent and an administrator represents thousands of women who have been denied their right to inheriting land.

For the last ten years, Wangari has been visiting Kituo cha Sheria, a non-governmental organisation that provides pro-bono services to individuals who cannot afford legal fees, to seek for help on how she can inherit a piece of land her father owned.

many cases the organisation is pursuing.

Right Burugu says that unlike Wangari who knows her right, many women especially those in the grassroots do not know their land rights.

Many women, especially those in the rural areas are still chained to retrogressive cultures that have rendered them poor and with no property to their name, including land.

“Most women in the grassroots do not know their rights and they are suffering silently in the villages.

We need to empower them,” says Burugu.

She emphasises that the number of women owning land in Kenya will only rise if they are empowered. Currently, only five percent of land in Kenya is registered jointly with women and only one percent is registered by women alone.

“Women need to know what the law says about land inheritance,” says Burugu.

Her brother believes that as a woman, she cannot inherit their father’s property since culturally she is supposed to be married.

Burugu notes that empowering women on land matters can be made easier by inclusion of other key groups in the grassroots while carrying out the civic education.

Eviction

“We also need to think of empowering council of elders in various communities’ country wide,” she adds.

The brother has been scheming to disinherit her.

He has gone ahead to evict her from the land, forcing Wangari to rent a house.

However, her search for justice remains elusive.

The case started ten years ago and is yet to be decided.

According Carol Burugu, a lawyer with Kituo cha Sheria, Wangari’s case is a representation of

Council of elders are vital decision making organs at grassroots level in all communities in Kenya.

The Constitution of Kenya recognises them in solving land disputes and states in Article 60 (g) “. . . encouragement of communities to settle land disputes through recognised local community initiatives consistent with the Constitution”.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Burugu urges civil society organisations to try and target council of elders while carrying out projects in the grassroots since this is a good avenue to drive information home.

“These are vital groups and we need to target them since they work faster than our courts and if well empowered justice will not be delayed,” she notes.

According to Professor Abreena Manji, gender policy and rights must become a norm if Kenya is to progress.

Policy Manji who is also the Director of British Institute of Eastern Africa admits that Kenya has very good laws and policies but they have not been put in to practice.

“We need internal words to match with the action,” says Manji.

“Women issues on land are far from being settled,” says Patricia Mbote, professor of Law and Dean School of Law at the University of Nairobi.

Mbote urges institutions which have been mandated with land issues to involve women more when implementing policies.

She affirms that most women work on land and they are responsible for productivity of land but unfortunately a majority of them do not have a say on the proceeds of the land because they do not own it.

“At the end of the day it is the male counterparts who hold the title deed and they can sell or mortgage the property therein and there is nothing the women can do,” explains Mbote.

The inability to establish an interest in this land that has subsequently become matrimonial property leaves women landless and dependent on their husbands for stability.

Report A report by United Nations Women, “Realizing Women’s Right to Land and Other Productive Resources” highlights the urgent need to direct women’s rights on land towards human based perspective with stress on gender equality.

The report argues that women’s right to land are directly linked to global food security and sustainable development.

Currently, the country is undergoing reforms on land laws, and the National Land Policy calls for protection of women in matters related to land. The policy notes gross disparities in land ownership, gender and transgenerational discrimination in succession, transfer of land and the exclusion of women in land decision making processes. It states that land productivity has been affected by disinheritance of women and vulnerable members of society and biased decisions by land management and dispute resolution institutions.

Noting that culture and tradition continue to support male inheritance of family land while there is a lack of gender sensitive family laws, the National Land Policy calls for enactment of appropriate legislation to ensure effective protection of women’s rights to land and related resources.

Constitution Since promulgation of the constitution in 2010, three new laws related to land have been passed.

These include the Land Act 2012; National Land Commission 2012; and Land Registration Act 2012.

The Land Act 2012 is an Act of Parliament to give effect to Article 68 of the Constitution, to revise, consolidate and rationalize land laws; to provide for the sustainable administration and management of land and land based resources, and for connected purposes.

Article 68 of the Constitution among other things calls on Parliament to enact legislation (iii) to regulate the recognition and protection of matrimonial property and in particular the matrimonial home during and on termination of marriage; Article 68 (vi) calls on parliament to enact legislation “to protect the dependants of deceased persons holding interests in any land, including interests of spouses in actual occupation of land.”

It is hoped that through these land laws, women, who include spouses and daughters will be protected to owning and inheriting land without discrimination on their gender.

MARCH 8, 2014

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How culture has defined women’s relationship with land

By Carolyne Oyugi

I

n Africa, women contribute about 80 per cent of farm labour as well as make decisions that involve when, how and what to plant. However, the cast changes and favours men when it comes to financial gains.

According to Lumumba Odenda, National Coordinator Kenya Land Alliance women are not enjoying the benefits of their labour.

“In most Kenyan and even African rural areas women are sidelined when it comes to important decisions like selling and buying land,” Odenda says.

While addressing the monthly Gender Forum organized by Heinrich Boll Sifting, Lumumba blamed different cultures that perceived land as masculine.

However, he noted that there is no clear record of how much land is owned by women. “We do not have data in Africa on what women own or do not own. Different organizations and institutions have come up with some figures but it would be better if we had figures depicting the situation on the ground.”

Principles According to Odenda, it is the duty of the National Land Commission to emphasize on land principles and talk of equitability and access to the precious resource by eliminating all elements of discrimination.

Lumumba notes that women are the majority in Kenya and so they should be majority in land ownership which is the biggest form of property.

Urban population is increasing globally and women are acquiring real estates, performing better academically and so they want equal ownership to their ancestral land.

Echoing the same sentiments, Professor Ambreena Manji, Director British Institute in East Africa agrees that something should be done in order to enable more women own land.

“All donors agree that something should be done. Statistics are hard to get but we know that women contribute between 80 to 90 percent of labour on land.”

She advised that women be educated more on matters pertaining to land.

“At times women are involved in risky situations where they get into transactions that they do not understand and end up losing their properties,” notes Manji.

Constitution According to Professor Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Professor of Law and

Agnes Ndetei, the head of the National Drought Management Authority Board.

She believes that the only way out of drought and poverty is by empowering the Kenyan woman.

Dean of the school of Law, University of Nairobi, value for law in the realization of land rights is so hyped.

“The Constitution and other Kenyan laws have helped to boost women’s chance of inheriting land but we must look outside law,” says KameriMbote. She adds: “We should not only look at land rights at national and local levels but also at domestic levels.”

Ownership Kameri-Mbote reiterates that land rights are within the family. “In 1994 we went out to different parts of the country to find out why women want to inherit land. At that time there were not many cases in court. We were amazed by the extent to which lack of land ownership defined their ways of life.”

Kameri-Mbote emphasizes that women do not need to inherit land after their spouses death instead there should be clear division and ownership of land right from their fathers so that single mothers and women who do not intend to get married have a place to construct a shelter and do some farming.

According to Belize Odemna, Programme Officer Litigation and Legal Services KELIN Kenya, women should use locally available avenues to solve land issues. This, she says, reduces hostility from family members.

“KELIN has worked with Luo Council of Elders to solve women’s land issues.

Where a woman’s husband has died of Aids, there is a lot of hostility from the in-laws who claim she killed their son.”

Odemna emphasizes that it is important to solve land issues in a way that there is no victimization.

She also adds that it takes a shorter time to solve the cases out of court than in court. “It takes two to five months to solve a case locally while in court it can take between seven to 15 years.”

According to David Ngira, women are afraid to own land because of cultural definition. “Some women are told that if they own land they will become barren.

This instils fear in them and at times they do not even want to be involved in discussions around land.”

However, Kameri-Mbote says we should not demonize culture. “Culture, if well applied, can be enabling but at times it also constrains us. Who is the custodian? In Central Province men easily share their land with their sisters and daughters because to them it is their loss if their daughter is not married. On the other hand, the Luo use wife inheritance as a way of protecting the woman when widowed.

We, should, therefore be aware of what we should change.”

PHOTO: COURTESY

Agnes Ndetei Is she Kenya’s solution to food insecurity?

By Henry Kahara

T

he burden of food insecurity continues to weigh heavily on women. Over the years, women have borne the tag of hunger and famine with a significant percentage of them being affected, a factor that has led to them being characterised by poverty, and hence the concept feminization of poverty.

However, the Jubilee government, a coalition of parties that won the last General Election, are all out to ensure food security for Kenyans.

To make this possible, they have tasked a woman to deliver.

Agnes Ndetei is now heading the National Drought Management Authority Board, and she says that the only way out of drought and poverty is by empowering the Kenyan woman.

Ndetei notes that women are hardest hit by famine owing to their close ties with the family and traditional African culture that limit their access to instruments that can ensure food security.

Capacity “Women are decision makers when it comes to kitchen matters; what will be eaten in that family so whenever drought strikes they become the first victims,” explains Ndetei.

As she gets to settle on this now position, Ndetei is calling on the government and non-governmental organizations as well as development partners to empower women so they can be in a position to deal with such challenges.

“Some of the problems we are experiencing as a nation arise from injustices levelled against women in this nation,” Ndetei notes citing famine as one of them.

She proposes: “If for instance more women can own a land in Kenya, we can be assured of food security because

they will put their energies to production to feed their children.”

Many women in Kenya do not have the right to own land due to discrimination perpetuated by outdated cultural practices. Statistics by Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya show that only five per cent of women own land in Kenya.

“The problem is that men who are much favoured by culture when it comes to land inheritance prefer to use the land to grow cash crops which are long term in terms of income,” explains Ndetei.

“Empowering women with much focus at the grassroots level where most of them live can play a big role in eradicating hunger in the country,” says Ndetei.

Irony She observes that most women, especially those in the rural areas do not have power to decide what will be planted on the land.

“It is the men who have the power to decide what is to be planted on the land,” she notes.

According to Ndetei it is ironical that women do not have a voice when it comes to how the land will be utilised but they are the one to work on it, providing labour that is not even accounted for in terms of wages. It is noted that women provide 80 per cent of the labour in agriculture.

“Much work like tilling the land, planting and even harvesting is done by women and children but the income goes to the man’s pocket. This is an example of injustice I am talking about,” she explains, adding “this has in turn reduced women to beasts of burden”.

Investment “I urge women who are fortunate to own land to look at it as a business venture and make profit out of it,” Ndetei advises says adding that approximately 90 per cent of women live in country side.

According to a research by Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD), if women can have equal access to land and resources they can increase crop yields by between 25 to 30 per cent and reduce levels of hunger by between 12 to 17 per cent.

“I think this is the time for women to take responsibility and be involved in decision making even at the family level,” Ndetei proposes.

She urges women to ensure that the right crop is planted in their farms.

“For famine to be a forgone story, Kenyans need to change their mind-sets in regard to the type of crops they farm,” advises Ndetei.

Farmers in arid and Semi-Arid (ASALs) areas need to identify crops which do well in their areas.

Awareness The government and non-governmental organisations have been educating people on the need of planting crops which are suitable to their climate.

However, despite this many farmers have continued maintaining that maize, which is the country’s staple food is what they will plant even when climatic conditions do not allow. This has made many Kenyans to suffer poor harvest, hence creating a room for famine and food insecurity.

“Kenyans mentality on food needs to change because people think that they only have to plant maize in order to feel that they have food,” reiterates Ndetei.

