×
The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and international interest.
  • Standard Group Plc HQ Office,
  • The Standard Group Center,Mombasa Road.
  • P.O Box 30080-00100,Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Telephone number: 0203222111, 0719012111
  • Email: [email protected]

Part 5: Do you know your woman representative?

Achieving Woman

Part 5: Do you know your woman representative?

Two years since they were elected, there has been a widespread outcry that the seat of women representatives has lost meaning as the occupants are arguably yet to prove their usefulness. Eve Woman asked the women how they have been keeping busy.

 Photo: Courtesy

 

 

 

 

21. COUNTY: Nyandarua

NAME: Wanjiku Muhia

INTERVIEW: James Munyeki

When Nyandarua Woman Representative Wanjiku Muhia ascended to leadership in 2013, she promised to tackle issues affecting Kenyans at the grass root level.

Wanjiku was at the forefront of having the degazettement of the new rule that had been introduced by Transport Cabinet secretary Michael Kamau.

She argued that the people of Nyandarua would be adversely affected by the new rules as they would no longer transport their market produce the market.

"This is an issue that I handled as a person from Nyandarua and took the government head on until it was degazzetted. It was my first achievement," she says.

Wanjiku has also moved Persons with Disability Bill to parliament and it is now in the third reading.

The bill requires that Sign Language be examined as the same as English and Kiswahili.

It also calls for interpreters to be employed in major institutions like hospitals and banks as well as all media houses. She has also moved the first amendment to the Milk Bill that requires that a liter of the produce not to be sold below Sh40.

But one of the challenges she says she has faced is lack of funds for Women MPs.

This she says makes them not be felt on the ground unlike other elected leaders like MPs and Governors. The vastness of the area they cover is also another handle they face despite lack of funds.

Nyandarua women Wanjiku notes are faced with severe poverty and to tackle this she notes she has encouraged them on the move to join table banking and start microbusinesses.

In the remaining three years she wants to see a Sh1 billion cancer center project she has started at Kipipiri start operations.

This she says the project will see over 10 million Kenyans get treatment at the centre.

 Photo: Courtesy

22. COUNTY: Samburu

NAME: Maison Leshoomo

INTERVIEW: Sylvia Wakhisi

Samburu county women representative Maison Leshoomo's biggest hurdle since she took over the seat in 2013 has been restoring peace in an area that has for a long time been hit by violence.

"When I took over the seat, I purposed to see to it that communities in Samburu live in peace and harmony with each other. Building peace has always been in my heart. I have buried many young people in this area and it really pains me when we continue to lose people," says Leshoomo.

"Without peace there cannot be development. We want to see to it that there is peace among the Pokot and Samburu, the Borana and Samburu and even the Turkana and Samburu. Through civic education and with the help of local peace committees we are working hard to ensure that peace is restored in the area so that parents do not have to withdraw their children from school out of fear," she adds.

On the other hand, Leshoomo is fighting hard to ensure that women in the county recognise their rights such that they can even contest for leadership positions.

"I was once a Councilor in the area and faced a lot of criticism from the men who felt that a woman cannot stand in front of men and address them. I have fought hard and I continue to fight hard to ensure that the men from Samburu realise that a woman can also play a leadership role very well, and is capable of taking up any job and sit in the various boards. I am proud that we now have three female chiefs in Samburu which signifies that as a county we are heading in the right direction," she says.

When it comes to the issue of female genital mutilation, a cultural practice observed by many communities in Samburu, Leshoomo says she has spearheaded civic educational campaigns which seek to educate the people on the dangers of FGM and for them to understand that you do not lose out on anything if you don't undergo FGM.

According to Leshoomo, since many people in Samburu were afraid of taking loans such as the Uwezo fund, she has organised educational sessions for them to be imparted on knowledge about the fund, how it works and its benefits. On the other hand, since the government introduced free maternity services in public facilities, she has seen to it that women from the area deliver in hospital and take their children for clinic unlike before when many preferred giving birth at home.

"My next biggest agenda is to see to it that communities in Samburu have access to clean water and that there is high retention of children-both boys and girls-in school. We have to support all of them to get an education for their future to be bright," she says.

