For those who keep the company of Kenyan women political aspirants and their supporters, lately it is hard not to miss the recurrent conversation that revolves around real fears about violence that is specifically targeted at women, the perennial problems of financing their campaigns and the ever changing dynamics in the main political parties, that make it extremely difficult for women to participate meaningfully in competitive politics. 

Apparently being on the wrong end of an election is something that women candidates can readily attest to. The irony of the situation in 2007 is that it is no different from the election period in 2002, 1997 and the election cycle backwards to 1963 when Kenya became independent where women always found themselves push into the political periphery.

Unlike the previous elections in the Kenyan history, this year’s General Elections looked better for women since three women namely Hon Charity Ngilu, Hon Julia Ojiambo and Nazlin Omar had declared their interest in vying for the Presidential seat.

But this has been over taken by events in what reminiscent itself like the 2002 where political re-alignment was the order of the day. And many women are wondering if Kenya will attain the 30 percent Affirmative Action in political leadership.

A look at the regional statistics as far as women in Parliament is concerned;
Rwanda is the highest with 48.8 per cent, Tanzania (30.4 per cent), Burundi (30.5 per cent), Mozambique (34.8 per cent), Liberia (30 per cent) and South Africa (32.8 per cent).

With the elections on the horizon, the subject of women’s participation in the 2007 general elections is dominated by concerns that history will repeat itself once more.

Speaking recently to a gathering of women’s organizations and journalists in Nairobi, Ms Violet Awori, the chair of the Federation of Women Lawyers – Kenya (FIDA-K), said the escalation of violence targeting women candidates lately is cause for concern and pointer that women once again are being denied an opportunity to participate freely and fairly in the election processes.

“Before Flora Tera was attacked in Imenti North, Orie Rogo Manduli, who is a candidate in Nairobi’s Kasarani constituency, was rigged out during the Narc-K party nominations and roughed up when she tried to protest,” said Ms Awori.

However, the executive director of the Caucus for Women’s Leadership, Mrs Deborah Okumu, says women need to understand that the stakes are high in these elections – the fourth since the advent of multiparty politics in 1991 – and women are under pressure to fit into pre-determined pigeon holes, including within their political parties.

Her argument is that women’s power to mobilize and organize human and material resources for political processes has been compromised and whittled away over the years.

“This is a mini-war, and the ingredients include violence,” she explained, “The women’s movement has lost its dominance in Kenya’s political agenda, we have been boxed into programmes, yet all along we were the drivers of a political process,” she explains.

The executive director of the Centre for Multiparty Politics, Ms Njeri Kabeberi, cautioned women’s organizations reliant on donor funding that the circumstances in 2007 are not necessarily similar to 2002.

New funding mechanisms originating in the donor countries mean that aspirants seeking support within women’s political organizations will face new challenges.

“Donors have warmed up to the Paris Declaration which has given a nod for aid flows to government rather than to civil society organizations,” she explained

Mrs Okumu is also concerned about the dominance of patriarchy within the election processes saying that it is difficult to recognize and define it: “It has no face or form because it is in the minds of people, and in the environment of an election period, it places women in a tight box,” she adds.

Mrs Okumu says women’s organizations’ programmatic approach to the elections may actually be working against candidates in the context of patriarchy.

“Non-engendered institutions are a branch of patriarchy and women cannot count on the police, their parties or the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) to come to their aid,” says Mrs Okumu.

According to Dr Josephat Ludeki Chweya, from the University of Nairobi’s department of political science, this is the reason why Kenyans ought to address the condition and roles of women in Kenya.

He argues the processes and returns of Kenya’s electoral regime affect men and women differently.

“The reason there are more men than women represented in parliament, city councils and county councils is because the constitution and electoral laws are blind to the marginalization of women,” says Dr Chweya, “The constitution assumes that society is homogeneous between men and women when in reality this is not the case hence the voices demanding affirmative action in matters of representation.”

A nagging problem for women seeking electoral posts is the realization that it is extremely expensive to run an election campaign.

Conservatively, candidates in urban constituencies need between Ksh six million and Ksh 10 million, while their rural counterparts would need between Ksh six million and 10 million. Observed against the long-standing economic subordination of Kenyan women, this scenario is particularly challenging.

However, Ms Njeri Kabeberi says that winning an election is not necessarily about how much money a candidate has in the bank.

“I would like us not to dwell too much on finances for campaigns,” she says, “It actually possible for a candidate to win an election in this country without money, but with the right strategy.”

A point with which Dr Chweya agrees with: “The constraints women face are not an excuse not to go for those seats,” he cautions, “We cannot wait around until the constitution is amended, laws and cultures changed and the economic situation improved.”

The point being that as they wait to get their feet under the table in 2008, the work is not quite done for women. Dr Chweya says women can use their numbers as a basis for political mobilization and work to subdue ethnicity, cultural and economic hindrances.

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