Let women show they can offer different leadership

Are women shooting themselves in the foot in their fight for leadership roles? Some of their actions in the recent past have left us wondering. Not too long ago, hundreds of women took to Nairobi streets to petition President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto to intervene in the Nairobi County affairs. They wanted Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko prevailed upon to not only appoint a deputy but specifically give preference to a woman. Led by Nairobi County Women Forum chairlady Cecilia Wairimu, the women argued that whereas the governor was doing a good job, “A house cannot be complete without a woman, and Sonko’s house lacks one.” Thus, the women fought hard to gain access into the inner sanctums of power in the Nairobi County government.

In a separate incident, all women Members of Parliament recently took the unusual measure of wearing white head gear to all sessions of the House, ostensibly to protest the delay in the implementation of the two-thirds gender rule. On the first day of their protest, official House business was delayed for more than an hour as the women justified their action on the floor of the House. They insisted that they would continue to don their “vitamba” to Parliament until the gender rule is implemented. Indeed, as the debate on the bill has been going on, the women have made good their threat and turned up in their white headscarfs.