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.
Women legislators CREAW Archives - CREAW KENYA
By Christine Ogutu
Women legislators on Friday 12th January converged in Naivasha for an induction workshop.
The three day event aimed at “laying the foundation for an effective female legislator” was organized by the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) in partnership with the Center for Rights, Education and Awareness (CREAW), UNWomen, USAID and FIDA among other key actors in gender and governance.
Speaking at the event, the outgoing chairperson of KEWOPA Cecil Mbarire lauded the gains made by women MPs in the previous parliament in actualizing legislative processes. She called on the leaders to be proactive in building communities.
In the 11th Parliament, women contributed tremendously to the enactment of family and gender based violence legislations. These are: Matrimonial Property Act, Marriage Act, Protection Against Domestic Violence Act, and Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act.
“We have numbers in parliament to achieve our goals. We need to stay focused and chat the way forward for the women agenda,” said Mbarire who served as the chair of KEWOPA in the 11th Parliament.
“Let us capacity build women to be effective leaders,” she added.
The Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs Sicily Kariuki congratulated the legislators for making it to the National Assembly and Senate noting that the country has beaten many odds in terms of women representation in key decision-making spaces especially in Parliament.
“The gradual increase in the number of women in all arms of government is as a result of consistent and tireless efforts of our path finders whose shoulders we stand on,” she noted, explaining that it was important that the female legislators understood the history of women empowerment so that they soldier forward with full appreciation of those who came before them.
In the quest to ensure gender balance in all elective and appointive positions, Mrs Kariuki challenged the MPs to ensure the country attains and upholds the two-third gender principle within their oversight and legislative roles.
It is the first time since the dispensation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 that three women were elected as governors in an election that also saw three women senators and 23 women MPs elected to the 11th Parliament; a great milestone in the push for gender equality and women empowerment.
“There is need to ensure both the national and county governments allocated enough resources to prevent and respond to gender based violence,” she said, adding that “we need to advocate and legislate for resources to end all forms of GBV and keep our girls in school.”
Her sentiments were also echoed by the former Gichugu MP Martha Karua who reiterated the need for male engagement in advocacies around gender imbalances in governance.
“When you contextualize gender within the family, it becomes very easy to convince men on our courses. In this, even the worst critics of gender inclusivity become your partners,” Karua said.
Karua who expressed optimism in the ability of women voices in parliament, explained that women have the responsibility to steer the country to prosperity if they speak with one voice even out of parliament.
“Most political parties have not met the Constitution merit on gender; you need to speak out on such inequalities,” she said.
During the induction, Kirinyaga Woman Representative Wangui Ngirici was elected the KEWOPA chairperson taking over from Mbarire. Also elected to lead the Association are the Kisumu Women Representative Roza Buyu as vice chairperson in the National Assembly and nominated Senator Milicent Omanga, vice chairperson in the senate.