gender
It’s a win for Kenyan women
By Florence Gichoya
President Uhuru Kenyatta recently gave a more comprehensive list of cabinet nominees. Previously he had given only four nominees to the position of cabinet secretaries. I am pleased that out of the 16 nominees 6 are women. This is not a majority number but a definite improvement from the previous government cabinet appointments and in line with the constitutional guidelines on gender balance in public appointments.
The cabinet secretaries’ nominees are as follows
1. Ambassador Rachel Omamo – Defence
2. Ambassador Amina Mohamed – Foreign affairs
3. Ann Waiguru – Devolution and planning
4. Professor Judy Wakhungu – Environment, water and natural resources
5. Charity Ngilu – Land, housing and urban development
6. Phyllis Kandie – East African affairs and tourism
These women nominees are not just hailed because of their gender but also because of their impressive resumes. And I am certain that they will inspire many women to work hard and not shy away from leadership positions.
The first Kenyan woman to be appointed cabinet minister was Winfred Nyiva Mwendwa in 1992. She was assigned the Ministry of Culture and Social Services.
Indeed we live in a patriarchal society and the government should strive to promote gender equality; in order to foster development and fast track achieving Kenya’s vision 2030.
As we wait for the vetting process by the parliamentary committee. I wish the women nominees all the best. This will be the largest number we have had for women in terms of nomination
Sara Longwe: a champion for women’s rights
By Florence Gichoya
Sara Longwe is a woman who exudes so much charisma and humility that you can’t help but admire her. She is an African Laureate and the 2003 winner of Africa Prize for Leadership. When I approached her for an interview she was very receptive and glad to share her journey of activism to inspire women from all generations and backgrounds in Kenya.
She believes that her activism career started from a very tender age. As the last born in her family and only daughter she noticed that her elder brother did not do household chores and when she asked why she was told girls are expected to do the chores unlike boys. She realized that her brother was not lazy as she thought but rather the society was the problem. After a while her brother begrudgingly joined her in the chores. It is then that Sara learnt a valuable lesson that if you are not comfortable with a situation you need to challenge and show unfairness and eventually bring change.
Sara worked hard in school and excelled very well qualifying to be a high school teacher. In the mid 70’s she taught in Kabuloga high school in Lusaka. Female teachers in the school were not allowed to wear trousers. She challenged that notion by saying women can wear what they want as long as its modest. Moreover it was not against the law. The case spiraled to the Permanent Secretary – Ministry of Education. Eventually Sara emerged victorious and today Zambian female teachers can comfortably go to work with trousers.
Due to continual gender activism activities, in 1977 she resigned as a teacher. Sara comprehended that there was need for collective activism with other women in order to have an impact.
Sara also learnt that Zambia did not have data and on gender related issues, she founded ZARD (Zambia Association for Research and Development) in 1984. The organization also put pressure on the government to endorse CEDAW (Convetion on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women) which Zambia was a signatory in 1980. Women activists used CEDAW as a gender policy guideline which advocates for peace, development and equality.
Sara fights personal battles for herself and everyone and when she wins, it’s a win for everyone. She concurs that its always better to fight collectively.
Her journey takes us back to 1984. In the 80’s hotels had the pre-colonial unconstitutional rule of ‘right of admission’. This is where unaccompanied women were not allowed to get into a hotel. One evening she had gone to pick her children from a party that was held in Intercontinental hotel-Lusaka, but reaching the hotel entrance a guard denied her access to the hotel because she was unaccompanied female. The guard roughed her up and she had to forcefully break free from his grip and run inside to make a complaint. Its unfortunate that she could not sue the hotel because the Zambian constitution did not include right against discrimination based on gender or sex.
In 1992 she made headlines again when a similar incident happened, she was about to join her husband and friends at the Intercontinental Hotel bar and she was blocked by the security guards because she was an unaccompanied female. Since the constitution had been amended that Sex and Marital Status are not grounds for discrimination, she sued the intercontinental hotel and won the high court case. It was such a landmark victory that law students from commonwealth countries study her case.
Sara emphasizes that there is need for conscietization to the society. This is a where the society have to be aware and their way of thinking on gender issues changed.
Longwe frameworks
In 1990 she published the world renowned Longwe Frameworks for gender analysis. Throughout her involvement in gender activism, she understood that there are 5 elements for women empowerment in order to achieve gender equality. These are;
- Welfare – Pertains to level of material welfare of women, relative to men, with respect to food supply, income and medical care, without reference to whether women are themselves the active creators and producers of their material needs
- Mobilization – Pertains to women’s equal participation in the decision-making process, policy-making, planning and administration. In development projects, it includes involvement in needs assessment, project design, implementation and evaluation.
- Access – Pertains to Equality of access, which is obtained by securing equality of opportunity through legal reform to remove discriminatory provisions.
- Control – Using the participation of women in the decision making process to achieve balance of control between men and women over the factors of production, without one in a position of dominance.
- Conscietization – Pertains to an understanding of the difference between sex roles and gender roles and the belief that gender relations and the gender division of labour should be fair and agreeable to both sides, and not based on the domination of one over the other
These frameworks have been adopted by the Oxford Manual and UNICEF gender training manual. Many leading universities in the world teach them in gender studies courses.
