Kenya elections bring new wave of female leaders to the fore | Governance

More women won parliamentary seats in Kenya’s elections this month than ever before.

The National Gender and Equality Commission said Kenyans elected 30 female MPs, up from 23 in 2017, seven female governors, up from three in 2017, and three female senators, the same number as in 2017.

Reports showed that three out of four vice-presidential candidates were female, and double the number of women battled it out for gubernatorial seats compared with previous elections.

In Nakuru county, Susan Kihika, an outgoing senator, unseated an incumbent male governor, with nearly twice the vote, and entrepreneur Tabitha Karanja, will take over Kihika’s senator seat. Elsewhere, Linet Chepkorir made history by becoming the youngest female MP at 24, in Bomet county.

Although the east African country has far fewer female parliamentarians than its regional counterparts – only about 12% of women ran in this month’s elections – it has seen a push for gender equality over the past few years. In 2020, the chief justice advised the president, Uhuru Kenyatta, to dissolve parliament for failing to pass laws to enforce gender quotas (the advisory was eventually suspended), and in May, the electoral body pushed for political parties to comply with the rule in this year’s polls.

The constitution requires that no more than two-thirds of MPs should be men, but this has not been fully implemented since it came into force a decade ago.

Critics of quotas say they could undermine women’s standing in mainstream politics, but Martha Wangari, who retained her seat in Nakuru county with a strong lead over male opponents, insists they provide a critical entry point. She was one of several female politicians elected in the county, which voted women into a majority of its elective seats.

“It was initially criticised by those who saw the quotas as free seats or freebies,” Wangari said. “But it’s not an easy feat for the average woman to run.”

Many women don’t have the resources or networks to run a full campaign, with some reports placing the average spend for an MP seat at 18m Kenyan shillings (£127,000).

Beyond the financial barriers, women are outliers in a patriarchal scene, often locked out of important political discussions. “The most powerful thing you can get is the microphone,” said Wangari.

When Wangari announced she was running to be an MP in 2017, some pressured her to target a seat contested only by women, which they believed she would have more chance of winning. She stood her ground and won the seat in parliament.

“I believe it’s best to run once on an affirmative seat and then allow others to get the same exposure and muscle to actually run a full race. That way, we can beat the numbers that we are dealing with,” she said.

Njoki Wamai, an assistant professor in politics and international relations at the United States International University-Africa, said the success of women this year is evidence that the country is “now seeing the first gains of affirmative action”. “The electorate has seen more women in leadership, and it has brought a bit of a shift in the patriarchal mindsets that did not appreciate women as leaders.”

Wangari says it is a far cry from when she first entered politics. The MP was a new mother at the time: an uncommon sight in a male-dominated parliament that had no nursing or childcare services. Some male colleagues would call her huyo senator wa mtoto (“the senator with the child”).

Now, nearly 10 years down the line, her electorate know her by another name: Mama na Kazi” (Swahili for “a female leader who delivers”).

Wangari says her political career has not been an easy ride. She has faced harassment, both online and on the campaign trail, and has been attacked with a bottle.

Reports show that as the representation of women grows, so does the backlash against them. “I’ve been called a prostitute and all manner of things,” says Wangari, adding that she has faced vicious trolling on her marital status and the paternity of her children. She had to block her mother once on social media, at the height of the attacks, and speak with her children about smear campaigns, which she feared might open them up to bullying.

“That’s one thing we have not been able to deal with as a country,” says Wangari, of online harassment. “When you try to report it, it gets worse. It’s like you amplify it.”

There have also been concerns over her physical safety. During a recent campaign, a fake message that she was giving out money circulated on social media, prompting nearly 200 people to go to her house. “It became a security threat,” she says.

This culture is pervasive in politics, and Wangari says you either give in to it or run the risk of losing.

Community organisations are working to build support for female leaders. “Investments have to be made both ways,” said Bina Maseno, executive director of non-profit Badili Africa. “That is where we are still struggling as a country, because we invest a lot in leadership, which is good, but we have a very weak ‘follower-ship’.”

The organisation taps into informal but powerful financial associations for women (chamas) in low-income areas that have historically campaigned for male leaders. That’s changing, said Maseno. “Chama women are now mobilising support for women leaders, and that’s a big shift.”

Additional reporting by Ventura Kireki

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