In the busy settlement of Kibera, Makina Ward, Superb Community Based Organisation (CBO) finds its purpose. This feminist women-led organisation is on a mission to challenge the instruments of power that perpetuate violence against the rights of women and girls while amplifying their voices and fostering gender equality.
Kiengu village in the outskirts of Maua town in Meru County, epitomizes the tranquility of a normal Kenyan village. The welcoming lush green vegetation breaths a sense of fresh air and calmness. The streams of water crisscrossing the village create a serene ambience of a village endowed with natural resources.
At the core of the Constitution of Kenya (COK, 2010) is the belief that there can only be real progress in society if all citizens participate fully in their governance, and that all, male and female, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and all previously marginalized and excluded groups are included in the affairs of the republic.
“I had a vision to be a member of the County Assembly of Meru not because of the money but because I had mission to take the women agenda forward.”
These are the words of Lucy Mukaria the chairperson of the Meru Women Legislative Association (MEWOLA) who believes that leadership is about goals and the ideals of the community. She says that despite the societal barriers, women must rise up and take up leadership positions; be it elective or appointive.
As a young widow, she deserted her in laws and matrimonial properties taken away and left without any support. She was left without a penny to fend for her three children. What was so agonising to her was the cultural stigmatisation that widows went through in the village; they are taken as outcasts.
“When I started living as a single woman and with no much support, the thought of the other widows crossed my mind. What about the single mothers that were not working? What about women in the community whose lands are taken away by the elders or clan and never made to be part of the decision regarding the community or their families? I asked myself why women aren’t getting opportunities like men? ” She explains while noting that the disparities are as a result of the imbalanced power relations.
In Meru County where Mukaria ails from, women are disadvantaged when it comes to land ownership. This is despite the progressive and robust legal frameworks on land ownership in Kenya; a clear indication on the of the non-balanced power dynamics and cultural inequality when it comes to land allocations between men and women. This inequalities are also transited to the political governance even at the village level up to the highest governance levels.
“These experiences however put me at a better place in understanding the challenges women go through. All these are not ‘women issues’ but societal issues,” she says.
For Mukaria, the Constitution of Kenya 2010 was a game changer towards the right direction. Its provisions on the two-thirds gender principle was a step forward in pushing the equality agenda which for a long time has been underpinned by patriarchal systems where political engagement has for a long time been dominated by men.
Her leadership journey has been on the glimmer for decades; she started off her career in the civil society but the climax she says is when she got involved in the The Katiba Sasa! Campaign during the clamour for the CoK 2010. The campaign advocated for the speedy enactment of the constitution to ensure a free governance space. This placed her at a position to engage with the governance system and penetrate through the party structure.
As a figure that was now well known and recognised in the civil society as well as the grassroots political arenas, she got elected to be the Councillor of the then Meru Municipal Council in the old constitutional order.
“I made a name out of the campaigns. I was known for social justice but I wanted more than just the connotation of ‘flower girls’ for women leaders. Coming into the County Assembly of Meru in 2017, she galvanised the support of other 23 women to form a caucus that would ensure that the operations and policies enacted by the County Assembly are engendered,” says Mukaria.
She adds: “As women we must know how to manoeuvre through political spaces, for me one of the best strategy I ever made in during the 2017 general elections was to align myself with a political party. I got to understand what how the political party systems work. I made male politicians my alias and even though I lost in the elections, I was specially elected to sit at the Assembly based on my track record.”
With the technical support from CREAW through the Wajibu Wetu project, Mukaria and other female MCAs under the banner of the MEWOLA developed a Strategic Plan with an aim to champion and advocate for gender sensitive policies at the county level.
Through the MEWOLA, the MCAs will continuously advocate for stronger women movements to champion for equality in development processes
With the growing momentum to have women voices amplified at the decision making spaces more so in conversations on policies in the wake of the devolved governance systems, the call to build stronger women movements that speaks with a unity of purpose cannot be over stated.
In Meru County, the women Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) came together to form a caucus dubbed the Meru Women Legislative Association (MEWOLA) aimed at creating a space for the women leaders to champion for the rights of women and engender the legislative processes at the county level.
Through the MEWOLA the women MCAs have strategically positioned themselves to collectively influence the Assembly and work together with the County Government to deliver services to communities. The MEWOLA believes that effective women’s participation can influence change despite the historical inequalities.
On December 7, 2018 MEWOLA launched its inaugural five year Strategic Plan with an aim of harnessing greater partnerships between men and women legislators to promote gender equality through legislations and to increase the number, influence and impact of women political leadership and governance in Meru County.