 Photo: Courtesy

23. COUNTY: Siaya

NAME: Christine Omabaka

INTERVIEW: Olivia Odhiambo

Many female parliamentarians have remained vocal and work for the interests of the common mwanachi, despite the speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi proposing the scraping of the women representative and nominated MPs seats.

Siaya county women representative Dr. Christine Omabaka told Eve Woman that one of her greatest achievements in the county since she took over the seat has been the ability to raise funds for over 30 needy students who are now in form two despite not having bursary and constituency development fund (CDF).

"Unlike the governors and MPs, women representatives do not have a fund from government to support constituents. I have gone out of my way to raise funds from friends in America and other countries to ensure I provide education for the needy students from the county," she said.

The women Rep also said that another great achievement was to mobilise women, youths and the less privileged in the county to form groups for table banking to basically enable them support their families and themselves.

"I borrowed the idea from Rift valley and decided to sell it to my people. I am glad over 700 groups have since joined table banking and there is over Sh20 million circulating within the groups in Siaya county," Omabaka said.

Despite the achievements, just like other women reps in the country she also has a sad story to tell and some of the serious challenges that have led to her slow growth.

Dr. Omabaka mentioned that unlike other female reps she is among those that take care of a larger region, like Siaya County that has over six constituencies.

She also said that a lot of residents do not understand the role of MPs and that has since led to a lot of bickering.

"It is not easy accessing every village in the county due to poor roads and terrains. I take care of a bigger region including an Island known as Mageta. It is hard for residents to understand that the role of an MP is not to serve an individual but a community and a lot of times the people do not understand this. They expect a lot and sometimes others fail to apply for bursary and expect the MP to pay school fees from their own pockets," she added.

She noted that the greatest issue faced by the women in the county was politics since a lot of women do not vie for elective posts.

"I have embarked on a journey to educate women in my county on the importance of politics and that is the reason I brought table banking to empower them to vie for posts during elections. A lot of them blame it on lack of financial support .An example is; out of 30 elective ward positions only one woman managed the rest of seats were scooped by men," she lamented.

Dr. Omabaka said that her agenda for the remaining part of her term is to push her achievements, work on the challenges and improve on the biggest issue that women in her county face.

"If I were to get more money I would still invest in educating the needy students. I will still push for women, youths and the less privileged to join table banking. I am still pushing for women and youth enterprise funds, uwezo fund and social development funds. Good health and poverty eradication is also part of my agenda for the remaining time," she added.

24. COUNTY: Tharaka-Nithi

NAME: Beatrice Nkatha

INTERVIEW: Sylvia Wakhisi

She boasts of overseeing the introduction of the table banking concept in her county which has so far attracted 12,000 women groups.

When the government rolled out the Uwezo fund for the women, Nkatha says she had to go round the county explaining to them as well as the youth what the fund was all about and even assist them in filling the forms since many had little understanding about the fund.

"Even after they have accessed the fund, I have to visit them again to find out whether they are making use of it wisely."

Nkatha says she has also assisted a number of youth interested in the boda boda business get licences and insurance.

"Owning a boda boda is however not everything. We try to educate them on the need for them to be sober even as they carry out the business and how to treat their customers with respect so that they can progress well," she says.

She has also spearheaded the introduction of sports tournaments in the county to ensure that both boys and girls spend their time wisely by identifying their talents.

She cites lack of funding and scarcity of food and water as the biggest challenges she faces.

"The lower part of Tharaka is semi-arid. I'm forced to borrow tanks from the ministry of water and give them to schools where they can store water for drinking and washing their hands. On the other hand, due to shortage of food, some children had to drop out of school and it took the help of the national government to get food to supply to the families that were hard hit. We hope to address the water challenge so that we could even practice farming through irrigation to have a constant supply of food in the county," she says.

She also hopes to see to it that technical and vocational institutions are set up in the county to cater for the youth who are not able to go to university or college so that they are equipped with skills in carpentry, plumbing masonry among others.

 Photo: Courtesy

25. COUNTY: Taita Taveta

NAME: Joyce Wanjala Lay

INTERVIEW: Renson Mnyamwezi

Since Lay was overwhelmingly elected as the first Taita-Taveta County Women Representative, a number of achievements have so far been realised according to her.

