Girls, too, have a fair shot at leadership given chance

Day of the African Child came and went, but the helicopter tragedy that claimed Internal Minister George Saitoti and his Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode was the arena in which one last, but very powerful word was put forth in defence of not just the African child, but all children.

True to character and legacy he left, former President Daniel Moi had counsel for all gathered at Prof Saitoti’s final send-off. For a man credited with establishing hundreds of girls’ schools during the Nyayo years, he urged people of the larger Kajiado, Samburu and Narok districts to continue the late minister’s efforts to educate the Girl Child. And who in his right mind finds wife material in a 12-year-old?

Indeed, the new Constitution confers equal rights to all citizens, big or small, male or female and breaks down the fences of ethnocentricity, race and religious affiliation. Some of the world’s most inspiring leaders, inventors, and opinion-shapers are women.

Moi’s call comes at a time China has fired into orbit its first female astronaut, Ms Liu Yang, Fatou Bensouda has taken oath of office as the first African and female Head Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court by merit, Joyce Banda has joined Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as second female Head of State in Africa, Christine Lagarde sits in office as IMF chief executive and many more women are blazing the trail in every endeavour of humanity.

Leaders are not born, but are made through a complex mix of nurture and nature. But the start-off point must be leveled to give everyone a fighting chance.

Patrilineal society

What the mourners were saying was that great leaders like Saitoti and Ojode touched the lives of so many in such positive ways. They saw women and the girl child as a cornerstone to spurring development and went out of their way to give them that extra edge.

So, even as the Constitution confers certain privileges to women the one-third gender rule that is still the short end of the stick. Ideally, the foundation and deliberate efforts to encourage girls to take a bold step into the patrilineal society we live in, can they hope to have women enough, qualified enough and bold enough to grow into the shoes of such giants as Saitoti and Ojode.