A young woman vied for
a political seat in the last year’s general elections. Possessed with zeal and
passion to go after what she wanted, she knew that the road ahead would be
plagued with nothing but challenges of intimidation by the male opponents,
insults, not to mention, to the very point of extreme, physical violence. This
did not deter her though, for she had the nerves of steel as she was prepared,
armed and ready to take on anyone who tried to put her down. She calls for a
meeting to sell her brand and manifestos, only to have someone try to pull down
her skirt.
She postponed the meeting to be held in the next 2 weeks. As a
young, unmarried woman, she faced verbal abuse from her male opponents in
public. As if that was not enough, She faced harassment and hooliganism at the
polling stations. Honestly, someone else would not have gone that far. There
are many like her who are pursuing the dream of sitting with policy makers to
affect change in the country by averting the status quo, brought in by
political heavyweights who have overstayed their term.
The past political
leadership in Kenya has been characterized by none other than graft, status quo and tribalism. In the current dispensation, the same
crop of political leadership are campaigning on the platform of change, which
is outdated since that was what Jubilee government advocated for. Youth and
women, who make up the special interest groups have made up their minds that it’s
about time that they take the bull by the horns, if they want to see visible
and transparent economic development in the country.
The road to ascension of
leadership for the special interest groups has not been easy for it seems to
the veterans that these special interest groups need a form of tough and ugly
initiation in order to “fit in” or “join the club.”The dominant political
parties in the region are making it hard for the special interest groups to
engage hence the need for lobby groups to push forth the agenda of increasing
participation for the special interest groups in the mainstream parties for
effective representation.
Key obstacle that the
special interests groups face is the financial bit. The veteran opponents are
well moneyed and networked to the grassroots level while the youth and women
still have to figure out how to raise millions just to affect their campaign
strategies. These special interest groups have been met with violence for
expressing their desire to be political representatives. It’s clear that the
veteran opponents are ready to outline the battle of supremacy by cowing them
into silence lest they be brutally ‘punished.’
This experience thereby creates
apathy among the youth and women citing that no idle threats were made but a
promise to create chaos and confusion during their campaign period. Others have
resulted to selling their vote for meager returns due to the pounded ‘status
quo’ belief system that youth and women are simply not ready for political
leadership, whereas the opposite is true. There’s also lack of motivation among
the special interest groups or there are individuals who may have the answers
to the ongoing problems plaguing the country in terms of leadership, but they
chose not to bat an eyelid.
It’s not exactly front
page news that young women (18-27yrs) are not interested in voting, attending
political rallies, protesting, blogging or speaking and debating on political
issues that affect the country. In young women’s minds, issues to do with
politics is mainly associated with men. They don’t want to be seen as loud
mouthed or politically incorrect.
The VoteADada
initiative courtesy of the Youth agenda, Oxfam and FIDA couldn’t have come at a
better time. Its main focus is to address the reluctance of women to put
themselves forward as candidates let alone consider a political career. The
initiative also vouches for equal representation in positions of leadership.
One must be persistent, passionate and possess the nerves of steel if he or she
feels the call to a political office hence the need to train aspirants on
importance of equal representation and how to wade off or not to be shaken by
the challenges that comes with vying for a political position.
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