Low number of female candidates worrying, women leaders say

A group of women leaders and campaigners have expressed disappointment over the low numbers of female candidates running for elective seats in the August 8 General Election.

Speaking in Nairobi on Friday, the women leaders said the low number in the elections negates the push for the gender rule principle that is nearly five years behind schedule.

The leasers spoke during the launch of a program dubbed Ms Politician Influencer organised by Women & Girl Lead Global whose focus is to ensure increase womens' participation in politics, and ensure positive media coverage of female candidates.

JOIN POLITICS

Ms Jeniffer Riria, the chief executive of Kenya Women Holding, promised to lead a joint effort of interest groups and partners to encourage more women to join politics and contest for various elective seats in 2022.

"We shall not wait until 2022. We shall start as early as September this year so that women can create their own financial space where they will be the principle pushers and executors, she told the forum at Jacaranda Hotel in Nairobi.

Political parties returns filed at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission show that out of the 14, 552 candidates who will contest various seats in the August elections, only 11 per cent are women.

For the first time since 1997, no woman candidate is contesting the presidential seat, while only nine candidates are lining up for the governor seat in the 47 counties with a slightly a higher figure of women seeking the senate seat.

GENDER PRINCIPAL

On Friday, participants at the event noted that even though the number if women seeking elective seats has increased compared to 2013, there is a lot must be done to get many more to contest to meet the gender principle.

Ms Uduak Amimo, a Citizen TV, Journalist said women with interest in politics should not wait to be invited into the game and should take the initiate to change society through politics instead.

“Don’t wait to be invited into politics…you must invite yourself. Take the initiative to mark your own story; your own path and the people you want to deal with,” she said.

Participants noted that despite the great strides the country has made through the promulgation of the new Constitution, the political environment remains hostile to women candidates, which they said, had impeded their participation in the political process.

BIASED MEDIA

Some of the factors that were noted include the nature of patriarchal society in Kenya, lack of internal democracy within political parties, the absence of political to implement gender mainstream initiative and a biased media that has reduced women candidates to sexual objects.

Ms Betty Mugo, who is the head of gender and inclusivity at USAID, said the cost of electioneering in Kenya is too high, thus hindering many women from participating.

She noted that fees required by political parties for nomination and huge expenditure outlay on the campaign trail are too high and the end product is that it denied women an opportunity to participate.

“Women have to spend too much before the primaries and if they are not successful, the cost and time for filing petition at the disputes tribunal literally peeves women candidates who opt to let go,” she said.

She hailed the gender principle pointing out that it had given women lobby groups the legitimacy to demand more political representation.

POLITICAL INTEREST

“Even though we have not actualised the gender principle, we have made significant progress because through our advocacy the rule has retained the issue on the table of discussion,” she said.

Ms Anne Nderitu, who works at the electoral commission as electoral trainer, challenged the women to be more decisive in their political interest saying that most of them dither a lot and join the race very late which undermines the impact of their candidature.

“Women come into the race late, sometimes just six months to the elections and are never sure which seat they want to contest. Decisiveness is required from women aspirants,” she said

Speakers at the event cited reasons that have impeded the implementation of the one third gender rule, noting the political will required is lacking from the patriarchal state to ensure it is implemented.

While they acknowledged the cost implications of implementing the gender rule, they however insisted the state must pick up the bill because the estimated cost of running the government without the participation of women and other marginalised groups is a lot higher.