By Elvine Ouma
‘Fixing’, young Kenyan women’s political challenges, one spa visit at a time
Badili Africa is a social advocacy organisation that empowers women to take on leadership roles
in their respective institutions through their political spas and glam sessions.
Several young women took to the ballot in the 2022 Kenya general election and left with lessons that sharpened them for the next polls.
Unsuccessful in her first attempt at just 23 years, the Green War author still believes that environment should be at the core of every economic model and she’s determined to argue this in Parliament come 2027. However, her journey in the 2022 general election wasn’t a walk in the park.
“I drew out my card to pay for fuel worth 50 US Dollars for my campaign vehicle and the attendant returned the card saying ‘it couldn’t go through’. I had spent all of my life savings on the campaign. I locked myself in the bedroom for two days, cried and continued campaigning. I didn’t give up.” Anita Soina shared.
Anita Soina was the youngest aspirant in the 2022 general election to represent Kajiado North constituents in the 13th Parliament. Her grandfather, who valued leadership and the environment, nurtured her political aspirations. She made a bold move a few months before the elections when she defected from the now-ruling party, United Democratic Alliance(UDA) led by President William Ruto to join the Green Thinking Action Party (GTAP) led by Dr Isaac Kalua.
“The Green Thinking Action Party (GTAP) values align with my values of environmental consciousness. Additionally, the party waivered fees for women running for elective office.” She said. Lauded for her environmental consciousness, Anita is fondly called the ‘Green MP’.
“Lack of political goodwill on climate change, water, sanitation and environmental consciousness in parliament was a motivating factor to join politics. We need people in decision-making spaces who are passionate about the environment. No qualifications are needed to be environmentally cautious and this gospel I hoped to share in Parliament,” she added.
However, Anita’s miss at her first attempt to run for office has been re-ignited as she vows to go bigger and better in the 2027 general election. She’s confident that Kenya’s political landscape is slowly widening for female participants and younger generation of female leaders will step up when heroes like Martha Karua retire from active politics. This wave of young women politicians is relentless in pursuit of their political careers.
Less than 2000 female political aspirants participated in the general election that saw seven women governors, three senators, 26 Members of Parliament and 115 Members of County Assemblies elected into office. Interestingly three out of the four presidential aspirants had female running mates, a first of many. Despite the new high record, women’s participation in politics still lags and achieving two-thirds of gender rule is far from being realised.
Ms Nancy Baraza, a human rights activist notes that these numbers barely meet the two-thirds gender rule even with the appointive seats combined. Sighting culture as one of the main challenges women politicians deal with, she posed questions the Kenyan electorate needs to reflect on if achieving gender parity is a goal they are serious about.
“Culture violates women’s human rights in the sense that patriarchy puts a man on top of the pyramid on every leadership and decision-making platform that arises. It is important to note women are the majority in illiteracy and poverty. How can they lead when they are illiterate? Sure, women have solutions to their problems, but they need to be educated to implement these solutions at a higher level. Politics is expensive, who will finance their campaigns?”
Financial constraints were the most prevalent challenge for most female aspirants and Linet Chipkorir is one of the candidates that Kenyans took a special interest in because of how she was running her campaigns. Famously known as Linet Toto, the Bomet women’s representative had her supporters mobilise funds to support her campaign as she traversed the county using a motorbike during the campaign period. Most young women aspirants relied on family, friends and person of goodwill to finance their campaigns and savings.
“Structural culture, religious and societal beliefs hold women back from pursuing their political ambitions and dwindles their confidence.” Bina Maseno, the founder of Badili Africa shares. Badili Africa is a social advocacy organisation that empowers women to take on leadership roles in their respective institutions through their political spas and glam sessions. The organisation was born after unsuccessfully running for a Member of the County Assembly (MCA) in Kayole.
“ We have therefore coined the term, ‘political spa,’ to connote a safe feminine space where we
address heavy policy and political issues at a ‘salon’ level. ”
“ We have therefore coined the term, ‘political spa,’ to connote a safe feminine space where we address heavy policy and political issues at a ‘salon’ level. “
“The Spa element acts as an incentive for young women in informal underprivileged urban settlements and, tertiary institutions of learning to engage in a non-threatening environment where they are free to share their views, concerns and opinions about their political power as citizens. We then link governance issues like voting rights and participation in elections, cost of livelihood, underdevelopment(of informal settlements for example,) access to family planning, insecurity, and sexual and gender-based violence to political governance in a manner that is not “traditional” and that speaks directly to them.” Bina shares.
The Kenyan political scene is predominantly male and therefore, most young women grow up thinking politics is a manly affair. The media portrays politics as a men’s affair and young girls are conditioned to believe that politics should be reserved for men.
Besides, the media’s portrayal of women politicians is quite discouraging. Besides over-sexualization, the media sensationalized the lives of women politicians, focusing on their dress codes, and marital lives. These stories are further fleshed out on social media as users comment on ways they think women should use their bodies for different things.
Lynne Obwoge, a recent graduate shares that this kind of negative media attention often puts women in jeopardy as the longevity of their marriages is tested. For women, it feels like they have to choose between their families and political ambitions. Politically ambitious women are frowned upon because most communities in Kenya still measure a woman’s success by her marriage.
“I come from an extremely patriarchal society. To speak up as a woman is hard enough let alone a young woman. Highly propelled by the phrase, ‘What can a woman tell us?’ Leadership by women generally is concept men in my community struggle with. Being a woman makes it hard, young makes it harder. ‘ Kichwa ngumu’, tough headed or ‘anafaa afunzwe adabu’ loosely translated to mean she ought to be disciplined”. She shared some of the remarks men make.
