Karua script follows that of other African women

 By Kipkirui K'Telwa

 

Martha Karua’s decision to quit the Grand Coalition Government is a case study in what befalls many hardworking African women.

The colonial-inspired capitalist economy has seen many women labour for their male companions only to be shunted aside, or to earn a co-wife.

Those who grew up n the rural Kenyan like me know it is the woman who tends the farm, plants crops, weeds, harvests and stores foodstuff. Once the food is stored, the husband appears with tough measures aimed at curtailing her access to the food she

grew.

Some men even padlock the stores. He can unilaterally decide to sell the entire stock and use the proceeds to acquire a second wife.

Livestock-keeping families see women perform more taxing chores as the husband whiles away his time in the busaa dens, entertaining friends and nomadic women.

The woman of the home has to water the livestock, seek pasture and even mend fences or go around the village seeking a bull for the cow on heat - humiliating chore that cannot be postponed.

When husband is beaten up in busaa brawls, which happen frequently, it is the wife who drags him home to nurse him until he is healed and healthy for more carousals. Many a man hardly rewards this close companion.

This world abounds with stories of women who take bank loans to boost the economic status of their men who end up abandoning home when they become men of means.

But without being mean to Gichugu MP, there was nothing strange with not being consulted by those in the President’s court over the appointment of new judges. It is not extra-ordinary feat for Karua to have remained an ardent foot soldier

for President Kibaki since his December 2002 election. Not even her resolute fight she staged at KICC election tallying centre in December 2007 could earn her a name in the court of brokers.

Those saying Karua fought to ensure Kibaki stuck within State House miss the point. Kings don’t fight. It is the pages and maidens who serve in his court.

And settled, the powerful male clique do not require maidens and pages within their arena unless on call. But to maintain their dignity, the ruling clique chose to allow Karua to be idle until she felt

Frustrated to nagging point, forcing her to either leave or be fired.

Danson Mungatana’s resignation that followed a week later does not fit the script of the hardworking, but frustrated African woman. It was no wonder he hardly attracted media attention.