How women can beat men in their game

Reserving special seats for women is like increasing foreign aid to Africa. Decades after western powers extended their 'benevolence' to many African states; poverty has tightened its grip on the hapless states.

The recent proposal by National Assembly speaker Justin Muturi for scrapping the 47 Women Representatives and replacing them with 100 seats for women is well-intentioned.

However, the trend for setting aside these seats should not be sustained for long.

It breeds the carrot-and-stick tactic through which male leaders will create a tighter hold on power and lock out any deserving female leader from ascending to power.

At the same time, an illusion that we are moving ahead as a respected democracy will be created.

Kenyan women fight many odds to reach where they are: retrogressive traditions, poverty, discrimination, exploitation and violence.

However, women have a couple of arsenals they can unleash to change the perception that they are weak and need help all the time.

For instance, Kenyan women have displayed greater social networking skills than their male counterparts, which they can use to mobilise votes.

A majority of Kenyan women belong to merry-go-round or table banking, which not only supplements the family income, but creates a platform for exchanging ideas on development—political organisation should become an agenda soon.

Numerical advantage swings slightly in favour of women. The 2009 Kenya National Population Census estimated that women at 19.41 million outnumbered men, who came in at 19.19 million.

Though men display a keener interest in politics than women, if the women voted for a deserving female to the man, the political landscape would get a fresher breath.

Thirdly, special seats come with 'special people'. If more special seats are created for women, we'll see a recycling of unpopular candidates with connections coming to power.

They will do nothing for the cause of women, provided their sponsors, most likely power-hungry men, will continue calling the shots at the nomination stage.

The leading two political parties, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the evolving The National Alliance (now Jubilee Alliance Party) have replicated what their predecessor parties did.

If women have been elected to the highest political offices in lands far more hostile than Kenya, why can't it be done here?

Take the example of Pakistan. Parts of northern Pakistan are Taliban-controlled but the late Benazir Bhutto was twice elected as Prime Minister beginning in 1988.

She excelled at asserting her right to leadership in an Islamic, male-dominated society. Bhutto squared it out and triumphed against wealthy male opposition; the likes of Nawaz Shariff.

She would display the same resolve in and out of power until her assassination in 2007, when she was headed for another poll victory. Margaret Thatcher stands as the longest-serving Prime Minister in the United Kingdom in the 20th Century.

Her story is the rise of a shopkeeper's daughter who became a chemist and lawyer before getting elected as Member of Parliament in 1959. Known as "the Iron Lady", Mrs Thatcher was UK's Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990.

More recent examples of elected women in power include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Argentine President Kristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Brazillian President Dilma Rousseff and closer home; current Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who whitewashed football star George Weah in 2005.

Other notable women in power include Kosovo's President Atifete Jahjaga, South Korea's Park Geun-hye, Lithuania's Dalia Grysbauskaite and Croatia's Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.

The list of female prime ministers is even longer, but the main point her is that if it can be done elsewhere, it can be done here.

Setting aside special seats for women is a first step but this should never be the long-term goal.

Just as former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan made the prophetic 'Winds of Change' speech in 1960 to the South African Parliament, setting the stage for independence of African states; the hour is nigh for Kenyan women.

Smell the coffee and become more pinpoint voters. After all, it is the only window that remains unexplored in our quest for alternative and focused leadership. I rest my case.