It's not yet Uhuru for Kenyan women in politics

August 9 is almost six months away. This is the day many of us will queue to vote in our new political leaders, from the president to the member of the county assembly. Like many previous elections, thousands of candidates have started to pitch their cases. The majority of these aspirants are men. 

In fact, there are zero signs that any woman will be contesting for the presidency come August. This will push the number of General Elections where no women have vied for the presidency to five since Kenya's first multiparty elections in 1992. Women have previously vied for the presidency in two general elections. But it is not just the presidential election where women struggle against their male challengers. When challenging for any political seat from the gubernatorial to the MCA, the Saturday Magazine has learned that women have to get dirtier and messier to gain any political traction. Many women are unable to withstand the mess that is challenging for political seats and they either drop out midway or keep off politics altogether.

Jedidah Njeri who contested for MCA in the 2013 TNA party primaries in Nyandarua County says that she dropped her bid after realising that her marriage was on the verge of breaking down and her morals were being questioned as she was slut-shamed. "I thought I would do well with my law degree. I reasoned people would like me for my accolades and ward development track-record," she says. 

But when the campaigns started, she quickly realised why politics is said to be dirty. "I was labeled a loose woman because I was spending more time away from my husband due to campaigns. Some men went as far as calling me a political prostitute who was sleeping with party officials to gain favour. My husband was told off for being henpecked," she says. 

At home, things only got worse. Many nights, Jedidah would return past midnight after hours of traversing her locality pleading for votes. "I had to entertain unwanted male guests, late-night phone calls, and discomforting sexual overtures," Jedidah says. 

This unsettled her husband. The insults from competitors got to him. "He questioned his role in the family. He began to question my movements and everyone I closely interacted with. I knew that the line had been drawn. It was either I choose my family and mental wellbeing or politics. I quit politics," she says. 

Politics is even more difficult if a woman candidate is unmarried. According to Murang'a Woman Rep Sabina Chege, people wanted to know her marital status, something that men are not asked about. If the woman is single, allusions will be made on who her financial sponsor is, who she is sleeping with, and whose homes she is wrecking.

Currently, the Kenyan constitution requires that women occupy at least one-third of all seats in parliament and one-third of all appointed political positions. This is yet to take place in Kenya, and signs are that it will hardly be achieved. However, since 2013, women have recorded improved performance. In the 2017 General Elections, 23 women excluding the 47 Woman Reps, were elected to the National Assembly. This was an improvement from the 16 women who were elected in 2013. Three women were elected to the Senate with three other women elected to the position of Governor. The number of elected women for the position of MCA also increased from 84 in 2013 to 96 in 2017 out of 1,450 wards.

The low number of women aspirants who present themselves during General Elections has been cited as one of the reasons why women continue to post low elected numbers. However, sociologist Constance Mundia says that these low numbers are driven by multiple prejudices such as female aspirants' marital statuses and stereotypes which ensure that a large number of women are locked out of political contests. "Socially, politics is patriarchal and this gives the man an advantage over the woman," says Mundia.

Not even women who have played critical roles in shaping the national political discourse and future have escaped the wrath of this political high table. Take the late Professor Wangari Maathai. She was the ordinary face of an extraordinary Kenyan woman. She was the first woman in the East African region to acquire a Ph.D. in 1971. She would go on to become the first professor in Kenya. She lost jobs because of government malice, got sabotaged by courts, refused to be boxed by her gender, and battled with riot police officers during the heady push for multi-party democracy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Years later, her sacrifices were handsomely rewarded when she broke the glass ceiling to become the first African woman to receive the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. 

Despite her sacrifices and successes, she didn't do too well politically. In 1997, she contested for the presidency and only managed to get less than 5,000 votes. Among the reasons, she was politically castigated included her marital status. Wangari was a single and divorced woman. "Although the perception of women's position in political leadership is evolving, there are still many men who think that voting for women is similar to relinquishing the role of the head as a male and agreeing to be henpecked," says Mundia. As a result, she says that a sizable number of men will vote for a less qualified, corrupt male candidate to maintain the head and neck status quo.

Where women win and enter into political office, they run the risk of being labeled stooges, indecisive, or sexual puppets. They also walk with the possibility of divorce breathing down their necks. Women in politics tend to experience harsher judgments and higher moral expectations, with their marital problems and sexual affiliations more likely to be more scrutinised than their male colleagues. 

For instance, if a woman politician's marriage breaks down, she is more likely to be castigated than when a male politician goes through divorce. According to Christina Chanya Lenjou, a Nairobi-based sociologist, the role of women is largely seen as subordinate to men. There is also fear that women in powerful political offices could lose respect for their male juniors and husbands. The shift in power balance is also a factor. "Within the family unit, there are women who lose respect for their husbands once they assume a higher, powerful political status," she says. "The men in their lives cease to be powerful and worthy of submission. To reclaim their positions as the head in the marriage, some get aggressive, violent, or egotistic to the detriment of the marriage."

At the same time, many women opt to keep off due to how dirty and bare-knuckled politics get even amongst female competitors. Beatrice Mukuhi who was an aspirant for the Woman Rep position in 2017 says that even where all candidates are women, men will tend to judge them based on sex appeal and physical attraction instead of policy and mental ability to lead. 

"If you are dark-skinned, don't have an appealing derriere, or that sexy figure, you are likely to get it very rough from male voters," she says. Beatrice says that she ended her campaigns barely weeks after announcing her candidature in early 2017. "I realized that the Woman Rep election was not going to be about who had the best ideas, but who was the most sexually appealing to male voters," she says. 

