Kenya would be better if we gave more women a chance to lead

UDA Woman Representative aspirant Linet Chepkorir alias Toto. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

One of the unfortunate losses that the death of BBI occasioned was the resolution of the two-thirds gender principle.

The failure to resolve this constitutional imperative through statutory means has displayed the discomfort with which Kenya’s largely male political society holds the inclusion of women into political leadership. Despite several court orders and even an order to dissolve Parliament by the Chief Justice, male politicos remain unmoved and the country continues in blatant disregard for the law.     

The BBI proposals had resolved the gender issue in three critical ways. On the Executive side, it required that any governor offering themselves for election must consider the alternative gender for their deputy. Critics were quick to point out the non-mandatory nature of the provision, but many of us who have been in these gender inclusion streets recognised that half a loaf was better than none. Just having a “constitutional suggestion” was enough at this point, practice would help us move the needle further forward.

Had BBI passed, we would have had more gender mix county executives line ups than we will now have. More critically at the legislative level, the BBI proposals required that if Kenyans did not elect enough women to the National Assembly, the deficit would be filled through nominations. This essentially passed the choice to the voters; be ready to elect more women, or be willing to pay for extra nomination seats.

Even more progressive, the BBI proposals required that the persons to be nominated would be the person who had performed best in the preceding elections. The requirement would have encouraged women to offer themselves for elections knowing that despite losing, they stood a chance of being nominated if they performed well.

Looking ahead at the August elections, it will be much gloom for gender inclusion. It may well be that one or both Presidential candidates will nominate a woman for deputy. That would be a big achievement in the continued profiling of women leaders, but it will still be a drop in the ocean.

Looking at the just concluded nominations, it is clear that we will have few female governors in the next government. The leading parties nominated only eight women governors. These are Kilifi, Kwale, Machakos, Kirinyaga, Nakuru, Homa Bay, Embu and Kitui. Even if all these governors were to win, and that is a big “if”, that will be barely 17 per cent of the total cohort of governors. That does not bode well for the profiling of women leadership in Kenya.

At the legislative level, the political parties treated the proposal to nominate women in their strongholds with utter contempt. A significant number of strong women leaders lost in the primaries which is unsurprising. Our nominations, though much improved, are still a murky affair which tends to scare most women away. They also require big cash outlays, and we all know who determines where political cash goes.

We may, therefore, end up where we were in 2013 and 2017, with the bulk of the women in parliament coming through the Woman Representative and nominations slots. Fortunately for Kenya, it is in the legislature where this malaise is most evident. The judiciary has shown the way with all its top leadership being female.

No one can say the institution is not doing us proud. The non-elected executive is also generally well represented with critical dockets led by able and well-performing women leaders. But because politics matter in this part of the world, it is critical that we find a means of ensuring that capable women get into political leadership.

We have seen the ones who get a chance excel. This country will be all the stronger if we give more and more of them a chance.