Turkana voters vow to tackle patriarchy by electing women

Men in Turkana County say they will lead in tackling the patriarchal mindset that has held back their society by electing women in mixed-gender political contests.

Woman Representative Joyce Emanikor and Lakezone MCA Leah Nachere are the only elected women in the county.

Ms Emanikor was first elected on the United Republican Party ticket in 2013 and reelected on a Jubilee Party ticket in 2017. She is now eyeing Turkana Central parliamentary seat on the Jubilee Party after recently decamping from Deputy President William Ruto's United Democratic Alliance party.

Mr Fredrick Emuron, a local, wants more female leaders elected so that they can have active role in addressing perennial challenges like water scarcity whose burden is borne more by women.

"From the household level, women have proved they can lead because they are directly affected by the challenges as men ignore or migrate to centres with sufficient water supply and food is accessible," Mr Emuron said.

Turkana Council of Elders chairman Charles Lorogoi observed that some men ride on the plight of locals to get elected but end up not fulfilling their promises.

Men relocate

Mr Lorogoi said such leaders instead shift their residences to Nairobi or Lodwar.

"Women also need to believe and trust that one of their own can lead. Women vote in large numbers compared to men, who mostly concentrate on looking after their livestock even on election day, hence deserve more representation at the decision-making tables," he said.

He noted that Kanu, a party he represents in county, has enough space to accommodate female aspirants who fear being shortchanged by other parties during preliminaries.

Ms Leah Ewoi, Kalokol MCA aspirant, while acknowledging support from men, said public awareness campaigns should be conducted to empower women and motivate them to vie.

Ms Ewoi said sensitisation drives will help the electorate understand why it is important to elect women. She said women, being major victims, are better placed to solve local problems.

Ms Mercy Mwangi, a Kenya Women Parliamentary Association official, said they are working on increasing the numbers of elected women in the National Assembly, the Senate and county assemblies.

"We have only 96 women elected as MCAs across the country. Through our sensitisation and training forums, we target about 500 women MCAs in the August polls. Turkana has only one elected woman MCA out of 30; we are striving to have at least 10 women elected," Ms Mwangi said.

Ms Jane Apetet, who has declared her interest in the Senate seat, said she will diligently represent the interests of locals, especially by empowering women and the youth.

Poor leadership

"Men have led us for a long time, but we still have the same challenges like water and food scarcity. The approach by Kenya Women Parliamentary Association of coming up with male champions who advocate the election of women will benefit us," Ms Apetet said.

She said the patriarchal nature of Turkana society has oppressed women by locking them out of leadership positions where they could have made impactful decisions.

"It is high time we realised that in the 21st century, women are also fit to be elected as governors, senators, MPs and MCAs. If elected, I will ensure women, who contribute at least 50 per cent of our economy, are empowered to improve standards of living," Ms Apetet said, adding that the youth, too, must be technically up-skilled for self-employment.

The women pledged to prioritise education if elected, to tackle high illiteracy levels that they said is a major hindrance to peace and development.

Ms Apetet noted that pastoralism is no longer reliable because of the effects of climate change and bandit attacks. He said young people can only be mentored out of the retrogressive practice through education.

"We still have high illiteracy levels in the county, a situation that must be addressed through increased investment in infrastructural development of schools, bursaries for needy children and public awareness of the importance of education," she said.

Dropouts

She said dilapidated classrooms and unreliable feeding programmes immensely contribute to high number of school dropouts.

Ms Leah Audan, who is eyeing the woman representative seat, said she will rally the youth to embrace technical and vocational education and training institutions so that they are equipped with relevant skills to contribute to poverty reduction through self-employment.

"We have enormous opportunities for the youth in key sectors such as agriculture, building and construction, hospitality, arts and culture, as well as information community technology that have been presented by devolution and development of key infrastructure such as roads and fibre optic cables by the national government," Ms Lokala said.

She urged the youth to shun politicians who use them during campaigns and instead avail themselves of TVET opportunities.

Former nominated MCA Ruth Kuya, who is eyeing the Lodwar Township ward seat, said she will bring on board the national and county governments to employ more women and give them tenders so that the community appreciates education.

She said empowering women will help fight high levels of poverty and the patriarchal social system.

Economic ventures

Ms Kuya said local leaders should be on the frontline of advocating women empowerment. She at the same time encouraged women to form groups and venture into businesses to earn income, from which they can support their children’s education.

"The county government has set aside funds for women that organised groups and they should apply and financially empower themselves,” former MCA said.

She said that uneducated, poor and vulnerable women are more vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence.

Nominated MCA Zainab Lokaale, Lokori/Kochodin MCA aspirant, said that coming from a remote area, she will fight for elimination of a tradition of beading girls to primarily marry them off. She said beading of girls is still rampant in remote villages, a situation that denies the girls their right to education.

"I promise to work closely with law enforcers and local administrators to step up the war on child marriages by ensuring such men face the law and girls are taken to school," Ms Lokaale said.

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