Still the war for fighting for womens rights is far from over; in year 2011 Sara intended to join politics to champion womens rights unfortunately she was not adopted by the Patriotic Front Party which was the leading party during the elections. It is this experience that revealed to her just how patriarchy is entrenched in African politics. “Men in leadership don’t want to work with free thinking women who are independent and not easy to manipulate.” Sara says. In fact she was termed a ‘rebel’, because she doesn’t conform to the norms.
She notes with a lot of concern that sometimes women movements in Africa have a wrong approach in their activism. For instance we tend to concentrate on women MP’s and not councilors, yet councilors play a vital role in sensitization and mobilization at the grassroots level. Activists need to concentrate on both.
The society should be conscientized and every opportunity used to fight gender discrimination. She advises that Kenyan women need to fight in a collective way. Fighting together achieves bigger milestones for women from all walks of life.
What keeps her going
Sara’s sharp consciousness on inequality in our African society keeps her going. She says as an activist you need to keep people uncomfortable, question the norms and keep fighting. Its about challenging the ‘norms’ and getting results. There is so much she would want to see change and battle is far from won.
She is inspired and proud of her husband Roy Clarke and their four children who are also involved in gender activism.
A woman leader making a difference – Chief Mary Maina’s Story
Aside Posted on Updated on
By Florence Gichoya
My journey to Kimathi Location in Murang’a East district in Murang’a County was an epic. It was during the rainy season and the villagers were busy tending their farms and removing all the unwanted weeds in the fertile soils. The people were of good cheer and very friendly, they easily gave me directions to their chief’s homestead and even one offered to accompany me.
When I first met Chief Mary Wambui Maina I was impressed by her warm heartedness and welcoming cheer, very friendly and easy to talk to. It was no wonder the only woman chief in the Murang’a East District is a role model for the women in the district and in her country Kenya.
Chief Mary has being a chief for one year and no doubt she has accomplished a lot and brought many positive changes in her locality. Her journey to government leadership was far from easy. Born in the location over 40 years ago in Kimathi location her family struggled to get her through school and she had to drop out for one year in form three because of lack of school fees. But with determination and strong will she finished high school in 1986 and achieved 3rd division. However due to lack of school fees she was not able to further her studies due to financial constraints.
Just as Tommy Lasorda said that “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” Mary may have been down, but she was not out. For more than 10 years she involved herself with community projects and was an active community leader. She was consulted by the community for various issues. It was also in this period where she involved herself in women self-help groups and was their leader in that capacity.
In the year 1999 she applied for the position of sub-chief. She had confidence that with her vast experience in community leadership she would meet the government expectations. Mary Maina was appointed by the government to head the Rurii sub-location. At the time the Rurii people wondered whether a woman would manage the position. It was a first in the locality and Mary was determined to proof her detractors wrong. She says that self-confidence and determination that she could do it propelled her to the people of Rurii.
When she took over leadership her biggest challenge was widespread brewing of chang’aa (illicit brew). Together with a cooperative community she embarked on flashing out the activity by dismantling the brewing dens. Eventually the brewing of illicit brew became a thing of the past. With the success of curbing illicit brew, Chief Mary realized that unemployed youth who had been engaging in drunkenness were idle and desperate. She encouraged them and implored them to start a self-help group and engage in the sand harvesting business which is readily available in the locality.
With an impressive work record for 10 years, in the year 2010 she was appointed chief of Kimathi location, the only woman chief in Murang’a East District. She heads two sub-locations Rurii and Githuri. In addition to Chief Mary representing the government in Kimathi Location; Mary’s daily activities also include attending government meetings, advising women, farmers, parents, students, solving domestic disputes (which include inheritance wrangles, land disputes among others.
Mary believes whatever a man can do a woman can do even better. Women need to come out of their comfort zones and embrace leadership. Women need to know that they can be capable leaders not just because they are women but because they have to be self-assured that they can lead. Women should be validated and given opportunities to lead.
There is no position in life without its challenges. For Chief Mary for instance there are numerous orphans and vulnerable children in the location where the government is supporting them. There are also old people who are too weak to take care of themselves however the government has rolled out a plan to provide food and basic medical care for them.
Also, in terms of education the people of Kimathi have taken advantage of the free primary education. However, many still lack school fees and school necessities like school uniforms. Mary has mobilized the community and local churches whereby they organize for fundraising activities to support the bright students from poor families. They have being able to send many children to the universities which was rare a while back.
Chief Mary’s inspiring life assents Diane Mariechild wise words that “A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform”. She affirms that when women validate themselves they will be proud of their jobs or whatever they do for a living. They should know that they can achieve whatever they set their eyes on and should not despise themselves; eventually they will see and enjoy the fruits of their hard work. Ultimately the society will have educated children, successful and fulfilled communities.
She is very thankful to her employer – Government of Kenya which has set a favorable atmosphere to work well and is very supportive of women leaders. She is also indebted to her supportive husband and two sons.
Mistari Yangu 