Despite the fact that there are no funds allocated to them, the women leader said she has created awareness to the electorate through the formation of village bunges where the local community has the opportunity to share and discuss issues affecting them and participate in developing laws to deal with emerging issues.

Through the Joyce Lay Foundation, she supports 18 students from disadvantaged backgrounds by paying for their high school fees.

"I see this as an achievement. I have also supported one college student from Tambach Teachers College who has since completed her training. I have also donated balls to schools during interschool football competitions and tournaments apart from supporting church development projects," she said.

She has also overseen the introduction of table banking in the county, which is the brainchild of Rachel Ruto, wife to deputy president William Ruto.

This savings and credit initiative which was introduced under the aegis of Joyful Women Organisation, Taita-Taveta County Chapter, has slowly begun to change the financial fortunes of women in the county.

According to Lay, the table banking initiative has so far attracted over 200 women groups with a membership of 2, 076 women.

"This is a major boost for women in the county who have been financially marginalized and unable to get economic empowerment due to lack of sound investment opportunities," says Lay.

However Lay says one of the major challenges women leaders like herself have encountered in service delivery is lack of adequate development funds to undertake projects that will improve the livelihoods of the people especially marginalized and disadvantaged women.

She says that while Members of parliament are allocated CDF funds, governors have county development funds as well as MCAs with ward development funds, women reps do not have any development funds at their disposal.

"Even our attempts to have a say in the allocation of Uwezo funds for women leaders were scuttled in parliament", she says.

She says despite the fact that women reps cover a whole county, they earn the same salary as an MP who only covers a single constituency.

Lay says women in the county still face challenges of access to affordable maternal health care, lack of collateral for accessing loans in major banks as well as lack of awareness on the HIV/Aids scourge.

"Lack of women empowerment in decision making has contributed to poverty, conflict and suffering. Unless women can influence decisions that directly affect their lives, they will remain excluded from mainstream development," said the women representative.

Lay has also formed the County Widows Association whose main agenda is to come up with income generating projects to transform their lives. "I have already established an office for the women's association," she disclosed.

Apart from being from being in the forefront in promoting talent development in the county, Ms Lay had participated and immensely contributes towards the success of the Miss Taita-Taveta Beauty pageant event last year.

Her other achievements include the registration of the Taita-Taveta silk network sacco with a target of 5,000 membership, supported the formation of boda boda sacco, identified basket weaving groups in Kasigau and Mwatate and engaged a development partner for the initiative.

In her legislative role, the MP said she had introduced an amendment to the Fertilizer Bill which was successfully passed by both the national assembly and the Senate.

She said she had also introduced a landmark motion in having all the laws of Kenya translated into Kiswahili. "I have been made the ambassador of this major project," she said.

"I am currently drafting a domestic workers bill and basic education amendment bill. I am also pushing for the IVF Bill (Surrogate) which is meant to regulate the IVF process in Kenya and also make sure those women and men who suffer infertility are given an opportunity to get the assisted process at an affordable cost," said Lay.

 Photo: Courtesy

26. COUNTY: Wajir

NAME: Fatuma Ibrahim

INTERVIEW: Sylvia Wakhisi

Her county has suffered a wave of violence in the recent past and as she puts it, this has had a negative impact in as far as development is concerned.

Despite the security concerns, there are other issues Fatuma Ibrahim Ali hopes to address as the women representative and this include the high illiteracy levels in the county and gender based violence especially against the women.

"The literacy level in Wajir is less than 20 per cent. My serious concern is how we ensure that every child in Wajir is enrolled in school," she says.

"We have noted that many parents do not enroll their children to school and this can be attributed to culture and the fact that many families are nomadic. We have been going round the county encouraging and enlightening them on the importance of having their children in school. We hope to work on a very strategic intervention to boost education in the county and one example is setting up boarding schools," she says.

She also notes that there is a lot of rape and defilement taking place in the county.

"I brought a motion to parliament regarding the defilement cases in Wajir which I hope will be discussed and a solution found. I have attended several public barazas together with other leaders and at least we are seeing something being done since some culprits have been arrested and sentenced to prison. Such kind of action will act as a very strong warning to those who are carrying out these heinous acts," she says.

Her biggest agenda is to champion for the rights of marginalised communities especially women as well as peace building and conflict management initiatives.

Related Topics