Why voter education ahead of 2027 should focus more on women

IEBC Vice Chairperson Fahima Abdallah on July 23, 2026. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

Kenya and Nigeria, two fledgling democracies, are warming up to crucial elections in 2027. A common factor in both countries is that their incumbents are presidential candidates and would overtly or covertly mobilise private, corporate, public and institutional resources, albeit against the electoral laws and guidelines, to ensure their re-election.

On the other hand, opposition party candidates in both countries are uniting and fiercely rooting to unseat the incumbents. This makes the Kenyan and Nigerian elections interesting ones to keenly watch in 2027.

The most important players in the electoral system are the voters but unfortunately, they are not directly given the headlines in electoral discourse. Politicians talk about voters and make sweeping statements as though they carry all voters in their pockets.

For a free and fair election that truly reflects the will of the majority, voter education is indispensable. Voter education empowers the voting population to exercise their civic and national duty in good conscience and to vote for their best national interest, beyond any fear, favour or manipulation.

A casual observation of public spaces such as streets, markets, schools and churches shows that women constitute a majority of the population. It may follow that a huge percentage of voters would be women. Therefore, a voter education that targets women is sure to shape the making of an election that would truly reflect the will of the people.

At a male herbal sauna recently, two men were chatting about politics and the 2027 elections. One of them said that politicians will cook sweet lies to win over the hearts of voters. He added that women easily buy and swallow decorated lies hook, line and sinker.

He went on to give everyday stories of how gullible women are by nature to accepting whatever they hear even if they knew them to be white lies.

Politicians indeed have learnt the art of telling voters what they want to hear to tailor votes in a desired direction. They make empty promises they know would remain empty for life but would convincingly present them with implementation timelines.

While politicians have mastered the art of deception and women who constitute the majority of voters are by nature easily deceivable, voter education must focus on women to help them think critically about the many sweet promises they are fed with. The goal is to have women hear beyond the empty rhetorics of politicians and to vote with their head and not with their heart.

In Nigeria for instance, the gift of just 2 kgs of rice to a woman is enough to have her vote for someone she knows would subject her and the entire nation to five consecutive years of economic torture. The gift of a gas cylinder in the name of women empowerment in Kenya is enough to swing the votes of women.

Like the biblical Eve who ate the forbidden fruit without recourse to the inherent consequences ahead, women voters seem to buy in too easily to the deceptive manipulations of desperate politicians. Gullible gratification that only meets immediate needs but subject people to years of regrets, pain and suffering is the sin of the average Kenyan and Nigerian woman voter.

Every election year calls voters to evaluate the fruitfulness or otherwise of their previous votes, and to harvest political lessons to do better in the coming election. When past voting mistakes are repeated again and again, it is no longer mistakes but lack of wisdom. Electoral wisdom is key to shaping the quality of leadership and good governance in democratic Africa.

Women groups, civil society organisations, educational institutions, the electoral commission, religious organisations, media houses and other independent stakeholders in the electoral process are invited to have a targeted voter education to correct the recurrent voting errors and patterns of the past. An enlightened voter today can change the trajectory of the nation for good tomorrow. A stitch in time saves nine.