"I often heard people say in undertones that they were not going to elect an ugly, fat, and dark-skinned person because the role of Woman Rep was to project beauty for the county." Beatrice could not take the body-shaming and decided to quit. "I was afraid that my candidature would hurt my mental well-being and my family," she says.

There is pressure for women aspirants to extend sexual favours to gain political patronage. Others have had to swim through controversial sexual allegations to break the political glass ceiling. Take the first Nairobi woman Governor Ann Kananu. For many months in 2021, she was caught up in a dirty political battle with former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko. This battle culminated in leaked videos in November 2021, where a woman targeting to be appointed as the Deputy Governor was slut shamed for her sexual overtures. 

In January 2022, former Thika MP Alice Ng'ang'a was also caught up in a sexually charged outburst with disgraced real estate businessman and preacher David Gakuyo. Gakuyo who has announced that he will contest for the Thika parliamentary seat was angered that Ms. Ng'ang'a was challenging him for the seat yet she didn't hail from Thika. To dissuade her, Gakuyo went on an abusive tirade and hurled expletives regarding her womanhood. According to sociologist Mundia, womanhood is still perceived as a taboo and the worst form of insult towards women. "This is why you find certain figures hurling sexual expletives towards their female competitors as a way of shaming and belittling them. This ideology is based on the assumption that the woman will prioritise self-preservation and quit the race," she says.

Some regions in Kenya appear to be more affected by political gender inequity. The Western region is one of the most affected, with Bungoma, Kakamega, Vihiga, and Trans Nzoia lagging in the acceptance of women politicians. For instance, since 1974, very few women have competitively contested for top parliamentary positions and emerged victorious. According to nominated Senator Naomi Shiyango, the cultural and patriarchal nature of politics has been the biggest hindrance to the progress and acceptance of women politicians. "Culture and lack of respect for women have been a major problem in Western," she said.

In contrast, Murang'a County has experienced one of the highest percentages of elected women leaders. Out of seven constituencies, three are led by women. But according to Maragua MP Mary Waithera, achieving this hasn't been easy. In 2017, Mary contested for MP against 14 men. In a women empowerment forum, she narrated how the men would gang up against her and send goons shouting and singing that Maragua men were not ready to be led by 'Wangu wa Makeri', a woman chief in Gikuyu folklore who ruled between 1902 and 1907. Wangu was accused of being a tyrant and sitting on men.

It is not only in Kenya where women are struggling to assume political leadership. According to the IPU-UN Women Map data that was released in the last quarter of 2021, the role of Heads of State or Government occupied by women stands at 22 countries, up from 20 countries in 2020. As of 1 January 2021, 5.9 per cent of elected Heads of State (9 out of 152) and 6.7 per cent of Heads of Government (13 out of 193) were women. Currently, Europe is the region with the most countries led by women with five out of nine Heads of State and seven out of 13 Heads of Government. The Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway are all currently led by women. The number of countries in which women hold 50 per cent or more of ministerial positions however dropped from 14 in 2020 to 13 in 2021. In the list of countries with 50 per cent or more women ministers, only Rwanda made the list from Africa with 54.84 per cent women in government ministries.

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Kenyan female presidential aspirants

Late Professor Wangari Maathai: She vied for the presidency in the 1997 General Elections. She was 13th with 4,133 votes equivalent to 0.07 of the total votes cast.

Charity Ngilu: She contested to be Kenya's president in the 1997 General Elections. She emerged fifth with 469 807 votes equal to 7.71 per cent of the total votes cast.

Martha Karua: She vied to be president in the 2013 General Elections. She garnered 43, 881 votes or 0.36 per cent of the total votes cast.

2022: Who is contesting where?

Although the upcoming general election has not attracted any presidential female candidate, other seats such as the gubernatorial position is set to see the largest number of women contestants since the start of devolved politics and elective posts. Among those who will be fighting it out with incumbent male governors and other male contestants are

Florence Mutua: She will be fighting to succeed Governor Sospeter Ojaamong in Busia County. 

Faith Gitau: She is one of two women who will be contesting for the Nyandarua County Governor's position, with current Cabinet Secretary for Water Sicily Kariuki also expected to join the contest.

Gladys Wanga: She is contesting for the Homa Bay Governor's position. 

Sabina Chege: She is the current Woman Rep for Murang'a County. She is eyeing the Murang'a Governor's seat. 

Susan Kihika: She is the current Woman Rep for Nakuru County. She will be facing off with current Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui.

Quick Stats

The Gender Analysis of the 2017 Kenya General Elections report shows that:

· For the first time in Kenya's history, women were elected to serve as Governors and Senators in 2017.

· There were 29 per cent more women who ran for office in 2017 than in the 2013 General Elections.

· Women in Kenya hold 172 of the 1,883 elected seats up from 145 in 2013.

· Women account for 23 per cent of the National Assembly and Senate seats, including the seats that are reserved for women representatives.

The key dates for 2022

According to a Kenya Gazette Notice that was published by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission:

· Kenya's General Election is on Tuesday, August 9, 2022.

· Political parties shall submit their party membership lists to the IEBC on or before Saturday, April 9, 2022.

· A political party intending to present a Presidential candidate shall conduct its primaries and resolve intraparty disputes on or before Friday, 22nd April 2022.

· Candidates intending to participate in this election as independent candidates shall submit their names and symbols on or before Monday, 2nd May 2022.

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