Pave more roads for women into politics and top leadership

Kenya’s women have made significant strides in their efforts to take up more leadership roles. Unfortunately, this electioneering period is not appreciating the efforts of women.

Once again, women's efforts to get into electoral positions are being frustrated by obstacles erected by society that include political violence and patriarchal attitudes.

As elections draw closer, we should, as a nation, reflect on how we can address barriers to leadership women are facing and draw lessons from the milestones made.

In the last election, Kenyans, for the first time, elected three female governors. We also have 23.3 percent of parliamentarians as women, which has been an improvement every election. This election should also reflect these gains.

The Constitution created the Woman Representative seat in the National Assembly to boost their numbers.

We have also entrenched gender issues in legislation, policies, budgets, plans, and institutional framework, mainstreamed gender in public and private life, established affirmative action, provided resources and set gender quotas in various sectors.

It raises concern that we are ranked poorly by the United Nations Development Programme Gender Development Index based on 2018 data at 110th.

Kenya should improve this ranking by enhancing gender parity in politics, economy and society. Females are the most vulnerable gender when it comes to having a fair share of the political space.

While women have made significant inroads into politics in recent years, their involvement has spurred attacks, intimidation and harassment.

Paving the way for more women in the political, business, and civic arena is an investment in more just, equitable, and peaceful societies. In the past elections, there have been a few female candidates.

Only seven percent of National Assembly members are women — without including the special seats. Women and men should compete on equal footing in elections.

But gender-based violence on and offline is undermining women’s opportunities. Women face a lot of challenges when vying against their male counterparts for elective positions.

We must protect women against violence, and do away with biases, stereotypes and traditional beliefs and cultural practices that discriminate against them.

Although Kenya has attempted to address rising incidents of violence against women by enacting specific laws and policies, goodwill by all actors has been lacking.

The Constitution requires that one gender form at least a third of the representation in Parliament and to achieve this, they must seek elective positions rather than wait to be nominated into positions.

We have failed to implement this requirement, hence why women must take the initiative.

Despite Kenya being a dominant political and economic powerhouse in the East Africa region, it has remained the only country yet to achieve affirmative action for gender representation in Parliament. This should change.