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Features
Friday, May 5, 2000
Politics:
Where are all the young Women?
ROSEMARY OKELLO and ARTHUR OKWEMBAH revisit the arguments around the conspicuous absence of young women in Kenya's political
arena.
Younger women interested in politics are now saying they fear the youth agenda might never see the light of day in the current political debates because of the stranglehold the current crop of national leaders have on Kenyan politics.
"Where do the youth fit into the politics in this country where men of 60 years call themselves 'young turks'?" asks Atsango Chesoni.
Atsango, a lawyer and a vocal activist on women's issues, says if Kenyan youth feel crowded out of the political arena, for the young women in their ranks the marginalisation is stifling.
A number of structural problems inhibit the full political participation of both older and younger women.
These include high levels of illiteracy among women, lack of self-confidence, societal attitudes towards women in leadership and the lack of resources to seek office.
Also very few women participate as members of national electoral commissions or voter registration teams.
A persistent problem is the small gender-aware female vote. Women voters are not sensitised about the manner in which they can influence local government and national decisions by voting for women and men who will remain accountable to them.
Since most women candidates lack independent resources, the costs of campaigning are prohibitive. This tends to force them into relationships of political patronage with entrenched political parties as a campaign strategy - thereby compromising their ability to be truly accountable to the women's vote.
"There are a lot of misunderstandings between the youth and their leaders and this is just as true for young women interested in joining politics and the manner in which they relate to our women politicians," adds Atsango.
But she points out that the generational gaps must be bridged because budding female politicians have a lot to learn from their older sisters in politics.
Although the youth form over 60 per cent of the total population of 28 million their visibility in political movements and parties appears confined to providing security for 'the bosses' in their capacity as the youth wing - a term synonymous with mindless violence and thuggery.
"Is this a fair representation of what the youth stand for?" asks an angry young woman who preferred to remain anonymous, "Unintelligible props in the crowd at political rallies and street demonstrations!"
Betty Ndomo, a coordinator with ActionAid Kenya's Basic Rights Campaign points out that the youth must take their place in Kenya's politics.
"The youth form the majority of the unemployed, the impoverished and they are the ones dying from HIV/Aids," she adds.
"All these are political issues and we cannot afford to be complacent."
Ndomo, who was transformed into a political activist during her years at the University of Nairobi owes her initiation to her active participation in the student movement.
"I saw an opportunity and seized it, but for many young women there is no such opportunity."
Her boldness enabled her to participate in the National Convention Executive Council (NCEC) as a youth representative.
"The youth brought reforms to this country, and many died in the process, but their suffering seems to have made little impact on the national politics of this country."
Jerotich Seii, a self-proclaimed feminist and paralegal programme coordinator at the Education Centre for Women in Democracy agrees with Betty Ndomo.
She observes that while they are still in school, girls and young women hone their political skills by being actively involved in student politics centred around student leadership activities.
"These skills can be translated into local and national political leadership in later years."
But after secondary school, few women continue with their leadership orientation. They receive little support and they are expected to settle into pre-defined social roles.
The nature of politics is such that it extends well beyond 'official' working hours. Few women are able to justify to their spouses and families why they need to be away from the safety and comfort of their homes well after 6.00 pm.
"Deeply entrenched attitudes dictate that women have no business in politics," she adds. "And even for the few women who have made their mark today, society 'forgives' them because they are seen to have completed their child-bearing roles."
But Jerotich cautions that these attitudes create the impression in young women that politics is the preserve of old women. She also notes that the current crop of nine women parliamentarians do not represent a wide dimension in age, religion and social class.
Incidentally, the youthful and articulate quartet of Hon. Charity Ngilu (Social Democratic Party), Hon. Martha Karua (Democratic Party) and Hon. Marere wa Mwachai (KANU) and Hon. Beth Mugo (Social Democratic Party), are the only four women elected members. The other five nominated female Parliamentarians bring the total to nine out of a total 222 Members of Parliament.
The violent nature of political campaigns also serves as a deterrent for younger women. According to the ECWD, in the run up to the 1997 general election,14 women were physically abused, nine were intimidated, five were discriminated against on cultural grounds and five were sexually abused.
Jerotich, whose mother Hon. Tabitha Seii (Democratic Party) is a nominated Member of Parliament, says that she counts on the support of her parents and family for her political orientation and ambitions.
"My father is my mother's number one supporter," she says, "And my mother is my role model."
Ironically, Kenya's independence struggle was largely the result of a vibrant youth movement riding on the back of the trade union movement more than four decades ago, culminating in independence in 1963.
Many female politicians in the late 1950s and 1960s launched their careers in the trade unions and in Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation (MYWO).
Such structures are no longer open today. In a past interview with AWC Feature Service Jael Mbogo, a veteran female politician from another era says: "We knew what we were fighting for and we were able to make effective changes for women."
At the time of the interview she was disappointed at the apparent failure of MYWO to articulate women's political aspirations and to bring on board younger women to diversify the movement's image.
"If I was 20 years younger, you would have heard that I had formed an alternative women's movement."
Her sentiments are shared by Atsango Chesoni who says MYWO is stuck in the welfare era and has failed to keep up with the fast pace on the political scene
But she cautions that younger women should not dismiss the gains that older women have brought about.
"Older women in politics are also fighting for the same political space we are clamouring for and they have been at it since independence."
But MYWO's civic eduation programme manager, Seth Luvutse says that the entrenched perception that female politics belongs to old women hampers the ascent of younger women into the organisation's leadership.
"Young women are reluctant to go for the top positions."
That is why the Affirmative Action Bill tabled last week by Hon. Beth Mugo is cause for much interest within the women's movement in Kenya. It will be debated on Wednesday.
Atsango says that the youth interest in the Bill is that it should go beyond the narrow confines of politics.
"If the Affirmative Action Bill is passed what substance will it have on women's lives and will it bring in poor women and young people into leadership?"
But Jerotich Seii is of the opinion that the Bill is necessary to rectify the current imbalances in leadership which eventually shapes millions of Kenyan women's lives.
"My fear is that it may not receive the crucial support of male parliamentarians who may not be willing to alter their dominance in Parliament."
Like Atsango, Betty Ndomo, says Affirmative Action is a concept that should not be confined to political space for women in Parliament and other spheres of political life. "Affirmative Action should begin at primary school level right through University," she adds. She adds that the system is such that there can never be mass leadership in any sphere of life.
"The leadership in political parties, women's associations and movements, trade unions and civil society organisations only confirm that leadership is not about qualities, it is about money and who you know."
Although the Affirmative Action Bill is bound to kick up a storm during its debate, Kenya is surrounded by a relatively large number of countries that have adopted affirmative action policies with respect to women in decision-making structures.
In Uganda and Mozambique, governments or ruling parties reserve 30 percent of the seats in the national, regional and local assemblies for women.
The Constitutions of Mozambique (1990), Ethiopia (1993), South Africa and Uganda (1995) all provide for equal rights for men and women as does the current Kenyan Constitution.
But these provisions are contradicted by concession to customary law, perpetuation of highly discriminative civil and penal codes, religious laws and the absence of family laws among other legal
measures.
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