But Lynne is not the only one that has noticed this. Habiba, the current vice president of the Technical University of Kenya shares this belief.
“After attending the political spa and glam session on campus, my political views and beliefs were broadened. I used to think that politics is a dirty game, unethical and no one should be participating in politics. I can’t believe that a year later, I’m the vice president of this great university. The growth is unmatched and trust me the national political scene should look forward to seeing me in future. In Sha Allah!” shared an excited Habib.
The Muslim girl from remote Isiolo hopes to mentor young girls from her home and encourage
them to be more involved in leadership as she shared how she’s promoting women’s participation in
politics at the Technical University of Kenya.
“I believe universities should employ the 2/3 rule like in my institution, the Technical University
of Kenya where the proportion of women to men in the students’ leadership is equal. I encourage
other universities to take it up as it will increase participation and probably motivate them to join
active politics in future.”
However, women still battle with similar challenges across the board and if not addressed, could frustrate their efforts and political careers as shared by Spice Warriors founder, Anita Soina.
“Young people, particularly women don’t have levelled grounds when competing for elective office; it’s unfair. We are easily ‘fixed’. During party primaries, we are easily told to step down for another candidate, promised a job or a nominated position to pave the way for our male counterparts.” Anita shared.
Young women leaders find it hard to sail through party primaries because they are often unfair and violent. Besides the financial hurdles involved, male aspirants take centre stage while women take the rear seat. Women are talked out of political races by being awarded nominated positions which are ‘safe’ or promises of jobs if they let their male counterparts have their spot.
Edwin, a 32 years old environmentalist said, “Women who agree to step down for their male counterparts are easily controlled and therefore trusting that they make their own decisions is hard. I’m always very keen on voting for women leaders.”
However, Sakina believes that it’s better safe than sorry. “A nominated seat is a certainty that you will be in government and you can promote your agenda while there instead of taking the risk and missing out on both opportunities.”
Given the hostile nature of party primaries, the IEBC and political parties ought to ethically and financially support female aspirants during party primaries to avoid falling victim to their male counterparts. This vulnerability is what promotes ‘fixing’ which taints a woman’s political career and is reduced to party ‘flower girls’ as referred to by some publications.
This hostility is not only experienced physically, as bullies take to social media to harass aspirants online. “Unlike our male counterparts, women cannot campaign at night because we are at risk of being sexually abused,” Anita shared.
Women are preyed upon and joining active politics sets a target on them. Their abusers are spread across different social media platforms as much as in their physical surroundings. Female aspirants are shamed for virtually everything as they struggle to fit all the religious and societal beliefs of their voters. Women with disabilities deal with even worse situations as shared by Salome Kimata, executive director of United Disability Empowerment in Kenya.
“It is good to take note that the participation of women with disabilities in politics is extremely low. Access to information on women with disabilities engaging in the political process is very limited,” she begins.
“ Generally lack of a level playing ground, women with disabilities politicians face communication barriers. Electoral processes materials not packaged in accessible formats to ease access to information e.g. braille, sign language interpreters for women politicians with hearing impairments. Stigma, discrimination and lack of opportunities hinder their social inclusion and are often subject to abuse.” These challenges are sadly faced by both aspirants and voters in the same breath.
“Voting itself could be a major barrier due to the lack of awareness and accessibility. The government could be more inclusive in various ways. Political parties need to enrol more women with disabilities as their members and include women with disabilities in their party leadership organs e.g. National Election Council, and National Election Board and ensure their parties have a disability league established,” Salome shares.
Election Management bodies should encourage and support women with disabilities’ political participation by encouraging more women with disabilities to participate in their women’s political leadership programmes. This will in turn inform their decisions while creating materials to be used for elections so that everyone is catered for, regardless of whatever special needs they might have. The government can also be proactive in dealing with cyberbullies as they contribute to the problem of online harassment.
While social media has been resourceful in terms of campaigns and cost-efficient, the platforms also pose great risks to the mental and physical well-being of aspirants. The constant name-calling, derogatory labels and death threats demoralise women aspirants and they end up losing confidence in themselves. But Anita believes that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and helps you develop a thick skin towards what she calls, “toxic politics.”
Anita’s passion to heal and restore mother earth inspired her to write a book that demystifies environmental jargon into simple relatable terms that promote environmental consciousness among the youth.
She founded the Spice warriors foundation which promotes conservation through tree planting and the Soina Foundation to advocate for sexual and reproductive health rights, gender-based violence and social issues affecting women and girls in Kajiado.
“It’s dehumanising that women and girls in drought-stricken areas lack essential needs for their menstrual hygiene; water. This reality dawned on me when we went to distribute washable sanitary towels and there was no water in that community,” a disgruntled Anita shared.
Women’s leadership is purpose-driven and their political aspirations are grounded in causes they are passionate about. They believe in the spirit of Ubuntu. Unlike their male counterparts whose personal interests supersede their voters’ needs, women leaders prioritise the good of everyone as shown by the author of Green War, Anita Soina.
She has politicised the struggle of Kenyan women living in drought-prone areas and taken personal initiative to represent their challenges in Parliament. If successful in the next elections, her influence could upgrade menstrual and maternal health, and girls’ education, and advance gender justice alongside climate justice and climate education.
Her decorated career in just 24 years is proof enough. Young women are setting the stage to take on leadership reigns with purpose and determination. They have proven their commitment to transformational leadership through purpose-driven, goal-oriented and commendable innovations. We should rid ourselves of ill-informed notions that women do anything to stay relevant and give them the chance to lead. The next best time is now!
This story is part of the African Women in Media (AWiM)/Luminate Young Women in Politics Media Project
