LETTERS: Why gender parity is still an elusive dream

The recent nomination of Rebecca Mbithi to take over as the new chief executive officer of Family Bank was supposed to be a welcome development for gender equality activists and womenfolk across the country. However, their elation was muffled by the subsequent failure by Parliament to pass the two-thirds gender bill within the same week.

Though the nomination of Mrs. Mbithi was a welcome development, it pales in significance when one considers the fact that out of the 41 commercial banks operating in Kenya, she could become only the third woman to serve as a commercial bank CEO presently. The other serving female CEOs are Citibank’s Joyce-Ann Wainaina and Diamond Trust Bank’s Nasim Devji.

As the world marked the International Women’s Day this month, which was aptly themed ‘Think equal, build smart, innovate for change’, Kenya finds itself in an unenviable position where our gender equality record leaves one with very little to write home about.

Despite concerted efforts by gender activists, it is a shame that Kenya which lays claim to being the most progressive country in East Africa can fail to pass a bill as crucial as the gender bill due to lack of quorum in parliament.

Truth be told, what lacked in Parliament on February 27 was lack of goodwill and common sense as opposed to lack of quorum. Affording women equal rights and opportunities as their male counterparts is not rocket science. If it was, then Rwandans would be rocket scientists. Rwanda is fast becoming an archetype on how to run a successful African country.

The country has been hailed for the manner in which it turned its fortunes around from being a genocide case to becoming one of the fastest growing, cleanest and most business friendly country in East Africa. Rwanda did not achieve all these accolades out of the blue but by conceiving and implementing policy changes that were intentionally fashioned to turn the country’s economy and livelihoods around.

Principal to the reforms introduced in Rwanda was the gender reforms. As we speak, women take up more than 50 percent of seats in Rwanda’s parliament and cabinet. In Kenya, women hold a paltry 22 percent of the seats in the National Assembly and 28 percent in the Senate. Of the 19 women in the Senate, only three are elected.

Among the Cabinet secretaries, women are roughly 30 percent of the primary decision makers in government while out of the 47 governors in Kenya, only three are female.

Women are slightly over 50 percent of Kenya’s total population. The burning question then becomes, is there a correlation between the number of women in a country’s leadership and the levels of development attained.

If the figures coming out of Rwanda are anything to go by, having women in leadership is directly proportional to the quality of leadership a country gets.

Currently, corruption is the biggest challenge bedevilling Kenya by crippling the delivery of essential services.

It would be noteworthy to point out that while Kenya is ranked the 144th least corrupt nation out of 175 countries according to the Transparency International index, Rwanda is ranked 48th.

Women have been known to naturally possess qualities that would augur well for leadership and this is the reason why societies and organisations that incorporate women at the decision making roundtable never get it wrong.

Women have been proven to be better communicators than men since they possess an innate skill set that caters towards communication, empathy and emotional intelligence.

Women are also known to be better team players because they are more mutually supportive and communicative. Furthermore, women are known to possess good problem-solving skills. Incorporating them into leadership increases the ability to see the world in a new light and develop solutions never thought possible.

In addition, women are known to collect and analyse more variables in the decision-making process, enabling them to see a wider spectrum of possible solutions.

Otiato Opali is a communication specialist, via email.