“Those living in arid and semi- arid lands should farm crops which can withstand long dry seasons, furthermore this food can be preserved and stay for long without getting spoilt,” says Ndetei giving examples of mawele (millet), yams and cassava among others.

“Unless we go back to the drawing box this problem of drought will keep on recurring and we will never come out of it,” she concludes.

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

MARCH 8, 2014

Grace Kipchoem defies odds….

elected.

becomes the first elected women MP in Endorois

By Mary Mwendwa

S

he is soft spoken but very firm and has been able to overcome cultural and socioeconomic hurdles to become the first elected woman MP from the Endorois community. Grace Kipchoem (Kimooi) was elected on a URP (United Republic Party) ticket, as a member of parliament representing a population of 80,871 in Baringo South constituency.

Endorois is a sub tribe of the Tugen among Kalenjin tribe, Baringo County.

She managed to trounce seven men for the elective post after she garnered 8,205 votes against her closest rival’s 8,203 votes. “My family, friends and village elders kept asking me why I had to traverse the vast area to look for votes. I refused to yield to pressure and pressed on with the quest to serve my people just the way men serve them”.

Kipchoem says that Baringo County is very rich in biodiversity yet local people do not directly benefit from the same. She notes that Lake Bogoria, Lake Baringo and Lake 94 attract large numbers of tourists yet her people languish in poverty. “Poverty levels are very high in this dry region of Baringo south, greedy people take advantage and use it as a stair case to their success,” she laments.

One major challenge that faces her constituency is poor infrastructure which has made it very hard for the people to access medical facilities.

She calls on the government to look into ways of enacting the wetlands policy which if enacted, can be of great benefit to the people of Baringo.

“I am passionate about motions that bring development to the people, those that will help uplift their living standards,” she adds.

Many people live very far from health facilities and due to bad roads they either die or depend on herbalists when an emergency comes knocking. Due to the increased water levels at Lake Bogoria, some of the dispensaries have been submerged.

Mission Loboi dispensary is the only one remaining and is also threatened with the rising water levels.

“Maternal health here is a big issue, most women depend on Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) for delivery. The situation has been aggravated by the lack of ambulance facilities which complicates access to urgent medical attention.

Grace Kipchoem, the first elected woman MP from the Endorois community PHOTO: MARY MWENDWA

“As a member of parliament of Baringo south, I will work towards improving health facilities, road network and girl child education in this region. “She adds how Lake Bogoria water levels have led to a closure of six schools, four primary and two secondary schools.

This, she says will impact negatively on education. She further points out how early marriages have hampered the girl child education in the region. She plans to put up more rescue centres which will also accommodate the boy child who is neglected. Through the help of other partners they have set up a rescue Centre at Sandai primary school where girls rescued from early marriages stay and board for school.

An alarming shortage of teachers in her constituency worries her a lot,” she says adding that the urgently requires

174 teachers at the moment, I have petitioned the relevant authorities without any success; pupils now have to rely on the very few teachers we have.

Challenges Since Kipchoem was elected, she has had to contend with the culture of handouts which was entrenched by retired President Daniel Arap Moi who came from that village. She says she does not have enough money to give

to people and thus her leadership role is looked down upon. “When people.

She notes Kenya is still way far beyond achieving the two thirds gender parity principle. In 2007 general elections, only twenty two women were elected, this time round the number dropped to sixteen. She gives an example of her area whereby men lied to voters that women had their seats at the county government and therefore other seats belonged to men. This adversely affected women’s performance and thus reason why very few women were

Women among the Endorois community are only supposed to be in the kitchen or taking care of babies, a woman is not supposed to sit on the same table with the husband and serve food; these are some of the practices that lock women out of leadership positions. “I had to fight through this culture to convince people that I could deliver,” she says Kipchoem calls for continuous sensitization of the community to discard such beliefs and empowering them both economic and socially. She aspires to contribute towards girl child education by having many rescue centres that would serve the very vulnerable girls in her community .They have started a movement dubbed, Baringo daughters, which brings together all the women of Baringo to try addressing problems facing their fellow women in the community. They believe more than 80percent of their problems can only be solved by themselves.

Hon, Kipchoem has been inspired by former MP Chebii Kilimo and Prof.

Helen Sambili who have played role in encouraging and mentoring her as a leader within the Kalenjin community.

Aspirations She believes that transparency and accountability are the major ingredients to any political engagement. Kipchoem believes, by 2017, she will have registered remarkable improvements in the road network, health and education in Baringo South constituency. “I want my constituency to be ranked among the best in terms of service delivery in the country”.

An accountant by profession, she was born in Araba location, Mukutane division, and Marigat district. Kipchoem went to Kapropita Girls high school and Lugulu girls high school for A levels. She holds a degree in accountancy from Kenya College of Accountancy University

African women to gain skills through regional leadership centre

By Valarie Musavi and Jill Anami

leadership.

W

Both male and female decision makers will be empowered to promote policies that are inclusive, equitable and sustainable while accelerating growth and development.

omen are set to gain from leadership skills that will be imparted by the recently launched African Centre for Transformative and Inclusive Leadership.

Under the patronage of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and Kenyatta University, the African Centre for Transformative and Inclusive Leadership (ACTIL) seeks to raise transformative leaders focusing particularly on women and youth in the continent.

According to Professor Olive Mugenda, ViceChancellor Kenyatta University, the centre will enable different types of leaders to explore and exploit their professional and personal potentials with a view to unifying the African community in development.

The Leadership Centre seeks to promote innovation and social transformation and facilitate the emergence of a regional network of leadership that develops standards and accreditation in

The Centre also seeks to develop the capabilities of existing and aspiring leaders particularly women and youth in private and public sectors. It will also strengthen the capacities of, and support policy makers and public institutions to develop gender responsive and inclusive policies and legislation.

Host According to Mugenda, the programme which will be hosted by Kenyatta University will help build leadership competencies of emerging and existing leaders in the entire continent.

The Centre provides courses in diverse areas including: transformative leadership, agribusiness development, women’s political leadership, women’s leadership in the public sector, women’s corporate leadership, youth leadership development for transformation and gender

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

responsive policies, planning, budgeting and performance management in national institutions.

for effective global participation of women and youth in leadership.

These courses aim to unlock the potential of participants to transform themselves and to become catalysts of change in the sphere of influence.

Musisi reiterated that the vision of African Centre for Transformative and Inclusive Leadership can be a reality if the key components of the programme are well placed. The components include proper training, mentoring and experiential learning for women leaders and youth.

Rationale According to Christine Musisi, UN Women Regional Director, African Centre for Transformative and Inclusive Leadership aims at raising a critical mass of transformational leaders in politics, business, government and society.

“This will help to create a network of female and male policy makers that are committed to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in all spheres and create a formidable alliance of leaders in Africa who can transform politics, business and the society for the benefit of all,” explained Musisi.

She noted that the Centre will prepare African leaders to influence development, engage in political and economic discourse as well as allow

She noted that women significantly lag behind men in leadership within businesses, government agencies and political systems.

“It all trickles down to African cultural systems that tend to disadvantage women participation in leadership. For a long time, women in African societies have been denied education and, therefore, they lack in leadership skills,” noted Musisi.

She added: “It is a high time Africa took leadership in the global economy and political discourse by investing in its people to thrive and fulfil their potential Musisi observed that this feat can only be achieved “by moving beyond good transformative leaders”.

MARCH 8, 2014

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A healthy mother equals healthy baby Inspiring positive mothers to a positive life through better option.The World Health Organisation now recommends that all HIV positive pregnant mothers be put on lifelong ARVs in spite of their CD4 count in a bid to keep both mother and baby healthy, writes Joyce Chimbi

A

lthough hawking foodstuff along the busy EldoretNakuru highway in Rift Valley Province is what she did to earn a living, Margaret Wairimu* had nonetheless made a name for herself as a traditional birth attendant in a remote village in Burnt Forest.

“There were times a bus would stop because a woman on board was in labour and I would deliver her baby with no hesitation,” Wairimu explains.

Diagnose That was until she began falling sick in 2012. Wairimu says that it took a while before she was diagnosed with the HIV virus.

“As a married faithful woman, HIV was the last thing on my mind. When my husband tested negative, I realised that I must have contracted the virus through my work as a traditional birth attendant. I never wore gloves because most of them were emergencies and done in a hurry,” Wairimu explains.

At the time, she had seven children and wanted one more. In 2013, she became pregnant and refused to be put on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.

“I did not want people to know that I had HIV, besides my husband, no one else knew. Selling groceries, I knew I would lose customers. People still take time to embrace someone who is HIV positive,” she says.

When her baby was born last year, she was given supplements for her baby but afraid that people would wonder why

she was not breastfeeding. “I chose to breastfeed until the staff at the clinic I was attending threatened to have me arrested. The baby tested positive for HIV. This has been a big burden on my conscience, I blame myself,” she says.

Mothers with their babies after delivering at Pumwani Hosipital in Nairobi. Besides reducing the currently high maternal mortality rates, all efforts should be made to ensure that all babies are born free of HIV. PICTURE: COURTESY

Maurice Okoth, a clinician at a Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) centre in Nyanza Province says that the outcome might have been different had she been put on Option B+, a lifelong ARV therapy for HIV positive mothers regardless of their CD4 count, as is the requirement by the World Health Organisation as of June 2013.

Stigma Ong’ech says: “If you have a HIV population at a health facility on treatment but they are sick, this is a bad sign and points to other issues such as stigma.”

Wairimu says that it is because of fear that the society will shun them that some HIV positive mothers, who are not on ARV therapy, will continue to breastfeed, even when the risk of transmitting the virus to their baby has been made clear to them.

Significance Okoth says that this was in cognizant with the fact that the life of a mother is key to the wellbeing of the family.

“When a mother is healthy, it means that the child is also healthy and the whole family does better when the mother is around.”

According to Dr Dave Muthama, Deputy Project Director at the Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation: “After birth, the baby is exposed to HIV through breast milk, and risk of transmission is high, almost equivalent to that of a HIV negative person having unprotected sex with a HIV positive person yet some mothers will breastfeed without adhering to the ARVs therapy just because the society will question why they are not breastfeeding.”

He further explains that in keeping with the Millennium Development Goal number 5 that targets to improve maternal health, one of the main targets is to reduce maternal deaths.

“In Kenya, maternal mortality rate is still very high at 488 deaths for every 100,000 live births.”

Okoth says that even more important is the fact that improving maternal health has significant implications on Millennium Development Goal four which targets to reduce infant mortality.

He said that most children under the age of five find it difficult to cope without a mother. In Kenya, UNICEF statistics show that the average deaths for those under five is about 77 deaths per 1,000 live births, it is however staggering in urban slums at 151 per 1,000 live births.

But rolling out Option B+ in the country has proved more challenging and it is yet to be rolled out in full scale as is the case in Uganda and Malawi.

Okoth says that Option B+ has many benefits to both mother and baby.

“When a pregnant mother is HIV positive, in addition to the mother being on ARV therapy, her baby is also put on neverapine for the first six weeks after birth, or until breastfeeding has stopped if she is unwilling to be put on lifelong ARV therapy,” Okoth says. He adds: “Not all mothers are willing to

start on ARV drugs for life, especially if there CD4 count is above 350. It is a difficult decision to make.”