During the launch, speaker after speaker emphasised on the need for formation of women caucuses in all the counties. Meru County is the second after Nyeri to have the women caucus launch their development roadmap.
While speaking at the launch the Meru County First Lady Priscilla Murungi appreciated the efforts of the women MCAs and extended her invitation to them to work with her office and the executive in their strategic focus.
“I congratulate the women who had the courage to stand up and be elected. Women have the power but in most cases they shy off because of the way they have been socialized,” said Priscilla.
The first lady who was the Chief Guest at the launch said that the society must begin mentoring women at a younger age to sharpen their skills and build their confidence to participate in issues of societal good.
“We do not have to circumcise our girls to make them powerful women. We need to sharpen their brains to make them proud of their womanhood. We must also make our boys proud of who they are and supporters of their sisters. In this we build and equal society,” she emphasised.
The Governor Kiraitu Murungi who was also in attendance during the launch expressed confidence in the capability of women to transform communities stating that his government has a good will to empower women through the Meru Twaweza program both socially, economically and politically.
The Chairperson of MEWOLA Lucy Mukaria expressed that the caucus shall prioritise on result areas and seek resources necessary to implement the strategic activities to create significant impact in the governance of Meru County, seek better service delivery to people and create confidence as a trusted entity to effectively engage with communities.
“I extend my invitation to the likeminded partners: individuals, government, development partners to partner with MEWOLA. We can only hasten the achievement of our objectives if we work jointly with mutual understanding and cooperation,” said Mukaria.
Asenath Kaimuri says when women combine their efforts, the impacts and contribution towards policy and legislative development is more extensive than individual efforts.
This is in reference to the newly formed Meru County women caucus aimed at championing for the inclusion of women in political governance and development processes.
“We operate in an environment that does not accord women a space to participate in the governance and political processes despite the right to equal representation from both genders having been enshrined in the Constitution. I knew the only way to make our voices louder in the County Assembly is to have all women legislators working together with a common goal to push the women agenda,” says Kaimuri.
Kaimuri is the chairperson for the Meru Women Legislative Association (MEWOLA); a caucus of women legislators at the County Assembly of Meru formed to chat the path for the women agenda owing to the cultural challenges that underpins political representation in the County.
The Caucus is headed by a secrteriate that includes, the Chairperson, Vice Chair, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer.
During the 2017 general elections, only two women were directly elected to the County Assembly of Meru. 21 members were nominated by the various political parties to fill in the gender threshold as per the Constitutional provisions of the two-thirds gender principle.
“Most elected MCAs are men and they feel they have more rights than the women when it comes to appointment in the House committees. At first none of the women were elected to chair the committees but after push and pull from the women legislators, only one was given a slot to chair the County Cohesion and Devolved Unit Committee,” she says.
“The Committee positions were politicized as well. The criteria used was regionalized based on the Wards which only factored the male membership in the Assembly leaving out of the key policy decision making processes,” adds Kaimuri noting that the environment for women leadership has since changed.
That did not however deter them from pushing forward to have their voices heard. Their persistence garnered then positions as the vice chair of the house committees…name them.
Today the MEWOLA is in the process of drafting a strategic plan that would guide their operations in the coming five years. Key among the strategic focus is the enactment of the Meru County Sexual and Gender Based Violence policy for an effective prevention and response of GBV and create budgets that are gender sensitive.
“We aspire to create strategic partnerships wit state and non-state actors to ensure gender issues are mainstreamed in the county.” She explains.
In the last County Integrated Development Plan, gender issues were not well articulated posing a challenge to the implementation of projects that adhere to the issues of inclusivity including people living with disability.
For decades CREAW has been working to equip women with the knowledge to be able to challenge societal norms that underpins their ascension to appointive and elective positions. With the knowledge, the women gain the confidence to engage with key decision makers on accountability issues on the rights of women and girls. Through that; they are also able to vie and get elected into the county and national assembly and able to influence key policies that enables for the actualization of the inclusion of women in the development processes as well us address the scourge of gender based violence in the communities.
The baseline report on ‘Haki Yetu, Jukumu Letu’ Gender Based Violence in Meru and Kilifi Counties is one among these initiatives that aims to support policymakers and relevant institutions in their efforts to combat and prevent gender based violence in Kenya. It provides comparable data and information for effective, evidence-based project planning, decision-making and policy and legislation improvement among other core goals of this report. It further seeks to identify the challenges in operationalization and their impact on effectiveness so as to inform the strategies
and interventions of criminal justice system actors in particular and thereby guide the coordination
Centre for Rights Education and Awareness – CREAW Centre for Rights Education and Awareness – CREAW
Kilifi and Meru Counties of efforts going forward within the target Counties where the project is being implemented.
