Kenya

The second season of the reality TV show, Ms President, was launched yesterday. The show seeks to portray to a national audience the capacity and ability of women to lead effectively.

The series showcases intelligent and articulate women who are “presidential” with the aim of increasing the chances of women in Kenya taking up leadership positions.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisation in Kenya, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, are publishing a report today, examining patterns of sexual and gender-based violence against women during election seasons in Kenya and call upon the State to take immediate preventive actions in view of the upcoming 2022 general elections.

Women in Turkana County have been locked out of political leadership for many years due to culture. According to the Turkana culture, leadership is for men, and this has disadvantaged many aspiring women leaders, as they are seen as incapable of taking over from men.

Jane Apetet, who is contesting the Senate race, told The Standard that they have been oppressed by the culture. “Our culture is not giving women strength and voice. Normally we are separated from men during community meetings,” she said.

Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organisation now wants the government and political parties to recognise its members by ensuring that more women acquire elective positions ahead of the next General election.

The women’s organisation currently has more than four million members. The organisation's leadership wants the State to create an enabling environment for women eyeing elective posts.

Justin Muturi, speaker of the National Assembly and chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission, said Maraga's advisory was unconstitutional, while organisations that pushed for the petition called it an unprecedented test of Kenyan law. "The Commission regrets that the chief justice appears to be willing, even eager, to plunge the country into a constitutional crisis without exercising the wisdom and circumspection that is expected of the high office that he holds," Muturi told a news conference.

The scenario in Kenyan politics, however, contravenes this adage that is worth making reference to if the role of women in the society is anything to go by- besides being many important things, they are nurturers.

It does not need a keen eye to see that the political field of play in Kenya is dominated by not just males, but older males in that case. This is not to say that women are not in politics and neither is it insinuating women's roles in leadership can be overlooked.