According to Dr John Ong’ech an HIV and AIDS expert as well as Assistant Director and Head of Reproductive Health Department at Kenyatta National Hospital there are challenges which have made it difficult to roll out Option B+ full scale and include the cost of the additional drugs, challenges facing the health sector as well as other societal issues such as stigma which continue to affect adherence to drugs.

He further explains: “This is a very complex situation because we know that breastfeeding prevents diarrhoea, which is a leading killer among babies, so at times even in the face of risks of transmission, HIV positive mothers prefer breastfeeding.”

Muthama encourages health facilities offering Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programs to strengthen peer counselling programs.

“A HIV positive mother supporting another HIV positive mother, who also goes to the same clinic for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission services is one way to address the situation.”

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Push for a cyber-law gives hope to Kenyan women

By David Njagi

F

or seasoned politicians like Rachel Shebesh, few hurdles appear to block her way in rallying for women’s rights.

Like all women hooked to the technology in Kenya, the hard-line politician has not been spared the muck of cybercrime.

According to the Women and Cybercrime: The Dark of ICTs report, there is a growing trend to spam email scams, impersonation and theft of personal data among others.

“They seem to go hand in hand with

A teen navigates the internet at a resource center in Nairobi. Picture: David Njagi women’s and girls’ lack of knowledge of the risks and extent of the damage that they continue to sustain through cyber-crime,” says the report.

However, Shebesh notes, it appears someone is sleeping on the job, while the process of seeking justice for abused victims is too lengthy for anyone’s comfort.

Laxity

“If today you want to catch someone who has abused you through social media you can but you have to go through a process that is too tasking for the ordinary Kenyan and so they normally leave it,” explains Shebesh.

According Shebesh, government agencies like the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) and the Kenya Police Service can easily track and contain this emerging crime.

once they become signatories to the Convention.

Laws

“The Convention is expected to serve as a blueprint and guide countries to develop cyber security legislations,” says Grace Githaiga, vice-chairperson IAWRT.

The solution, they say, lies in developing laws that will protect women and user policies for organisations that specifically cater for women. There is also need for education targeting lay users.

“Signing of the Convention would have taken place in January 2014 but the process has been postponed until June due to Kenya’s involvement with the International Criminal Court,” Githaiga explains.

“Cyber-crime affects women differently,” argues Munyua. She adds: “The Cyber Security Bill should have a few clauses that deal specifically with how cybercrime affects women.”

“Cyber-crime is targeting everybody, I am a politician and I know we get targeted and that is why we keep off social media,” says Shebesh.

A study by the Kenya ICT Action Network (KicTAnet) indicates cybercrime against Kenyan women is on the rise, especially those holding offices of symbolic importance, due to the absence of a legislation to police it.

KicTAnet officials are certain that a solution can be found to deal with this emerging crime. However, laws are weak or non-existent to rein in on hate speech which users perpetrate online.

According to its chairperson, Alice Munyua, the legislation is expected to protect all Kenyans, but there is need to include a gender nature to cybercrime.

Shebesh is cautious because of the many abuses she has had to endure through the platform, also known to make and break lives.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

MARCH 8, 2014

The promise of such a solution is in sight. The Kenya Internet Governance Forum Steering Committee (KIGFSC) is now pushing for a Cyber Security Bill.

However, the Nairobi County Women’s Representative keeps off social media, a tool that would otherwise give her the much needed leverage to share her campaign with the rest of the world.

Study

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

However, not everyone is convinced that Kenya can deliver on such legislation. Besides, critics argue, Communication Commission of Kenya, the agency charged with developing the Bill refuses to share details of the legislation publicly.

Convention The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) believes countries should engage in the making of the African Union Cyber Security Convention first before developing national legislation.

According to IAWRT, African countries would be bound by international law to have their own legislations in place

Underreporting Kenya’s law enforcers link the increase in cyber violence against women to low reporting by violated victims.

The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) acknowledges that cases involving child pornography are reported more often than those of women and cyber violence. Besides the Director of Public Prosecution’s office can only deal with complaints.

“When a complaint comes to us, we refer the matter to the police for investigation.

This is because we cannot act on an issue that has not been investigated,” says Tabitha Ouya, Senior Assistant DPP and head of Sexual and Gender Based Violence Unit.

However, the Kenya Police Service insists that cyber violence against women is classified as a serious crime.

“Officers have been trained on cyber investigation at the Criminal Investigation Department and are well equipped to handle such cases,” says Marcela Wanjiru Andaje, Superintendent of Police in charge of community policing, gender and child protection.

MARCH 8, 2014

Long walk to fair representation of women in media

By Arthur Okwemba

W

hile media practitioners have continued to argue that they give fair coverage to both gender in content and structures, study after study has shown a disturbing trend of marginalization of women.

A new study by African Woman and Child Features on women in political news further proves that a lot needs to be done to ensure that the female gender has fair share on the media platform Only 18 per cent, of those heard, read or seen in the political news were women, the 2013 study found. The study further show little number of women in media, especially print media.

But one of the most troubling trends is the painfully low number of women in senior management positions.

While in the past decade, we have witnessed progression towards inclusion of women in news media as sources and employees, they are missing out in the critical decision making positions, where males still dominate. A closer look reveals that while the patriarchs argue that women can enter the media space, they still are not ready to open doors for them into positions that matter.

Attrition

Access to P3 forms remains a challenge

By Ben Oroko

violence survivors in the region.

A

Bosire advocates for periodical and regular capacity building and sensitization among officers dealing with the P3 forms, especially the police and medical personnel to assure victims of their right to justice.

Awareness

ccess to the Kenya Police Medical Examination forms commonly known as P3 forms by sexual and gender-based violence victims is almost next to impossible.

This is despite being gazetted by the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo and assurances that the public can now access the P3 forms free of charge.

Contrary to popular belief, sexual and gender based violence survivors can only access the forms at a cost.

Speaking at Tendere Green Stadium in Gucha District, Kisii County, Naomi Bosire, Director of Women Concern and Child Focus (WOCCOF), expressed disappointment that the P3 forms are being sold to the sexual

“Besides building the capacity of the police and medical officers who handle P3 forms, there is also need to intensify public education and awareness campaigns on the access of P3 forms by sexual gender based violence survivors, including giving information to the public that the forms are not for sale” explains Bosire.

She observes that sensitization on Post Rape Care forms that complement P3 forms for survivors should be given more attention during gender based violence awareness

subsequent cases in court.

“The law requires that all assault cases be documented in the P3 but the cost of documenting, preserving and presenting the evidence in court is shouldered by the survivors,” says Bosire. She adds: “For a victim of sexual gender based violence to pay in seeking justice is a major challenge in the administration of P3 forms.”

Access

Women follow speeches at tendere green stadium in gucha district,kisii county during the launch of last year’s 16-days of activism on gbv against women. picture: ben oroko campaigns to equip members of the public with more information on the forms and their importance in relation to seeking justice. The post rape care form was gazetted by the Minister for Public Health and Sanitation via Legal Notice NO.133.

The gazettement based on the Sexual Offences (Medical Treatment) Regulations, 2012, requires that medical practitioners utilize the forms in documenting forensic examinations

and evidence collection.

Bosire laments that the conditions under which the police issue the P3 forms are unfavourable to the victims seeking justice.

She regrets that sexual and gender based violence survivors are often required to make copies of the P3 forms before taking them to medical officers who also demand for payment if they are to serve as witnesses in the

According to Margaret Omondi, community Resource Person for the Coalition on Violence Against Women(COVAW), concurs with Bosire’s sentiments and challenges the police and medical officers to ensure that P3 forms are given free of charge to victims to increase access to justice.

“When a sexual and gender based violence survivor needs access to the P3 form, it is not a matter of reporting the incident to the police or seeking medical treatment, but it is the beginning of a justice dispensation progress to the victim,” observes Omondi.

In Kenya, there is concern over the high attrition rate of female who manage to break the glass ceiling. Majority of them cannot sustain themselves at the top for a long time. As Catherine Gicheru, the Managing Editor of the Star says: “There is so much politics around these top positions that many female employees find extremely difficult to cope with. As result, they are either forced out or resign when they cannot handle the pressure of the politics.”

One of the most upsetting things in the media is lack of constructive gender perspectives in decision making processes. Lack of constructive approach because even when gender dimensions are manifested in decisions within media, they are invariably guided by stereotypical thinking. Women in media are not seen as intellectual in their own right, with capabilities to advance the strategic thinking and direction of the media houses; but as objects who can be deployed to rake-in financial gains for the media house.

That is why television and radio stations are more focused on using women with specific looks and physique to sell their products and services. This thinking informs the decisions on who to employ, who to promote, and who to source information from.

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I t

is, therefore, not accidental that recent studies in the media have consistently shown poor representation of women in the media as sources, as workers, and as managers. In Kenya, the most recent and comprehensive study on gender and media, the Global Media Monitoring Program Report-Kenya 2010, found that only 19 per cent of those heard, seen or read in the media were women.

An even more recent study funded

by World Association of Christina Communication (WACC) and conducted by African Woman and Child Feature Services on women in political news shows that only 18 per cent of those read, seen or heard on political news are women. In Tanzania, the Gender and Media Progress Study of 2010 shows that only 21 per cent of those heard, read or seen in the media, are women. Women were found to be more present in the inside pages of the newspaper and less in the front pages where the so called serious issuespolitics, business and economics- are found.

These are the areas the media seek the views of men more than the women when developing stories. Women are seen best suited to comment on soft issues such as entertainment, which in most cases are in the inner pages of the newspaper. This means on major political and economic issues that are at the heart beat of many countries, women are just bystanders, watching on the sidelines as decisions on matters that directly affect them are discussed and adopted.

“Women are assigned to the entertainment and private spheres, and are thus marginalized within the news. This is achieved through the systematic positioning of women into “marginal” stories, pushing them from the front pages to the end pages and so called “soft issues”, argues Nirman Moranjak Bamburac and Tarik Jusic, and Adla Isanovic.

Data What this data tells us is that while Kenya and other countries in East Africa have differential economic and political status, gender representation and portrayal of women in the media is similar. Media houses in these countries seem to evaluate women in the same framework. The big questions being asked are: Do the media lack the women to speak to on political, economic and cultural issues? Is the media preoccupied and driven by the stereotype that men are better place to comment on these issues?

To answer some of these questions and present empirical data on women and men in the media, several

A journalist shares a light moment with women leaders during a workshop.

There is need to engage more to ensure that the female gender has fair share on the media platform.

PHOTO: GEORGE NGESA

the models the media have about women and men sources of information, how these models influence decisions on sourcing, placing and follow-up stories or issues. Are women viewed as housewives, uneducated, mothers, sexual objects by the media and what implication does this have on the treatment of their views and issues in the media?

There is so much politics around these top positions that many female employees find extremely difficult to cope with. As result, they are either forced out or resign when they cannot handle the pressure of the politics.

CATHERINE GICHERU, MANAGING EDITOR, THE STAR

frameworks have been developed.

The only challenge is the development and refining of these frameworks has been a little bit slow in our context because very few studies on gender and media are conducted yearly. On many occasions we have to wait for five years to undertake any comprehensive studies.

The challenge has been, while the frameworks we have are very good in addressing the quantity aspects of participation of women and men in the media; they remain weak on the qualitative aspects. Consequently, the analysis we undertake, somewhat, does not delve deeper into understanding the behaviour of the media and reasons why they take the decision they take.

