One woman’s bid against all odds

By Brenda Kageni

After the 2007 General Election, 22 women made it to Parliament, a paltry ten per cent, yet the largest there ever has been in its history. Fifteen of these made it through elective politics. Mrs Elizabeth Ongoro was one of them. The Kasarani MP roughed it out in the election and came out shining. Her election may have come as a surprise to many, especially considering obvious factors like her age, gender, the size of the constituency and a seeming aversion to women leadership in this country.

She says hers was a mission that could not be stopped despite the odds because it was her time to affect the lives of her people, first in her constituency, and eventually in the nation, East Africa and the African continent. Being a woman was not going to stop her and for women in politics, her word is, "Know that you were elected not because you were a woman, but because you were a good leader. You can remain feminine and still be firm and focused. Do not allow people to see you through the female lens. Let them see you as a politician."

Ongoro’s passion is in breaking the cycles of poverty and creating better leadership and governance structures, especially because poverty was her story. Her choice of constituency is telling in that Kasarani is home to some of Nairobi’s slums like Mathare and Korogocho.

Seeing the suffering of most of her staff who are now her constituents it reminded her of the hunger, deprivation and poverty she experienced growing up and she realised she had the kind of history to identify with them. She could put in place policies that would end the poverty cycle.

Extend yourself

"There is a time when you feel you have concentrated enough on your family. You feel the need to extend yourself and include a larger number of people in society."

Ongoro grew up in Maseno in a family of 12, two who died in infancy. Her dad who worked at Siriba Teachers’ College was a man of lean means and the family lived in lack.

In fact, it was so bad that she had to drop out of school at Mary Hill after Form One for lack of school fees.

She later resumed school in Form Four after skipping two years and got into Form Five and Six, this time because the Catholic Church was paying her fees. A strong resolve to steer her life in the way she thought it should go saw her join the world of entrepreneurship and she grew to a point where she was employing many.

What she went through, she says, made her tough and she feels that women internalise stuff too much so that they let life break them instead of toughening them up.

"Women must learn to pick themselves up and move on. Men have a cunning way of doing this. I did Form One and Four only in a very poor school. Teachers or no teachers, we made up our minds to pass."

Charting her path in business was not easy either, as capital was not forthcoming.

"I approached banks with many good ideas, but those were the days when if your name, your mother’s name, father’s name, or grandfather’s name did not ring a bell, you did not go anywhere."

She eventually decided to start out small and grow slowly. At first she was providing fish for exporters, then she went into the waste management industry and eventually got into construction.

By the time she was joining politics, she had made it big as a businesswoman and was employing many people. Seven months after the 2002 General Election, Ongoro began her campaign by getting involved and interacting with the people to give them a chance to get to know her better.

"I wanted to give them an opportunity to know me for me. Four and a half years is a long time to campaign, but for me it was not just about winning an election. I don’t believe in leading a people I do not understand and who do not understand me. I wanted them to know my positives and negatives and still feel they can trust me."

Propaganda

The people of Kasarani clearly trusted her and believed in her vision.

Despite various challenges in the political arena, such as a cultural inclination that is blatantly male, negative propaganda, election violence, and having a young family, she was still able to come out tops.

She has been able to put in place structures at the constituency level that meets the needs of her constituents while allowing her to juggle her other responsibilities as a family woman and Assistant Minister in Nairobi Metropolitan Development Ministry.

Of importance in particular is a children’s department that allows children to talk to each other.

Older children are trained to help younger ones who are going through various issues like abuse and HIV and Aids. She has also launched Kasarani Sacco where registration is ongoing.

"As opposed to handouts, I have committed part of my salary to the Sacco so that someone becomes more accountable."

Ongoro, however, feels that she has just created a launching pad for her political growth.

"I am at the bottom of the political mountain and unlike most people, I don’t believe presidency is the ultimate. I want to get to the point where I will be able to influence a national, East African, even African constituency. Mandela influences many lives even without a title. That is the achievement I want to have."