Coast Women aspirants vox pop   

Sarafina Charo, parliamentary aspirant, Party of National Unity (PNU)

“People will say you demean yourself by going along, fighting with a woman. So we might not be confronted physically, like man-to-man. But you know, the youths and pressure groups, especially when they are drunk, they don’t care who they touch. So we still have to take security very seriously. It’s a big challenge. Somebody said, you know, people are going to burn this house. That is when I had to put a guard at my gate. That means it cost another salary, again...

“Most of these women you see, including me, walk on foot. I have been traversing the whole constituency on foot. That means that when you want to escape, if you don’t have logistics, you can not get away immediately. You can always be followed and done anything. So now, if you don’t have [a car], you have to hire so that you can be able to escape as fast as possible from a meeting or from a rally. But you know, I want to secure the seats for women.”

Jerusha Ondu, Changamwe constituency, civic aspirant, ODM

“There were three [women] in the race. Unfortunately, two have pulled out and I am the only woman one remaining among 12 men. What I normally do, when I know I am going to a certain area where there is a possibility of being attacked by the opponents, is to bring my own team and do exactly what the men are doing. But when you go without preparing yourself, you will definitely be attacked. There is an extra cost, because I have to look for the youths and pay them. I also look for fellow women to support me. Verbal abuse is a part of the rallies. You can be told anything and if you can’t respond to it, you look for people to respond on your behalf. You have to pay these people. People start telling stories; they even go as far as searching into your personal life to dig up stuff. They can even lie. Don’t take to heart to those words. When you start crying and run off, you have given them a [victory]. You have to be extra tough.”

Rees Viregwa, Kisuani constituency, civic aspirant, ODM

“As an aspirant and a disabled woman, I need more security. They are telling me they will be throwing stones at me, they will just carry me up and drop me out because I am [not as] strong as the other aspirants. I’m not shaken; I’m strong because I have my own security. I have courage. I have heard [from other aspirants], they are being told they will be beaten. Some of [the thugs] carry [drugs] so that if they meet you, they just drop [the drugs] there and maybe they have the police on guard. So the police get me with the [drugs] and say that I am a bad person so that I will get out of the running.”

Quinter Ayoo Omulo, Kisauni constituency, parliamentary candidate

“There has been a security threat. As we sleep, we just say, “Oh God, I beg you, tomorrow, just let me be alive.” We pray that if we have better resources, finances, we can make sure that we have a guard to watch by the door. At least, before they kill me, they will have killed those two guards. It’s alarming. It’s highly alarming, especially personally. I don’t have a car. I will walk. I only need to buy rubber shoes for 50 women. We [will] walk together and sing a song of change.”

Anna Brandt, Swedish Ambassador to Kenya

“All of you who are vying are very brave and very courageous because it isn’t easy to be a woman aspirant in Kenya today. You are having to fight culture, values, tradition and the financial aspects of vying for a political position. All are vying against you. All of the women aspirants that I have met have taken upon themselves to fight and to continue to fight in spite of these obstacles and I think that is very welcome. A country where half of the population is not really represented at political level is not a true democracy. My firm belief is that, if Kenya is to prosper and develop, there has to be both men and women leading this country, both at national level and at local level.