We are yet to conclusively understand

Nirman Moranjak Bamburac and Tarik Jusic, and Adla Isanovic in their study: Stereotyping: Representation of Women in Print Media in South East Europe argues that occupation is one of the key markers of a person’s identity and their status in a society, and is therefore often subject to stereotypical representations.

Model Such models explain why in country like Kenya, the media will be harsher in assessing women in public services who erries than when the same mistakes are made by a man. One area of interest for researchers is how media achieves this through the choice of sources, words, placing, and frequency of the story.

If this is done, it will help us understand the meanings the media attach to certain gender when it comes to inclusion in content and decision making process, and what implication this has on the gender justice push in the media. Yet, it is the qualitative data that is likely to help tell the story behind the story. Media practitioners and some media scholars in Kenya and Tanzania have argued that we are yet to get into the minds of the media personalities and understand how it functions, if we are to realize a greater impact in making the media landscape more gender friendly. To those in this school of thought, qualitative studies are needed as a matter of urgency to help address this gap.

Secondly, the frameworks we have used to analyze gender and media are yet to point their spot light on the relationship between power and access to media, which might explain, to a greater extend, the dominance of men in the media content and structures. Who really enjoys access to the media? How much power do the sources exercise and how does

this determine who accesses media.

How do the media respond to these powers in terms of allocating resources, deciding who to interview, what to use and not use, and how much space or airtime to allocate.

Do we understand the representation of the elite as sources of information?

Is there a clearly defined criterion for determining the elite status of the sources of information? This is important because scholars of mass communication argue that in most cases, the media is most likely, to lookout for elite voices when seeking views on national discourse.

Since majority of the women do not control various sources of power they are less visible in media content and structures.

Access According to Teun A. van Dijk of University of Amsterdam, the elite groups have access to certain forums and discourses that increases their proximity to media and likelihood of being interviewed by journalists. He argues that leading politicians, managers, scholars, or other professionals have more or less controlled access to many different forms of text and talk, such as meetings, reports, press conferences, or press releases. This is especially true for their access to media discourse.

Journalists will seek to interview them, ask their opinion, and thus introduce them as major news actors or speakers in news reports. If such elites are able to control these patterns of media access, they are by definition more powerful than the media itself.

The concern is if the frameworks that exist can truly determine if the media in question is gender sensitive?

Does high number of sources or high representation of women in a particular media speak to the gender sensitivity of the media? The studies needs to go beyond content analysis and address the issues of policies, systems and interventions the media has put in place to qualify as gender sensitive.

Only after this has been done, will we start talking about a media that is gender sensitive.

Kenyan Woman

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MARCH 8, 2014

continue to see women as subordinate to them.

One can argue that gender biases and genderbased discriminations have resulted in stereotyped attitudes, discriminatory treatment in assignments and promotions, traditional gender hierarchies, including premium on family responsibilities, and lack of support mechanisms for working women.

As gender issues are not seen as important or profitable, women face difficulties in entering the decision making positions in the media.

Policies

Women continue to rank poorly in the media despite the fact that media plays an important role in influencing agenda, as well as changing attitudes and opinions of people all over the world.

Picture: FILE

Can women set their own agenda in the media?

By Joy Masheti

I

t is against the backdrop of this year’s International Women’s Day theme ‘Inspiring Change’, that we recognise the important role the media plays in influencing agenda, as well as changing attitudes and opinions of people all over the world.

Media plays an important role in structuring of society as they influence debate and set agenda on critical issues. For any segment of society to develop, visibility through the media is critical.

The Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies (NFLS) and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), for instance give recognition to the fundamental role played by the media as a tool for achieving women’s rights and gender equality. They further recognise media as tools for providing critical information to women, addressing their rights, as well as changing people’s perceptions in regard to women’s involvement in social processes.

As we mark the International Women’s Day, the question that begs our attention is whether women have a place in the media. In a comparative study, the Global Media Monitoring project found out that only 24 per cent of the people interviewed, seen, or read about in the mainstream broadcast and print news in 2010 were women. Moreover, only 15 per cent of the stories that appeared that year focused specifically on women, and only six per cent focused on issues of gender equality or inequality.

Another study conducted by The Guardian in 2011, revealed that in a typical month, 78 per cent of newspaper articles are written by men, 72 per cent of question time contributors are men and 80 per cent of reporters and guests on radio Four programme are men. The same research found out that among the so called quality press, the Financial Times had the biggest proportion (34 per cent) of women writers appearing on its front pages. Men by-liners were prevalent at the Telegraph (89 per cent), Sun (86 per cent), and the Times (82 per cent). The Guardian had a 78 per cent male skew.

In the same research, of the 668 people named

in the lead articles, 84 per cent of those quoted or mentioned were men, most being quoted in their professional capacity. This compared with just 16 per cent women, who were disproportionately likely to be quoted as victims and celebrities.

Where powerful women were featured, the images were often unflattering. Other researchers have revealed that when media reports on women’s issues, including abortion and birth control, men are quoted around five times more than women.

An analysis of the Nigerian media also revealed that women are largely seen and not heard. Their faces adorn newspapers. However, on important national issues, they fade out. Even when the news is about them, the story only gains prominence if there is a man authority figure on the scene.

Study Closer home, a research conducted by a Master of Arts student at the Institute of Anthropology, Gender and African Studies of the University of Nairobi titled Representation of Women in the Star and the Reject Newspapers, revealed that the representation of women in the media has not improved. The study was carried out on editions published between December 2012 and February 2013. One hundred main news stories were sampled. It explored the representation of women in the two papers with a focus on image and news subjects.

The research revealed that stories on politics and governance were given more prominence in both papers and formed 36 per cent of the stories covered in the research. These stories were largely written by men for women only contributed 13.8 per cent of stories in this category, which showed that politics do not attract the interest of many women reporters. It was revealed that women contributed less than one third of the stories in all the categories. It however, clearly emerged that women were most interested with peace and security and contributed 57.14 per cent of stories in this category. This could be because women form the bulk of victims during insecurity.

Most of the stories on peace and security were in the context of the General Election. They were

on the different initiatives put in place to ensure security during the campaigns and elections and that there was no gender-based electoral violence. This could explain why many women reporters were drawn to contribute stories in the category. However, it should be noted that none of the stories in this category formed the headlines or appeared on the front pages of either of the newspapers.

In political stories, men were given more prominence. Women did not appear and when they did they were seen and not heard. For instance, in a story titled presidential aspirants intensify their campaigns, the itinerary of all the presidential candidates and their running mates were given, apart from that of the female presidential aspirant.

Women news subjects comprised a paltry 23.93 per cent, which is below the global average that is 24 per cent.

Stereotype The research revealed that the media continues to perpetuate the stereotyped images of women.

The stereotyped roles of mother, care givers and wife came out prominently in the images of women in the stories under review. Women were also presented as victims of domestic violence, assault, rape and electoral violence.

There is invisibility of women across all news platforms as there are very few news stories with women as the central focus. In most of the news women function as providers of personal accounts, and rarely as knowledgeable experts.

Expert opinion is overwhelmingly male. Women are quoted as spokespersons of organisations, experts or main news subjects only a few times, and even so, they are allocated very little print space — either a tiny paragraph or as little as two lines, while men are quoted for the most part of the story.

Various reasons have been given for the underrepresentation of women in the media. This is both in the news and in media houses. Some argue that the underrepresentation of women in the media is due to patriarchy, where men

It has been argued that media policies against sexist and stereotyped coverage, representation and portrayal of women remain a big gap. Existing media codes and guidelines are mainly concerned with ‘lewd’, ‘obscene’, ‘indecent’ exposure of human bodies, ‘immoral’ sexual relations, sexually provocative materials and pornographic content.

There have been some efforts to establish and maintain self-regulatory mechanisms on media content. Governments in general take the responsibility for regulation of media industries with regards to gender stereotyping. Action is left to voluntary measures on the part of media enterprises or insufficiently effective national compliance/complaints authorities, who often lack monitoring capabilities and whose legal framework often lacks gender-equality policies. To this end, there is no practical monitoring of or enforcement of government requirements in countries and where standards exist, they are often not applied.

A study carried in 1997 revealed that because of commercial considerations, when a gender issue is given prominence, it may have the effect of cheapening and sensationalizing serious issues, some involving gross human rights violations of a woman victim. Some think that it would be pretentious to expect wholesome active objective reports from the media because, for no other reason editorial coverage is largely influenced by a host of factors, foremost among which is commercial interests, clientele or readers’ and outright prejudices of its editors. It would seem from the outset that most gender-related activities do not, in the eyes of the mainstream media, constitute ‘hard’ news that sell.

However, although in general women fail to make ‘commercially viable’ news, events sometimes make news out of women, but ignore the latter altogether by omitting the gender dimensions of such events. For instance, news stories on economic growth may be made without mentioning of the central role of women in the economy. Out of the one hundred stories reviewed in the Star and the Reject, only three were written from a gender aware perspective and were all from the Reject.

The question is who sets agenda for the media?

Is it the media managers or the public? Some have argued that women as the underrepresented and misrepresented gender should set the media agenda. Women setting the agenda means doing something newsworthy, something considered relevant and significant to the public at large, and in a manner that attracts media attention. In this regard it has been suggested that women need to learn to exploit media power by capitalizing on topical issues, employing simple and focused methods of presentation, as well as a consistent and non-flamboyant style. In other words women must learn to package their news as credible, persuasive as well as portray spontaneity.

As we reflect on the International Women Day theme, media should set and inspire change as far as changing the images and representation of women. Gender issues are societal, media should take corrective measures that mainstream gender in their policies and practices. The media should change attitudes which depict women as stereotypes. Media should treat women issues as human issues and therefore give them adequate and qualitative coverage.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

MARCH 8, 2014

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The unrelenting quest for gender equality The historical journey of Kenyan Women towards leadership and fair representation has been steep and challenging. Below are excerpts from an interview with the chairperson of the National Gender and Equality Commission Winnie Lichuma by

financial constraints

Inadequate infrastructure, inadequate guidelines for policy implementation as well as prevalence of HIV/AIDS have prevented girls from accessing education.

Q: Two thirds gender rule still holds bigger prospects in addressing gender inequalities that have defined Kenya’s political landscape since independence.

What are the implications of the Supreme Court ruling on the gender rule? What are three salient issues in the ruling? Do you think they will be achieved in 2015 as proposed by the courts? Is there a framework to ensure that it is realized by 2015?

Faith Muiruri.

Q: Briefly highlight the historical journey of Kenyan women towards leadership and fair representation in social- economic and political sphere?

A: The historical journey of the Kenyan Women dates way back in the preindependent period and was largely premised on self-help groups. The landmark was the formation of Maendeleo ya Wanawake (MYWO) organization in 1952, which is still a powerful grassroots’ women’s organization across the country.

In subsequent years, the Women’s movements in Kenya expanded and specifically focused on enhancing women’s participation in leadership, in appointive and elective bodies.

This saw Grace Onyango elected as the first woman mayor in 1964 and the first woman MP in Kisumu in 1969. In 1974 Hon. Chelangat Mutai made her debut in politics as the first Kalenjin woman to be elected into Parliament at the age of 24. She vied for the Eldoret North parliamentary seat against 11 men and won. She served for one term until 1981, with significant difficulties due to opposition to the then political leadership.

MYWO also emerged as a strong political force in the country during the 1980s and 1990s. Strong political parties like Kenya African National Union (KANU) recognised the power of organisation and used its power to mobilise women.

