WUNRN
Association for Women's Rights in
Development
On December 27, 2007 Kenya held civic, parliamentary and presidential
elections. AWID interviews Wangari Kinoti of the Education Centre for Women in Democracy about how women fared in the
elections.
By Kathambi Kinoti
AWID: How did women candidates perform in the recently concluded
parliamentary elections?
WANGARI KINOTI: The recent elections produced the highest number of women
legislators in Kenya's history. Fourteen women were elected to Parliament.
The previous Parliament had nine elected women members and therefore there
has been a slight increase in the number of elected representatives. Out
of the fourteen, eight are newcomers to Parliament, and one was previously
a nominated member. Only four retained their seats.
AWID: Kenya's legislature consists of elected members as well as members
nominated by political parties. Is the number of women members of
Parliament (MPs) not likely to rise after the parties nominate some
members?
WK: We are likely to see some women nominated, but perhaps not as many as
the seventy five per cent that we saw in the previous Parliament after the
2002 elections. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, in the
pre-2002 struggle for what is referred to as Kenya's 'second liberation' a
number of the strong political players were women. These women were able
to bring significant pressure to bear on the different political parties to
fill their allocated slots for nominated MPs with women. Secondly, there are
several key political players who lost the recently concluded elections in
their constituencies, but whom their parties are likely to nominate into
Parliament. Since most of these are male, and there are limited seats for
nominated MPs, we are likely to see them being selected over women who did
not vie for election. Thirdly, the stakes are much higher now than ever
before and there will be more jostling for seats in the legislature. Women
could lose out in the jostling.
The majority of nominated MPs in the previous Parliament were women, but
this does not mean that there has been a sudden clamour from political
actors for women's representation in Parliament. Indeed, the majority of
the male MPs in the previous Parliament voted against an Affirmative Action
Bill that would have ensured that at least one third of the legislature's
seats were allocated to women. This lack of political commitment to women's
leadership may affect the nomination process.
AWID: To what would you attribute the increase in the number of women
recently elected to Parliament?
WK: Most of the new women MPs have been in politics for some time or have
been prominent public figures in different capacities. Therefore, while
this may be the first time that they are going to sit in Parliament, they
are not actually new to the populace. Most of the newly elected women have
good political connections and have learned how to work within the
political party structures in order to ensure that they are able to stand
for election on their parties' tickets. The majority of them were elected
due to the fact that their political parties were the strongest in their
particular localities. This is especially true of some areas considered
very conservative.
The increase can also be attributed to concerted efforts on the part of
civil society and development partners who have given prominence to the
need for women's participation in leadership. The recent elections were the
most highly contested in the country's history. There were many candidates
and the large number of candidates translates into a large number of women
candidates. In the previous Parliament, there were a number of strong and
prominent women members. It is therefore possible that Kenyans are getting
used to seeing women in positions of leadership and that this influenced
voting choices.
On the other hand despite the increase in the number of women MPs, the
numbers are still dismal; 14 women out of 210 MPs is not impressive.
Societal perceptions have a major role to play; the society as a whole has
not yet acknowledged women's leadership rights or abilities. The lack of
financial resources is another major constraint that works against women.
Another challenge is the lack of critical political connections. Kenyan
women leaders need to learn to work within political party structures to
ensure that they get the initial nominations to run for Parliament as
representatives of their particular political parties. Even if a
candidate's credentials or performance record are good, if she does not
represent a political party that is popular in her area, her chances of
success are compromised. Considering the importance of the party, women
need to ensure that they are entrenched within their parties, and that
their parties' rules stipulate that there be a certain minimum number of
women candidates vying for parliamentary seats.
It is important to note that even where women have not been elected or
nominated, there are opportunities for them to be appointed or elected to
other public offices, which is still a gain. Already we have seen one woman
contest the position of Speaker of Parliament which is significant for
women.
AWID: In the run-up to the elections there were several cases of violence
against female candidates for political office. Why was there an upsurge in
this form of violence?
WK: There was indeed an unprecedented upsurge in violence against women
aspirants. Several were attacked and subjected to brutal beatings, while
others received threats of physical and sexual violence. One candidate is
reported to have been shot dead. Investigations are not complete as to the
motives behind the killing, and we are therefore not able to say for sure
that this was a case of gender based violence. Nevertheless, the violence
against women candidates was unprecedented.
Kenya's political culture can be violent. Kenyans are passionate about
politics and sometimes that passion expresses itself in violence. The
situation is compounded for women; on the one hand there is the political
culture and on the other hand there are patriarchal views that women should
not occupy public office. These two elements combine and translate into
violent opposition to women's leadership. There is also the factor that
women have become a real threat to reckon with and therefore all means of
intimidation are used against them. The violence could also be a backlash
against women's gains particularly since the previous Parliament had a
number of strong women who pushed the women's rights agenda, for instance
legislation against sexual violence.
AWID: How did your organization respond to the increased cases of violence
against women political aspirants?
WK: With the support of UNIFEM, the Education Centre for Women in Democracy
set up a Gender Violence Rapid Response Unit to provide assistance to women
aspirants who were the targets of attacks based on their candidature.
Initially we had planned to establish a desk to record and follow up cases
of violence against women candidates, but the magnitude of the problem
necessitated the establishment of a whole unit. The Unit established a
hotline and other avenues to enable women candidates to report cases of
violence, and we followed up these cases with the police and the political
parties. A major challenge that we encountered is the lack of sensitivity
from the police in dealing with cases of gender based violence.
AWID: The outcome of the presidential elections was contested, and violent
opposition to the results announced erupted. How has this violence affected
women?
WK: In the post-election period, there has been death, physical injury,
sexual violence, displacement, as well as loss or destruction of property.
Women have borne the brunt of all these. There has been an increase in the
number of sexual violence cases reported, and presumably the bulk of cases
have gone unreported. A large number of women have been displaced and are
now refugees in their own country, seeking refuge in churches and police
stations. This has sparked off a humanitarian crisis and many are in need
of food, clothing, medicines and other basic supplies.
Women, like the rest of the community have responded by contributing to
humanitarian needs by gathering relief supplies for people affected by the
violence. It is not enough for us to respond to the immediate humanitarian
needs. Therefore we have also sought to be part of the mediation process to
ensure that there is peace and justice for all. We have reminded the
political leaders of their obligations under the African Union Solemn
Declaration on Gender Equality and United Nations Security Council
Resolution 1325. We are committed to ensure women's contribution to the
peaceful resolution of the crisis.
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