Frida Karani: Why I want to be Embu senator

Frida Karani wants to breathe fresh air into the leadership of Embu County and use the Senate as a platform to transform lives.

Ms Karani believes this time round women like her will emerge winners as her county and the country are ripe for women leadership. “My name is on the ballot for the Embu County Senate seat because it is a new dawn for Kenyan women.”

Read: Support women to lead

She is vying on The Service Party ticket. Her key agenda? To improve the living standards of her people.

“Having worked extensively in development organisations and academia, I am no stranger to the challenges facing people in Embu. I seek to bridge the existing leadership gap with knowledge, interest, passion, experience and willingness.”

Community work

Her journey in community service and overseeing projects began in 2006 when she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.

“I have undertaken various water and sanitation projects in Mbeere South as part of response to arid and semi-arid lands. These are child-centred interventions to improve the living standards of schoolchildren to boost attendance and performance.”

Karani is further credited with introducing microfinance institutions in Embu County as well as initiatives seeking to empower women economically, for instance, through table banking.

“I co-founded an organisation known as the Transformative Women in Leadership Network, which aims at modelling leadership in women from a very early age," she says.

“I am also the founder of Stitch in Time My Africa Project (Sitmap) that was established to save certain situations in society, primarily on climate change. We promote climate action and climate-smart practices by focusing on agriculture, and assisting the elderly.”

For instance, she adds, climate-smart housing entails using building material such as clay tiles that promote positive health outcomes among the elderly.

Ms Karani takes pride in the Rock Water Harvesting project, in which her and others are using rocks as water catchment areas to improve access to water within the county. She also at the forefront of encouraging women to practise “food forests” that entails planting trees such as mangoes, macadamia and avocado for food and commercial purposes.

“I am involved in working with the youth towards peace and security through public dialogues. I am also the patron of Athletics Kenya Embu. We promote alternative sports, beyond football, for health interests, hobby or pay.”

Climate action champion

A respected climate champion, Karani has worked closely with Kenya Climate Change Working Group to help communities mitigate effects of climate change.

“Climate change is a global and national concern. It is important that we move from science and research to action. We are piloting research-based activities at the grassroots level.

“When a researcher recommends a certain tree species, we fundraise and provide farmers with the recommended variety. We are increasing knowledge at the community level and promoting sustainable climate action by enabling communities to own their solutions.”

Karani believes her knowledge gained in her PhD programme at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Strategic Leadership will be useful in addressing climate change challenges and empowering her county government and community with know-how.

 “NGOs and religious organisations must think like a business, guided by competitive strategies for them to be sustainable and impactful. This is based on my extensive experience in development organisations and initiatives that were internationally funded by donors such as Action Aid and Christian Aid and implemented at the grass root level.”

Apart from climate matters, Karani believes in mentoring young people, a service she has done to form four students on career choice and career excellence for over 15 years.

These are progressive thoughts and actions that she is bringing into the political and decision making spaces.

The only challenge is getting into these spaces as Karani is slowly learning. She says she has learnt that in politics “you are on your own. Run your race clear in the knowledge of why you are vying for any particular position.”

Like other women, she has to contend with the huge outlay needed to mount county-wide election campaign. She says expectations of handouts remains a major challenge that she counters when promoting her development agenda and candidature.

“Nevertheless, I am equal to the task. I will advocate the rights of the people to be granted, unconditionally, what is rightly theirs.”

Ms Karani is currently among 50 women leaders competitively shortlisted from more than 700 applicants to participate in the second season of Ms President Leadership Academy, which seeks to improve participation of women in leadership by changing perceptions around women and leadership.

AWC Feature Service