The women who succeeded in political positions years after were mainly aided by the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organization.

In 1992, the National Council of Women of Kenya and the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) organised a national women’s convention whose agenda was how to access political power.

Twenty years after the convention saw an increase in women’s organizations and a strong women’s movement that focused on the struggle for an institutional framework for gender mainstreaming yielding to: a national gender commission; a Ministry in charge of women affairs, children and social services; a presidential directive for 30 percent representation of women in public service; establishment of the women’s fund, publication of the Sexual Offenses Act. In 1997, at the peak of Constitutional negotiations, there were only 3 percent women in parliament. This prompted Hon Phoebe Asiyo to table the first motion on affirmative action calling on Parliament

to increase women representation by 18, two from each province and two more from the Rift Valley. This however did not succeed.

Hon Beth Mugo reintroduced the affirmative action bill in parliament in the year 2000. It was however recommended that the matter be referred to the Constitutional Review process that was about to commence.

A: The Supreme Court largely relied on High Court ruling in a case filed by FIDA challenging the composition of nominees to the Supreme Court. It said that Article 81(b) is aspirational and it presupposes open ended schemes of decision making and programming which can only be effected over a span of time.

In 1998, women negotiated their way into the various Constitutional review structures, from the grassroots to the national level. They got five slots out of the twelve in the drafting team that would draft the law to review the Constitution.

At the National Constitutional Conference, women ensured that one out of the three delegates from the Districts was a woman.

United efforts and capacity to effectively negotiate saw the birth of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, which has a lot of women gains.

Q: What is the status of the Kenyan Woman today?

A: Despite the existing socio-economic barriers, culture and traditions, political culture, patriarchy and lack of resources among other factors, Kenyan women have made considerable strides in all spheres. More so after the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.

In education, there have been considerable improvements with the introduction of Free Primary Education, especially in closing the gap in enrolment rates between girls and boys. However the completion rates are still a challenge for girls.

At the political front; there are 0 percent women governors; 19 percent deputy governors; 6 percent elected members of the national assembly; 33 percent nominated members of the national assembly; 0 percent elected members of the senate; 90 percent nominated members of the senate; 6 percent elected members of the county assemblies; 81 percent nominated members of the county assemblies; 33 percent cabinet secretaries; 27 percent principle secretaries; 50 percent chairperson of independent offices, 42 percent chairpersons of Constitutional commissions; 6 percent parastatal heads; 13 percent county secretaries; 21 percent county assembly clerks.

In terms of health, access to essential reproductive health services for women is still very limited especially in rural areas. The unmet need for family planning is high and unsafe abortion is a major problem predominantly for poor women and unmarried women leading

Winnie Lichuma, Chairperson of the National Gender and Equality Commission Picture: FILE to high maternal mortality, infections and infertility.

Gender Based Violence: According to the 2003 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, about half of Kenyan women have been victims of physical mistreatment/ abuse from the age of 15 years. 25 percent of them had experienced violence in the past 12 months. 26 percent of the women have encountered marital violence that involved emotional brutality. 40 percent have encountered physical abuse and 16 percent have experienced sexual violence within their marriage.

On the legal front, access to justice for women and girls is undermined by the lack of an appropriate inter-phase between women and the judicial system.

Scarcity of resources, ignorance of legal provisions, and corruption in public offices coupled with patriarchal attitudes and harmful cultural practices all contribute to the construct within which women and girls are expected to operate.

Q: In your view, what are some of the key achievements that have been realised in enhancing women’s participation in leadership in appointive and elective bodies?

A: The not more than two thirds gender principle in appointive and elective positions has been implemented to a large extent, enabling a good number of women to get in positions of power like in the nominations of the county assembly members to ensure the principle is achieved.

The affirmative action policy enabled

a considerable number of women into political positions.

Q: How are we doing as a country in putting in place legislations, policies and guidelines to operationalize provisions in the Constitution that advance gender equality and equity?

A: Legislations that have been enacted in this regard include: Matrimonial Property Act 2013 Sexual Offenses Prohibition from Female Mutilation Act 2011

Genital

The National Gender and Development Policy 2011 The National Gender and Equality ommission Act 2011 The Convention on the Rights of the Child It is important to further note that the laws being enacted to implement the constitutional provisions on various aspects e.g. The Basic Education Act are factoring in gender parity in composition of bodies established therein which is a step in promoting the gender agenda

Q: What are the challenges and gaps?

A: Persistent high level of poverty especially in urban slums and rural areas. Further, as the socio-cultural norms based patriarchy prevail, families opt for boys education when faced with

The Supreme Court however said that a framework to aid in the realization of the two thirds gender rule has to be created

by August 2015 and can either be in the form of a legislation or call to amend the constitution. A technical committee has been established to come up with a framework on how the two thirds gender rule is to be realised.

The technical committee will define timelines by which the two thirds gender principle is to be attained as they were not provided by the Supreme Court ruling. Another issue of concern lies in the fact that the Supreme Court saw challenges in the attainment of Article 27, based on the perceptions of an existing contradiction between Article 27 (6) and (7) and Articles 97 and 98.

Issues have also arisen regarding the powers, privileges and facilitation of the affirmative action beneficiaries. Ideally, they should be similar to those of elected members and this requires deliberation.

Q: It has been argued that devolved governments provide a better platform to increase women participation in politics as well as addressing the needs, particularly of the marginalised women. Are we likely to see women issues receiving more attention with devolution?

A: We have a third of women in the counties but are we setting agenda for them, do they know what their role is or have they joined the male’s club and want to see and act as men. The nominees have challenges in terms of understanding their legislative roles.

Most of them do not have capacity but NGEC will soon release a small handbook on gender and inclusion at the county level guiding the counties on how they can work on inclusion in terms of employment and programmes.

Kenyan Woman

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Marion Ndeta, a Programme Manager at Freely in Hope which is an NGO that has been in the frontline of helping to restore dignity to survivors of sexual violence by providing educational opportunities and platforms for women to fulfil their dreams.

Marion Ndeta: A ray of hope for demeaned girls

By Duncan Mboyah

D

ignity is an inherent gift from God that cannot be taken away by circumstances of poverty, violence or oppression.

Started in 2010, Freely in Hope is a non-governmental organisation that has been in the frontline helping to restore the dignity to survivors of sexual violence by providing educational opportunities and platforms for women to fulfil their dreams.

According to Marion Ndeta, Programme Manager at Freely in Hope, the organisation provides holistic opportunities through educational scholarships, healthcare, psychological counselling and emotional support to restore worth that has been shattered.

“We are committed to unveiling beauty in the broken. We seek to see dignity restored and all people living freely in hope,” Ndeta explains.

Qualifications The organisation accepts applications from all interested young women of below 30 years of age who are interested in pursuing a secondary school or college education depending on the amount of money available.

The successful applicants are then subjected to oral interview to ascertain whether their cases are genuine.

Ndeta says her work is like a calling given that she has been surrounded with perils of girls since her childhood.

“We are giving girls this opportunity since they have always suffered most abuse in our society due to societal disposition. Society has always had a way of cushioning boys while girls are

left exposed,” says Ndeta. She notes: “It would only be normal that being a woman, I would obviously identify more with the pains that befall women.”

Currently Freely in Hope is supporting nine girls and two children belonging to two of the girls who are both survivors of sexual violence.

It has also trained 20 women from the Kibera slums in microeconomic activities that has enabled them start small microenterprises that have seen them uplift the livelihoods of their families in a dignified way.

Two girls are studying communication in Kenya and Zambia, one is at the Kenya School of Law and in her final year to become an advocate, another is studying counselling psychology while yet another is undertaking a Bachelors in Education degree. The rest are in high school with one who just completed her secondary education. The two babies are growing and schooling as well.

Presence Freely in Hope has offices in Kenya and United States of America.

Currently it has focussed on solidifying its presence in Kenya by scouting for donors and partners since they plan to increase the number of beneficiaries to 20 in the next two years.

“We are in the process of expanding to Zambia and South Sudan where we will run offices in collaboration with the local organizations to help young women realise their dreams. We have also received interest in Ethiopia and will be looking into it as well,” explains Ndeta.

Survivors Freely in Hope has been recruiting survivors of sexual violence and those

bound in sexual trade, those from poor backgrounds or are orphaned and could easily be taken advantage of or fall prey to unscrupulous people in their desperation to make better livelihoods.

However, just like any other organization, Freely in Hope faces challenges that range from lack of funding to recruit more girls who apply for educational scholarship and to telling apart genuine cases from fake ones.

“We turned down 100 applicants early this year and what we did was to link some with other organisations that also assist vulnerable cases,” explains Ndeta.

She notes the need is enormous and surpasses government’s efforts as cases of sexual violence continue.

Train Ndeta also reiterates the need to train law enforcers on how to handle survivors of rape.

“I am always happy every morning when I wake to another opportunity to participate in transforming someone else’s life,” says Ndeta. She adds: “It is so fulfilling. My joy is multiplied when I receive a school report of great performance, when I see a face of a girl who came to us completely beaten with the waves of life but now walks with their heads high up and full of hope and a new focus.”

A communication expert, Ndeta achieved a diploma in Journalism and a degree in Communication and Public Relations. She has over 10 years working as a journalist and editor.

For now, her work and that of her cofounder Nikole Lim is to intensify efforts in the fight to eradicate sexual violence through high level education in a bid to restore survivors’ dignity and hope.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

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MARCH 8, 2014

MARCH 8, 2014

Mary Wanjira sets her sight to the best in life

By Duncan Mboyah

W

hile many young people wallow in poverty and lose hope in life after the death of their parents, a few like Mary Wanjira has defied the temptation and stayed put with the aim of developing their career in academia.

Twenty-five year old Wanjira lost her father at the age three but under the care of her mother who had lost the family inheritance to greedy relatives, she grew up well knowing that all was not lost despite missing some necessary items most of the time.

She started her schooling at Joyhome Primary School in Ngong town and finally Enoomatasiani Secondary School, where a women’s group in church offered a scholarship to any of the members’ daughters who passed well.

Wanjira emerged the best and got an open scholarship for her high school studies. In a bid to proceed with her career of choice, the fourth born in a family of four joined Inoorero University to undertake a Diploma in Law. At that time, her mother worked as a caretaker at the Presbyterian Church in Ongata Rongai. She had to share her little earnings between family needs and her daughter’s schooling.

On realising that her daughter was doing well in school, she went for the Constituency bursary fund to enable her daughter achieve her dream.

Wanjira excelled in her diploma and in 2010 got admission to Mount Kenya University to pursue a Bachelor in Law degree.

Knowing that this was a long shot at her dream career, Wanjira refused to lose hope and sought a job as a clerk at one of the city’s law firms. Her plan was to help her mother meet her university requirements.

Unfortunately her mother fell sick and had to undergo a delicate spinal operation that went awry, leaving her paralysed from neck down. This almost made Wanjira lose hope in furthering her education.

Support Fortunately, a charitable organization, Freely in Hope, an organization that is committed to restoring dignity to survivors of sexual violence by providing educational opportunities and platforms for women to fulfil their dreams came in handy agreed to pay her college fees.

“I applied for assistance in my second year at a time when I had already lost hope in continuing with education as my mother had by then been relieved of her job due to absence as she was bed ridden,” says Wanjira. She adds: “I was growing weary of my mother’s probing.

