While Kenya has made big strides in development of talents and professional experience among our women , this is not sufficiently reflected in their placement in senior management positions.
Sooner than later, we need more women in positions of senior responsibilities to influence Kenya’s socio-economic trajectory, not just in public service, but also in corporate sector and in politics.
The media has been highlighting career progress made by women in corporate organisations, own enterprises, public service, academia, and various professions in Kenya . There has also been appeals to accelerate women placement in corporate boardrooms.
While Kenya has made big strides in development of talents and professional experience among our women , this is not sufficiently reflected in their placement in senior management positions, CEOs, or board seats including chairpersons. This implies existence of real handicaps in career development and progression for women , with men often enjoying skewed advantages.
The other day we were casually discussing the ongoing power sector reforms at our club. A colleague remarked that with the current top leadership of power generation (Kengen) , and distribution(Kenya Power) under women , he was confident that there will be an effective turnaround of the power sector.
He added that women have a natural gift for due care of resources and delivery on mandates and are less likely to give-in to corrupt practices compared with male colleagues.
I concurred with my colleague that women tend to impart high governance standards while delivering quality results. I cited Rwanda where women are in many positions of senior responsibility in public and private sectors , generally contributing to exemplary functioning of Rwandan institutions. .
Sooner than later, we need more women in positions of senior responsibilities to influence Kenya’s socio-economic trajectory, not just in public service, but also in corporate sector and in politics.
Not “token” window dressing responsibilities, but substantive responsibilities at senior executive and board levels including CEOs and board chairpersons.
And considering the low starting point, affirmative actions are required to bring deserving women talent to positions of senior leadership. This is a challenge I throw at incumbent men public and business leaders who are in positions that can influence changes in career gender balancing.
In early 1980s, as a senior manager in an oil company, I proudly pioneered in opening up management development opportunities for women.
This was at a time when the private sector was limiting women roles to junior roles of secretaries, payroll/accounts clerks, and at the very best legal assistants. Women sales representatives and women management trainees were unfamiliar terms.
This was part of a global history and tradition that relegated the roles of women to mainly social areas like teaching, nursing in addition to managing homes. It has taken that much longer to come out of this generational problem, not just here in Kenya, but across the world
Our universities and other institutions of higher learning are graduating women of all professions, and we find them in large numbers in middle management levels in private and public sectors.
However, beyond middle levels, progression for women slows down giving men an unfair advantage in the rush for senior management and CEO positions.
Genuine affirmative actions are definitely needed to ensure that qualified and deserving women advance to the highest leadership potential. It is a fair balancing action that should be demonstrated in management succession planning .
We have good examples of women business leaders successfully serving as CEOs of major private and public firms in Kenya. However, these are a small minority. We now want to see women chairing boards .
In public service Chief Justice Martha Koome is already giving the Judicial Service a human face while consistently delivering on her constitutional mandates.
The Auditor-General, Nancy Gathungu, without doubt stands out as a model leader in civil service, focused on professional service delivery.
For those women who seek political leadership they will need to fight it out with their male colleagues, however rough the playing terrain is.
They should borrow from Charity Ngilu, a perfect example of a woman who created an enduring political path without any patronage from any quarter.
In a span of thirty years, she has contested presidential elections (1997) , served in several Cabinet dockets, and is now a governor planning to do a second term .
Finally, my message to career women, they have to play their part and prove that they deserve and qualify for senior placements. Affirmative action can only add value to those who work to succeed to the top.
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