Baseline Report – Meru and Kilifi Counties 2017 by Centre for Rights Education and Awareness on Scribd
Nairobi, Kenya, February 21, 2018: Katiba Institute representing Marilyn Kamuru, Daisy Amdany and Center for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) filed a case to safeguard the rule of law, constitutionalism and safeguard against the slide into state sanctioned anarchy.
The case highlights the violation of established law that requires that all State officers and organs have limited authority and may legally act only in accordance with the Constitution. Relying on a prior decision of the High Court in Petition 566 of 2015 which determined that the Cabinet was unconstitutional, null and void effective August 2017, the case argues that The President failed to observe the law by following the process for appointing Cabinet.
That the actions of the President in nominating and appointing Cabinet was beyond his constitutional authority as provided in Articles 1, 2, 3, 129(1), 132(2) and 152(2), and as such per Article 2(4) these acts are invalid. That the actions of the National Assembly in approving a partial list of nominees in the knowledge that their approval would result in an unconstitutional Cabinet (one in violation of 27(8), were beyond their constitutional authority as limited in Articles 1, 2, 3, and 93 which requires the National Assembly must act “in accordance with this Constitution”.
The case seeks orders that the ultra vires actions of the President and National Assembly are declared unlawful with no legal effect, and further orders to restrain all members who hold State office through these illegal actions from exercising state authority. The case also seeks orders requiring the President to legally constitute a new Cabinet in compliance with the Constitution and all applicable law.
This case is important to every Kenyan because it seek to affirm the Constitution which provides that neither State Officers nor State Organs have unlimited authority in Kenya or over Kenyans. That the exercise of any State officer or Organ outside of the constitutionally allowed authority is illegal. That the exercise of State authority is not available to persons who have acquired State office illegally, or through a violation with the applicable law and processes for eligibility, approval and appointment.
Date: 1st February 2018
On 26th of January 2017, the President of the Republic of Kenya, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, in a statement to newsrooms announced his new cabinet comprising of, Cabinet Secretaries, Chief Administrative Secretaries and Principal Secretaries. Part of the list of new cabinet appointees has been forwarded to parliament for vetting.
Of all the nominees, there is no youth. Further, out of the whole proposed cabinet composition, only one person with disability has been nominated as a Principal Secretary. The percentage of women in all the cabinet position remains grossly below the constitutionally stipulated percentage. Worse still, it has retrogressed rather than progress contrary to Article 27 (8) of the Constitution. Whereas in 2013, the percentage of women nominated for the Cabinet Secretary and Principal Secretary positions was 30% and 36% respectively, the percentages in the current list of nominees have dwindled to a merger 28.5% and 27.8% respectively. Exacerbating the situation, regional imbalance is out-rightly glaring with 2 out of the 43 Kenyan tribes scooping 59% of the cabinet positions.
The list of nominees reeks of pungent discrimination on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity and gender. The list flies in the face of paragraph 3 of the preamble, articles 3, 10 (b), 27, 54(2), 55 (b) and 131(2) of the Constitution and Section 10 of the Public Service (Values and Principles) Act. It cannot and should not be allowed pass in a democratic state like ours which is based values including inclusivity, equality and non-discrimination.
We, the youth, persons with disabilities, women and Kenyan from diverse ethnic backgrounds, condemn the President’s nominations, which fall far outside the coordinates of the Constitution. We note that it is embarrassing and saddening in equal measure that twice, the President has taken oath to respect, uphold and defend the Constitution, but has gone ahead to patently and openly contravene its most basic tenets.
In his various addresses to the state, the President has reiterated that he is a president of all Kenyans and not selected Kenyans; a symbol of national unity mandated under article 131(2) (c) & (d) of the Constitution to promote and enhance unity of the people, promote respect for diversity of the people and Communities of Kenya and to ensure the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. It is utterly shocking that the same is not reflected in his actions. It begs the question whether he indeed is a symbol of national unity or that of a selected polity for which we youth, persons with disability, women and Kenyans from certain regions do not belong.
The President, purportedly acting on recommendations of the Public Service Commission, has gone ahead to create the positions of Chief Administrative Secretaries in the Cabinet. Judging from the general and specific job descriptions of the Chief Administrative Secretaries, they rank higher than Principal Secretaries, a development that was not envisioned in the Constitution. Had people of Kenya wanted representatives higher in hierarchy than the principal Secretaries, it could have been easier to include the same in the constitution.