Every time I visited her in hospital, her question would be the same, have you succeeded in getting fees?”

Wanjira notes that by the time she got

the cheque for her college fees, she had not even met any of the organization’s officials. She would come to meet them later after one semester when the sponsor wanted the receipts for accountability purposes.

“This to me was a God sent support having lost hope when my mother’s employer terminated her employment,” says Wanjira.

In 2013, Wanjira graduated and went applied for the mandatory diploma in Law at the Kenya School of Law. “We provide needy girls with resources to uplift them out of poverty and decrease vulnerabilities of sexual abuse and sexual trade,” says Marion Ndeta, Programme Manager and cofounder Freely in Hope.

“Ours is to unveil beauty in the broken.”

Expansion Besides other support, the organization also assists young women’s education as a means to financial freedom and dignified lives.

“We provide girls with an opportunity to achieve their goals and secure a sustainable future free from sexual violence through high school and college scholarships,” she notes.

The organisation that plans to spread to all parts of Africa is currently taking care of nine girls, one in Zambia and eight in Kenya and an additional two children from two girls on their support list, both survivors of sexual violence.

Ndeta observes that the organization is growing slowly due to financial challenges.

“There is such enormous need in society, so much abuse and pain we never take on a girl unless we sure we have enough funds to get to the peak,” Ndeta explains.

our but are her

Wanjira appeals to young girls to seek education as it is the only way they can get empowered.

“Losing a parent or being chased away from home by parents is sad but it is not the end of life. All must strive to make a better future,” Wanjira advices.

Mary Wanjira.

Picture: FILE

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Maria Omare: Giving inspiration to children living with disabilities

By Carolyne Oyugi

A

ny pregnant woman is always excited about finally having a baby and as parents they usually have many plans for them.

However, the situation changes when they finally have a child and realise that it is disabled. It takes courage and patience to accept and love the child unconditionally.

Children born with disabilities like autism and cerebral palsy may require a lifetime of constant attention and become dependent on other people for simple activities like movement, eating and even dressing.

This has led to many children being neglected by their families and society at large. They are seen as a burden and most of the time are hidden away from the public eye.

However, outside families, there are those who think each and every child deserves to be loved unconditionally.

Maria Omare, chief executive officer Action Foundation thinks that these children should be treated with a lot of love and attention.

Omare has been offering her time helping both physically and mentally disabled children for the longest time she can remember.

Maria Omare, chief executive officer Action Foundation.

“My first encounter with children living with disability was when I was in primary school and we went to visit a children’s home for the mentally challenged in Lang’ata run by Catholic nuns. I saw even adults of about 30 years being assisted to eat, move and or wash their clothes,” recounts Omare.

The whole experience stuck in her head for long and she began to appreciate the fact that she could walk, go to school and even think on her own. She later had many such experiences while volunteering her time in both primary and secondary school.

“When I was a student at Kenyatta University, I would volunteer for Special Olympics and this time we organised a sports camp for children with disabilities,” says Omare. She explains: “The activity took two weeks, and one of the participants was a young boy who used to be brought by the mother on her back. At the end of the event, however, I noticed that this boy would struggle to walk on his own.”

Intervention That is when she realised that with early intervention and determination these children could really be helped to be independent.

She ended up doing a lot of research on disability because as volunteers they were taught many things.

“People shun these children simply because of ignorance. It is sad that in this day and age people still think that the children are bewitched. People never take time to think of what the parents go through. It is also sad that some people even take the children to witch doctors.”

After her graduation, Omare decided not to seek for employment but instead focused on starting something that will give her the opportunity to serve children with disability full time.

“By then I was young with no experience and no money. I was only 21 years old but I managed to mobilize my friends who had the same passion

“I want these children to be educated like other normal children. Some of them are very bright and all they need is a little more attention and patience.

Maria Omare, chief executive officer Action Foundation to contribute money so we could register Action Foundation as a non-governmental organisation.”

Omare admits that it was not easy. She was taken back and forth before the organisation was finally registered after six months.

It was at this time that reality dawned on her, there was no turning back. At that time her mates were busy looking for employment but she was busy looking for a place where she would be meeting the children.

Discrimination “After visiting many children’s homes and some special schools, I realised that most children who got the attention needed were from middle class and rich families,” explains Omare. She adds: “Children from poor families were either hidden or had their therapy once in a while and the family gave up very fast due to the distance to the

centres and financial constraints.”

Omare, therefore, decided that her centre will be within a low class area. Since she was already familiar with Kibera slums she decided that is where she would start.

The Action Foundation, located at the heart of Kibera is creating space for children living with physical and mental disabilities in low income and marginalized areas to lead a normal life. It is volunteer based day centre where parents bring their children with different disabilities. They also volunteer their time in turns and the organization provides volunteer specialists to help.

The centre offers physical, occupational, speech and art therapy to improve not only their esteem but also their motor, social and communication skills. The children are also provided with two proper meals in the day.

“I have employed one staff Prisca, who is also disabled, and every now and then we have a volunteer giving his or her services. We might be in the slum but we give the best services as per the international standards.”

Access Omare, who is 25 years old, is worried that some children do not get a chance to join school.

“I want these children to be educated like other normal children. Some of them are very bright and all they need is a little more attention and patience.”

She laments that schools which provide special education are few and or very expensive. These children are also faced with rejection as the school administration claim that they would be difficult to

take care of and would disrupt the learning of the other children. This, she says, has motivated her to think of how make the centre grow.

“I would like to have a school in future so that my children can just join and we reduce the gap. I also hope to have a van to transport the children from their homes to the centre,” says Omare, adding that “the movement is very exhausting”.

Omare, who is a nutritionist by profession, draws her inspiration from seeing the smiles on the children’s faces.

She is also grateful that she went to Kenyatta University which she says is one of the institutions that embrace people living with disabilities.

The university has programmes that integrate people living with disabilities with other students so that they can help them go about their education.

“I used to read the course work for a blind friend, and at some point he told me how much it had improved his academic performance.”

Out of her work, Omare has been acknowledged by many organizations and last year she won the Akili Dada fellowship which ends this month.

She was also honoured to be one of the two Kenyans selected for the Social Entrepreneurs Transforming (SET) Africa Fellowship, a programme for young social entrepreneurs from across Anglophone Africa.

“I am grateful to get this awesome opportunity to drive the social inclusion agenda forward and talk about our work,” explains Omare. She adds: “I pray for a universe where children with disabilities are treated with kindness and get access to the opportunities available for them to grow.”

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

MARCH 8, 2014

Eunice Mathu: Kenya’s sole surviving female media owner

By Jane Godia

I

f anyone has the authority to speak media ownership on the Kenyan market, it is Eunice Mathu. Her magazine, Parents, hit the vendors’ rack in July 1986. That’s 332 editions as at March 2014. The print run for the launch edition was 25,000 — and a sellout, marking the beginning of a journey that has seen her make an indelible mark in the media industry.

Long gone are the days when Parents was a 32page black and white production. These days, it puts out some 80 pages or so. But one thing remains consistent: the cover belongs to regular Kenyan couples and their children.

It is a complex mix of human interest stories, profiles — and the sex word, once considered too crude to be read out aloud in the Press, is never too far away in the cocktail of stories listed on the cover, though some might prefer to think of it in the more genteel term “reproductive health”.

About 20 couples reportedly request to be put on the cover each month.

Recognition The formula has earned her the reputation of favourite aunt, and many of her readers will stop her in the streets with a word of greeting. “Often, they will call out and say, “Are you not Eunice of Parents magazine?” she says with the smile of a woman who does not go out of her way to court publicity.

Mathu’s achievement is made all the more remarkable when you consider that some of the magazines that have come and gone have been pretty powerful and influential. They include the Weekly Review, the political analysis publication that was a runaway success in its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, and the women’s premier publication Viva, which put cookery and the political story together in one powerful package in the 1980s, and was the forerunner of the very gracious Eve and Lady.

Despite tough competition from the East African Magazines stable of society magazines — which includes True Love, Drum, Adam and latest entry Move — Eunice Mathu’s professional baby continues to hold its own with circulation figures of up to 40,000 and a readership of 6.5 million, according to Steadman reports.

Market The Kenyan market has long been perceived to be a graveyard of magazines, many of which come and go without so much as a whimper in the absence of long-term investment prospects such as those offered by the South African connection that the East African Magazines stable enjoys.

What, then, is Mathu’s secret to success?

The answer is slow and considered: “Parents was not the first magazine that I had engaged in. I started publishing a consumer publication known as Consumers Digest in 1984. However,

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

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Teenage girls remain under threat of sexual exploitation

Eunice Mathu, the proprietor of Parents Magazine, which has been in the market since July 1986.

About 332 editions have been published as at now.

Picture: FILE

By Jill Anami

G

irls as young as ten years are having sex in Nairobi County, according to a report released by the Nairobi Brain Trust.

Consumers Digest failed to make inroads because at the time Kenyans were not into consumerism.

Circulation was slow and business was difficult if you were going to go to the same advertisers for two publications.”

The report reveals that about 53 per cent of girls aged between 10 and 19 years are reported to have had sexual intercourse.

She eventually opted to put Consumers Digest to sleep and stayed with the family theme, which “lacked a proper read” in her opinion. She then thought of throwing profiles into the mix, which would provide a platform where people would talk about their lives, marriage and sex—subjects that nobody wanted to talk about even though they were topics that touched on daily lives.

Naomi Bosire, director Women Concern and Child Focus, a civil society organisation in Kisii County.

She blames the increased cases of defilement in Gusii region to the out of court settlements initiated by the elders.

Picture: ben oroko

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Mathu decided she would venture into this maiden territory. This, she believes, is why Parents edged out Consumers Digest and continues to enjoy a readership base that grows by the day. “Despite competition being out there, with big players coming in from outside the country with big cash which we don’t have, we have continued to move on steadily,” Mathu says.

She is aware of the challenges that come with publishing and changing trends. “Because of technology, people are no longer reading hard copy and most have reverted to the Internet.

This has led to newspaper readership going down and alternative media taking over.”

Stability “The nature of the magazine is to strengthen families and that is why we are cautious about the price, otherwise the minimum price that the magazine should be selling would be in the range of KSh400.”

Mathu’s business has remained steady even in turbulent times. But even good old Parents was hard-hit in the chaos following last year’s postelection violence. “We lost ground in Eldoret and Kisumu when vendors moved off the streets.

Many of the old vendors are no longer there in these two towns, and this has affected the market,” she says.

In Nairobi, vendors are often harassed by city council officials and this has also affected sales. Says Mathu: “Casual vendors who would otherwise assist with sales on the first few days that the magazine hits the market are no longer there.”

Nevertheless, she remains confident. “Parents is well grounded and able to cope,” she says, not unduly shaken by the challenge of a growing pool of competition and new media. “Emerging media is made up of lifestyle journalists, but is it giving us any role models? Are these magazines real?”

When she started out, the print media was a two-horse race, with only two newspapers, the Standard and Nation. There were also very few people in the media. She adds: “Now there is so much media. It’s difficult fighting for that same cake with over 70 radio stations, so many magazines, newspapers and TV stations. The media industry is too wide for readers and advertisers.”

The rise and rise of lifestyle magazines does not

“It’s only responsible media that are not partisan that can change the direction this country is taking. If we are partisan, the trust that the public has placed on us is abused. eunice mathu, media owner

pose a major challenge to her, even though they are popular among young people who aspire to the life depicted in the magazines. “The lifestyle magazines give the impression that every Kenyan is rich, yet most Kenyans are poor,” she argues.

“This is what makes all these magazines different from Parents, which is read all over the country, including areas where no other publications reach, and is for people raising families.”

Mathu, who is a founder member of the Media Owners Association and the Association of Media Women in Kenya, adds: “If I want a lifestyle magazine, there a many international titles that are on the magazine racks. Already, this market is exposed to so many other sources of information.”

Indeed, she confides, she has registered many titles but will not be launching any other magazine soon because she reckons the market is too

crowded while the advertising base remains the same. She adds: “It is a question of giving readers what they want without appearing to be duplicating. Already there are so many magazines in the market from out of the country and people are spoilt for choice. The issue of sustainability is major here. We have seen many magazines launched and unfold within a very short time.”

What Kenya needs, she adds, is responsible journalism that encourages Kenyans, not partisan journalism. “It’s only responsible media that are not partisan that can change the direction this country is taking. If we are partisan, the trust that the public has placed on us is abused. The fact that the media are trusted and powerful should not be abused. Tell the truth without colouring it.”

Domination The fact that boardrooms are male-dominated also concerns Mathu. “Our main newsrooms have been unfriendly to women, barring them from reaching the top echelons. Most women who would have gone up have been edged out. We need women at the top with responsibilities.”

Mathu the businesswoman is concerned that women who have started media organisations have pulled out and taken other directions—the most recent examples being Sheila Amdany of Radio Simba and Rose Kimotho of Kameme fame.

But women also do not help their case when they fail to map out their career path to rise to the top.

“Women must fight for their position,” she adds.

“Know what you want and be patient enough to make sure you get it.”

Kangaroo courts a barrier to justice for victims of defilement

By Ben Oroko

D

efilement remains a challenge posing threat to girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights.

However, justice for survivors of defilement is still a major challenge in rural communities where village headmen and clan elders continue settling defilement cases through ‘kangaroo’ courts to the detriment of the victims.

According to Naomi Bosire, director Women Concern and Child Focus, a civil society organisation in Kisii County, defilement is one of the sexual and gender-based violence vices depriving girls of their sexual and reproductive health rights.

Bosire accuses clan elders of protecting perpetrators of the vice by negotiating for out of court settlement deals, thereby denying victims their right to justice.

“Justice remains elusive for defiled girls from the Gusii community due to the out

of court settlement deals brokered by local clan elders who derail the process of accessing justice through the courts of law,” explains Bosire.

Setback She attributes increased cases of defilement in Gusii region to the out of court settlements initiated by the elders.

“Settling defilement through kangaroo court deals brokered by clan elders not only denies victims their right to justice through courts of law but also exposes them to social stigma and future retaliation from their assailants,” observes Bosire.

She laments that majority of defilement cases collapse due to out of court settlement deals which compromise credible legal action against perpetrators since such deals interfere with incriminating evidence against the perpetrators weakening cases before a court of law.

Bosire underscores the need to train village and clan elders on procedures that must be followed when cases are reported

to them, especially on the need for one to go to hospital within 72 hours to ensure that evidence is not tampered with.

“The elders should be sensitised on the dangers of colluding with the perpetrators of defilement,” says Bosire.

According to Felix Ogeta Programmes Officer Coalition on Violence against Women (COVAW), Nyanza Region, activists must be vigilant in the war against sexual gender based violence through intensified community sensitization campaigns and networking with relevant county and national government institutions.

Ogeta calls for concerted efforts in the war against sexual gender based violence by including all stakeholders in the society.

“There was an urgent need for COVAW to equip community activists with skills in paralegal to help build their capacity on aspects of the law in relation to dealing with sexual gender based violence cases as part of the efforts of making the society violence free,” says Ogeta.

Most of them get pregnant before their 17th birthday, with many dropping out of school to fend for themselves and their children.

Poverty, parental neglect and lack of information have been blamed for the sorry state of affairs.

Mary, a street girl in Nairobi County says that she got pregnant at 14.

“At a tender age of thirteen, I lost both of my parents and with no immediate family to lean on, I opted for the streets where only the fittest survive,” says Mary.

She recounts: “I was forced to engage in sexual activities as a way of livelihood. At the age of 14, I got pregnant and eventually gave birth to a baby girl in the streets with no proper ante-natal care.”

However, Mary is not alone. Most of her peers in the streets are either pregnant or nursing babies they can hardly take care of.

Access to sexual reproductive health services remains prohibitive to most adolescent girls from lower socio-economic class.

Study The study by the Nairobi Brain Trust reveal that vulnerabilities of the urban poor differ from those living in the rural areas due to the high cost of living, environmental and health hazards, sub-standard housing and exposure to insecurity. In addition to this, there is increase in sexual exploitation of women, girls and child abuse as well as a high prevalence of HIV and AIDS. According to the report, 92 per cent of the adolescents engage in sexual activities as a means of survival.

“Having dropped out of school and no employability or entrepreneurial skills, adolescent girls are easily lured into commercial sexual exploitation by friends and peers who are already active in the practise,” reads the report in part.

The report says that commercial sexual exploitation heavily influences the sexual and reproductive health of the adolescents engaged in it.

“This exposes them to various physical and psychological harms that affect their health and future lives as adults. Majority are likely to get unwanted pregnancies, with 38 percent opting to get married, 36 per cent opt to carry the pregnancy to full term and 24 per cent resort to induced abortion.

The report notes that coerced sex against adolescent girls is rife in Nairobi City, especially within the informal settlement, but despite increased awareness and availability of legal frameworks to deal with the vice, it remains seriously under reported.

“Hence many young girls continue to suffer from sexual abuse, violence, incest or rape and endure its resultant physical and psychological effects agonizing silence,” adds the report.

consequences Forced sex leads to considerable health consequences, including those related to unsafe abortions.

Sexual coercion is so pervasive in some crime prone slums in the city. Gang rape being the most common yet the most under reported case.

Adolescents living in such areas with high crime rates or areas with criminal gangs increase adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health risks.

For the very vulnerable girls in the society like the disabled, 28 per cent of the girls have experienced non-consensual sex, 22 per cent reported to have been commercially sexually exploited.

Challenges Vulnerable adolescent girls, who include the poor and disabled, face serious challenges including discrimination to access sexual reproductive health information and services.

“Awareness raising and educating young people on sexual reproductive health is important and urgently needs to be done.

There is need to provide reliable, explicit, accurate and correct sexual reproductive health information for the adolescents both at national and county level as well as address their plight within the existing health provisions frameworks and structures,” the report urges.

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

MARCH 8, 2014

MARCH 8, 2014

For slum women, service s have not trickled down

Alice Kirambi Inspired to work for the community

By Ruth Ayugi

H

er humble background could not deter her from advancing her education and professional career. Even in her adulthood as a wife, mother of four children and a widow, she has relentlessly continued to upgrade her educational status which she says enhances her capacity in community development.

The Maendeleo ya Wanawake Secretary General Alice Kirambi began her basic education at Vinyalo Primary School and later joined St Stephen High School, Kisii where she obtained her O-level East African Certificate of Examination (EACE).

As a young girl, Kirambi cherished Christianity, moral integrity, honesty and responsibility as well as the care for others, especially orphans and vulnerable children.

Her community work started in early 1990s in Mang’elete of Makueni, where residents are faced with acute water problems.

Inspired by their plight, Kirambi lobbied the government and managed to secure over 300 hand pumps, to ease the burden of water borne diseases that plagued the area residents.

Kirambi says since then, the women from Mang’elete have managed to beat hunger because they can use the water to grow crops.

She also takes credit for the construction of three classrooms in Utalawa Primary School in Kisase, a village in Kitui.

Kirambi was touched when she saw children learning under a tree.

“I really felt for those children so I worked so hard to look for funds to help these children get at least a classroom.

I found some donors and we were able build three classrooms. From there the government took over and it is now the Utawala Primary School,” she says.

Initiative In 1993, Kirambi launched the Christian Partners Development Agency (CPDA) as part of her solidarity with the poor.

The initiative held to educate girls from a humble background up to the college level.

Christian Partners Development Agency was first started in Chavakali town, Vihiga County, Western Province and has since given birth to several offices in Nairobi and the entire Africa Region.

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Kirambi says the 22 women she got to Beijing are now influential people in society in different parts of the country.

For Jane Awiti Kibera has been home for the last 21 years now. A single mother who fends for her family through monthly rent she collects from her tenants at Makina village, Awiti’s understanding of devolution is that it is where resources are distributed from the national to the local government. She has not seen services trickle down to the grassroots.

“These 12 critical areas of concern affecting women’s human rights and freedoms were feminization of poverty, inadequate participation in politics and decision making, lack economic independence, negative cultural practices based on patriarchal ideology, lack of access to relevant and appropriate information,” she notes.

“For example, like in public primary schools we are still being forced to pay some money for our children. We are also forced to purchase text books for them and we are not seeing that education is free anymore,” says Awiti.

Alice Kirambi, Maendeleo ya Wanawake Secretary General Picture: MARY MWENDWA

Achievements

In 2001, Kirambi was involved in the initial processes that led to the formulation of the Children’s Act in 2001 in Kenya. She was instrumental in the preparation of children to participate in

“I have not seen my Member of the County Assembly call for a meeting to discuss developments projects,” says Muhonja. She adds: “If you get to inquire, he says we shall have a meeting in town, but up to today the meetings with the locals have not taken off yet, and you see days are just going on and on.”

Resources

She is happy that her efforts impacted positively on these women who now refer to her as their mentor.

Kirambi was also a long-term chairperson of the Breast-Feeding Information Group Kenya, whose main goal is to improve early childhood and reduce child mortality rate in the country.

According to Muhonja, nothing much has been achieved on devolution and that there are still planning meetings to discuss on intended projects that help the people.

“Women should come out fighting for their rights by creating time to read and have a better understanding of the Constitution which allows equal participation into county assembly developments plans,” says Muhonja. She adds: “Women should be involved in all aspects of developments plans that not only will benefit them but the entire community.”

She organised a fundraiser for the ladies dubbed, “sponsor a sister to Beijing” which was the vehicle she used to get 22 women from her Western Kenya community to China.

She left in 2002 to head Christian Partners Development Agency herself.

Presently, Kirambi is still a member of Soroptimist International, though she does not hold any office.

A tailor by train, Muhonja has been mending clothes to the locals in Kibera. Her three children are the only source of joy in her life.

As a slum woman, Muhonja says that services that can of beneficial to women living in the slum include how to improve access roads to health facilities so that pregnant women can be assisted easily in such situations.

Kirambi participated in the Fourth World Women Conference at Beijing China.

She was among the four hundred Kenyan delegates that attended this conference, which came up with the 12 critical areas of concern affecting women’s human rights and freedoms.

Kirambi joined the Soroptimist International, a worldwide volunteer service organisation for businesspeople and professionals. The organisation works to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world. Here, she was elected the first Secretary of Soroptimist International in Kenya. She used her position to educate quite a number of Kenyans from very poor families.

She rose to be the first Governor of Soroptimist International, charged with global policy making decisions. This involved more travelling around the world than she had done before, which also meant that she was better placed to push for and implement solutions relevant to women issues.

last 26 year, a place she came to when she was only 18 years old.