We strongly condemn the move by the president to manipulate the Constitution by reincarnating the order associated with the old constitutional dispensation (i.e. Minister- Assistant Minister- Permanent secretary). Such unconstitutional move must be arrested immediately. We know that the Chief Administrative Secretaries positions were created purposely as consolation prices for the President’s allies who lost in the August 8 2017 General Elections and not for nation building . It is for this reason that the positions were never publicly advertised to give room for competitive selection contrary to article 232 of the Constitution. Kenyans denounces the redundant positions under the current constitutional dispensation and we still refuse to be burdened by the huge wage bill attendant to superfluity. We further note that the nominations of the chief administrative secretaries is marred with discrimination as elucidated above.
We the youth, persons with disability, women and Kenyans from diverse ethnic backgrounds recognize all that the all the groups are capable of ably taking up leadership roles in our country. We aspire for a government based on human rights, equality, inclusivity, social justice and the rule of law.
Therefore, we demand:
By Christine Ogutu
With the new Constitutional dispensation in 2010, the women of Kenya were hopeful of a new beginning that would enable them participate in the democratic governance of the country.
The Constitution of Kenya 2010 created avenues necessitating an affirmative action aimed at reducing gender imbalances in leadership positions. Article 26 (6), 27 (8) and 81(b) postulates that not more than two-thirds of the members of any elective or appointive positions shall be of the same gender.
Seven years down the line, the provisions of the Constitution are yet to be met. Women representation in public bodies and Parliament remains minimal owing to the lack of political good will in providing legislative mechanisms for the realization of the two-thirds gender principle.
“ For too long, the women of Kenya have been intentionally excluded from decision making processes, deliberately denied the right to be fully represented in Parliament and constantly overlooked with regards to positions of appointment to public office,” said the women in a statement delivered to the Office of the President during a march on January 22 along the streets of Nairobi.
The women who were joined by CREAW, FEMNET, Groots Kenya, Katiba Institute, Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Women Empowerment Link among other concerned rights groups and Kenyans of goodwill took to the streets in protest of the continued discrimination and exclusion of women from the governance processes.
The women stated that “whereas it is clear in Law and Courts decisions that there can not be more than two-thirds of any gender in elective and appointive positions, the principle has not been adhered to in Parliament nor has it been given any consideration in the ongoing appointments of the Cabinet.”
Currently there are 76 women in the National Assembly, which is 41 short of the required number. In the Senate, there are 21 female senators, which is also two short of the required number resulting into an improperly constituted parliament as per the Constitution.
“We find it unconscionable, disrespectful and an affront to the women, that more than 7 years since the 
promulgation of the Constitution, women are still forced to agitate for their right to political participation and equitable representation in Parliament and in the Executive,” read the statement in part.
Recently in his first batch of nominees to Cabinet, the President dropped all women in his earlier Cabinet, naming only men. This, women said is a dishonor to the gains made by the women movement since independence.
“The President, Parliament and Political class must stop sacrificing women for political expediency and wake up to the realization that women remain vigilant and will continue to seek accountability for the implementation of the Constitution,” said Beatrice Kamau who read the statement on behalf of the women.
She added: “The remaining appointments to the Cabinet must therefore be made with uttermost regard to the principle of the not more than two-thirds as enshrined in the Constitution and fulfill the directives of the Court which also found the previous Cabinet to be unconstitutional.”
In the march, the women sought to remind Parliament of its duty as a legislative body to enact the necessary legislations for the actualization of the two-thirds principle. This they say will bridge the gaps that have for a long time denied women their spaces at the decision-making tables.
In march, the women also petitioned the Inspector General of the Police, Joseph Boinet to speed up investigations on the alleged sexual violence against nursing mothers at the Kenyatta National Hospital(KNH) and bring perpetrators to book.
“KNH is an institution in a position of authority and trust and therefore owes a duty of care to its patients. It therefore follows that the administration should have systems and structures that protects vulnerable patients and responds to any acts or omissions that breach the duty of care,” read the petition.
The concerned women of Kenya said that it was insensitive and unethical for the hospital administration to casually deny the claims of sexual assault as no survivor had come forward to report any of such cases.
“It is not enough for the Cabinet Secretary of Health Cleopa Mailu to order for investigations without himself visiting the hospital to ascertain the veracity of the allegations and satisfy himself that all the measures are being taken by the hospital to secure the safety of patients and ensure full cooperation of hospital staff in bringing forward evidence concerning the allegations,” said the women.