These 12 critical areas of concern affecting women’s human rights and freedoms were feminization of poverty, inadequate participation in politics and decision making, lack economic independence, negative cultural practices based on patriarchal ideology, lack of access to relevant and appropriate information.

Alice Kirambi , The Maendeleo ya Wanawake Secretary General the United Nations Conference on the rights of a child.

“Today, Kenya is among the few

countries with a children’s cabinet that has the capacity to articulate issues related to children’s rights and freedoms, including the right to basic needs, like education, food, shelter, water and security,” she explains.

Kirambi also joined the Elimu Yetu Campaign in lobbying for universal free primary education in Kenya in line with the World Declaration at Jomtien in 1990 and the Dakar platform in 2000.

As a result of this sustained advocacy, over one million-school going children have joined education institution under the free education program in the Country.

In 2004, she participated in international conferences for mainstreaming gender and disaster management in Germany and in Hawaii. She also presented a learning paper on Mainstreaming Gender in the Millennium Development Goals at the United Nations Conference in June 2005. During the National Constitutional Conference at Bomas of Kenya, Kirambi joined other child activists and lobby groups to push for the rights and freedoms of children and women in the Constitution.

Campaign

Kirambi is the current Director and Chairperson of the Vihiga Water Amatsi Company that seeks to guarantee access to safe drinking water to all citizens. This responsibility complements her initial efforts to protect water springs and construct water tanks in several communities and institutions within Vihiga and Kakamega districts in Western Province and Makueni District in Eastern Province of Kenya.

As Secretary General of Maendeleo ya Wanawake, Alice says she conducted various activities to promote peace among warring communities.

In Isiolo, she says, women came up with a campaign dubbed ‘exchange a baby’ where Turkana women would carry Somali children and Somali women would do the same.

“This campaign helped to restore peace in the volatile area because how do you kill a woman carrying your own child,” she explains.

In Kajiado, Maendeleo ya Wanawake managed to bring together morans, educated them on the side effects of female genital mutilation and they were shocked to find out what their women go through and vowed to fight the vice and for me that was a big step towards

During a recent visit to Mbagathi District Hospital Awiti did not get to be served well as a patient because the drugs that were prescribed to her were missing.

By Thomas Bwire

The sprawling Kibera slums where residents have embraced devolution. Picture: FILE

A

gives them an opportunity to discuss their issues, which in the past years never took place,” says Wangui.

t 26 years, Catherine Wangui has been living in Kibera for the last 10 years.

She is a mother of one child and happy to be playing a crucial role as a community member in educating the locals in Kibera on matters to do with gender based violence.

She notes that Okoth has made great strides in ensuring devolution works well for the locals with just one example where he makes sure that “the process for one to apply for school fees bursary for our children was held in an open ground in front of everybody”.

Her tasks majorly are to assist slum women in the community to get to know their rights if they end up being abused in their marriages and the kind of assistance they may require to get justice.

Accessibility

She understands devolution to mean top services which have been held by the national government in the precious years are localised to benefit the locals at the grassroots level.

“For example, like in the past years an ailing patient living in Mandera was in most cases brought all the way to Kenyatta National Hospital in order to get better treatment since health facilities in their county at that time could not offer the necessary services required,” explains Wangui.

However, she notes that with devolution now taking shape in Kenya, the system is gradually changing for the betterment of the citizens. For example, she says the Member of Parliament for Kibra, the constituency which hosts the sprawling slum Kenneth Okoth is now more accessible to the local.

“Every Monday he gets to meet the people and

However her biggest headache is still with the Member of the County Assembly whom majority of them are not getting closer to the people who elected them to the key positions.

Leaders should discard empty rhetoric and instead engage the electorate in meaningful debate to help prioritize development in their respective areas CATHERINE wangui

Wangui urges local leaders to stop selling politics with an aim of who will capture a seat come 2017 but should engage with citizens and come up with dialogue forums to have equal participation of projects that can be of beneficial to all parties.

About 30 per cent of slum women know about devolution and how they can participate in devolution matters,” she notes.

Wangui advocates for public forums such as chief barazas to enlighten women more to have a better understanding of their involvement on devolution.

Fanice Muhonja has also lived in Kibera for the

“I even paid a fee KSh100 to get a hospital car,” she says, adding “luckily I had the money with me.”

Awiti’s biggest challenge has been how to participate on devolution. She has ignored some of the locals forums called by the leaders, and in most cases she has heard of such meetings through hearsay and some friends which she says might end up not being true.

She urges the members of the county assemblies to enhance better communication channels with the locals so that when they are calling for meetings the locals will see need participate.

“Let our locals leaders engage us more, the gap between us here and the ones in leadership is so wide and our prayers are that, something needs to be done urgently,” says Awiti. She adds: “We don’t want to see the ongoing wrangles from our leaders, we had an agreement before they came into power that service delivery was to be agenda number one.”

Khadija Ismail, a single of four children says services have not trickled down to the slums.

“The plot where I live has no bathroom or washroom facilities and to access them one has to paying on a daily basis,” says Ismail.

Her hopes that elected leaders would start addressing issues of amenities like bathrooms to make their lives better have been dashed.

“I believe devolution should address such matters at the grassroots level,” says Ismail.

Kenyan Woman

32

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

MARCH 8, 2014

Empowerment through agriculture will eliminate violence against women

By Julian Muturia

Agriculture can play a significant role in reducing poverty and eliminating violence against women especially in rural areas. A large percentage of violence against women has been attributed to poverty. Although 80 per cent of food is produced by smallholder women farmers, very few have access to productive resources such as credit, land, water and markets and make up about 60 per cent of chronically hungry people in the world. Only one per cent of women own land and access credit in Kenya.

D

espite being among Africa’s economic giants and lauded for the most progressive laws including the new constitution, Kenya is faced by numerous challenges towards mainstreaming gender and achieving gender parity in the political social and economic sectors.

The struggle for gender parity and women’s right has been ongoing since the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 which emphasises that human rights should be enjoyed by all without any form of discrimination.

80percent of food is produced by smallholder women farmers. However, very few have access to productive resources such as credit, land, water and markets and make up about 60 percent of chronically hungry people in the world. Picture: FILE

Challenges This has been attributed to retrogressive cultural practices which have denied women the opportunity to own land individually or jointly with their spouses, high cost of inputs, poor livestock husbandry, limited extension services, over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture, lack of markets, and limited application of agricultural technology and innovation. The annual national budget for agriculture has also been on the decline from 5.1 per cent in 2009/2010 to 3.6 per cent in 2012/2013.

inheritance, the not more than one third gender rule in elective positions, and provision for socio economic rights in the Bill of Rights. Devolution has also provided an opportunity for small

Improving the productivity of small holder women farmers will not only eliminate violence but also accelerate achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Although the agricultural sector directly contributes to 26 per cent of the Gross

Convention Subsequent international and regional instruments such as Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW as well as the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and its Maputo Protocol continue to reaffirm this.

The Constitution of Kenya 2010 brought unprecedented gains for women ranging from ability of women to pass on citizenship to their children, equal rights in marriage, shared parental responsibility, elimination of discrimination in land ownership and

holder women farmers to engage with the county government in determining the budgetary allocations for inter alia agriculture which is a devolved function of the county government.

Saving women from jaws of loan sharks

By Ben Oroko

W

omen who have been victims of shylocks (loan sharks) can now heave a sigh of relief, thanks to the table banking concept that will equip them with financial mobilization skills and business ideas to empower them economically.

The concept, set to be rolled out under the stewardship of members of the county assembly, will drive the engine of rural women’s economic empowerment.

This comes amidst reports that women entrepreneurs have been experiencing difficulties in accessing loans and credit from leading financial institutions and commercial banks due to the strict lending terms.

According to Mary Sally Otara, Member

Kisii County Assembly, the table banking concept seeks to rescue women from unscrupulous individuals who continue disempowering unsuspecting rural women. The concept will ensure that women become more self-reliant financially.

“For decades women have suffered in the hands of financial institutions and commercial banks which demand collateral and charge high interest rates, thus limiting their access to credit,” explains Otara.

She advises women to join groups and decide on the standard amount they can contribute over a specified period of time after which the savings are advanced to members based on their rules of engagement.

“I am encouraging women to take advantage of the table banking concept to pool financial resources together to finance their investments without depending on commercial banks whose

terms and conditions of lending do not favour a majority of them,” advises Otara.

Concept The table banking concept will be rolled out to villages in all the 45 wards in Kisii County where experts in business management will be hired to train women on business ideas and financial management skills.

According to Moraa Gisiora, an official with a local self-help group in Bobasi Chache Ward in Kisii County, the concept has come at the right time when women in rural areas need economic empowerment.

Gisiora decried the frustrations women go through in the hands of shylocks.

She described the situation as adverse, noting that unsuspecting and desperate rural women seeking credit go for unsecured loans from shylocks

Executive Director: Arthur Okwemba Editor: Jane Godia Sub-Editors: Faith Muiruri and Duncan Mboya

Domestic Product annually and another 25 per cent indirectly, it also provides 70 per cent of informal employment in the rural areas to women and youth.

Smallholder women farmers continue to be discriminated with regard to access to agricultural productive resource as they are viewed as unproductive due to low production hence accelerating poverty.

In light of the foregoing, there is an urgent need for all stakeholders, government, civil society and private corporations to recognise the role that agricultural activities by small holder women farmers continue to play in poverty eradication. They should then provide them with the requisite support towards achievement of socio-economic rights and subsequently elimination of violence against women.

ACORD, a Pan African organization is working in 18 countries in Africa on the thematic areas of women’s rights, health, peace building, food security and livelihoods. ACORD has been present in Kenya since 2005 and works in the most marginalized and hard to reach communities.

In all its work, ACORD has a bias for women in which we seek to elimination all forms of violence against women through research, community sensitization and trainings, economic empowerment and policy advocacy.

who charge punitive interest rates that a majority are unable to repay.

County, shylocks have impoverished unsuspecting rural women.

“We have witnessed poor women lose their property and investments after being auctioned by the same shylock who use all means at their disposal to recover the credit advanced,” says Gisiora.

Bochere notes that it is only merry-goround cash contribution activities that can rescue women seeking economic empowerment. She singled out her group of 20 members who meet every Wednesday and contribute KSh300 each.

She adds: “Though they offer convenient financial solutions to the borrowers, the shylocks more often than not have frustrated women’s efforts to empower themselves economically.”

Women in the rural-based households will not only use the table banking concept to address their financial needs to also address the challenges they face while seeking credit and loans from financial institutions.

According to Kwamboka Bochere, a member of a local self-help group in Boigesa Village, Giasaiga Sublocation in Bobasi Chache Ward in Kisii

“This amount is then shared between two members each week according to our rules of engagement,” she explains, adding that women will be more secure with table banking.

The mode of distributing the money is done through balloting where all members participate.

Contributions “The merry-go-round cash contributions in our group collects KSh6000 per week and is shared between two members in a cluster,” says Bochere. She adds:

Contributors: Joyce Chimbi, Ruth Omukhango, Odhiambo Orlale, Carolyne Oyugi, Joy Masheti, Gilbert Ochieng, Hellen Kivaya , Jill Anami, Henry Kahara, David Njagi, Ben Oroko, Valerie Musavi, Ruth Ayugi and Thomas Bwire Cover picture: Women walking back to their homes in Gumuruk, Pibor County, Jonglei State. (Credit Plan International