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The Roof Builders: Kenya Women in Nation Building
Elections Reflections for the Kenyan Voter
It has been said that the place of a woman is in the silent corners of a home where her voice must not be raised nor her shadow fall across the presence of men while they hold caucus. It needs be noted that there is nothing exaggerated about the above cliche in light of Kenya's political history and the place of women in decision-making positions. Consider that at independence, women representation in Parliament was 0%, which rose to 4.1% in 2002 at the end of the Kanu regime, and now stands at 8.1% in 2007. This, from a gender that constitutes 52% of Kenya's population, is nothing short of a travesty of justice.
Crippling and misinformed arguments that have been espoused lately to squash the forward surge of women in leadership need to be challenged. It has been said that women should not push for equal representation because they are not the only sidelined minority. Should women wait in line until the disabled, the children in the streets, the youth, the sick, the landless, the northern frontier communities, are all lined up toe-to-toe and ready to receive their equal share of recognition? Women in decision-making positions results in the elevation of those very same minorities that wait in line. It is largely women that stay behind to attend to those less advantaged, hence addressing deferred justice in gender issues is addressing deferred justice for all those forgotten.
"Progressive" voices with crassitude have emerged telling women that they should not accept the insult of being doled out positions as if they were incapable of competing on an equal footing with men. When a specific group of persons has been subjected to inconsideration for years, causing them to lag behind and become easy victims to social injustices such as rape and job discrimination, those in power must have the grace, humility and foresight to realize the importance of stretching a strong hand down the ladder to help those awakening to their sense of justice. Affirmative action is not an insult to the abilities and intelligence of those that need the help. It is a recognition that certain sacrifices must be made by those advantaged in order to rectify long-standing socio-economic imbalances.
Our national conscience, when it eventually comes to maturity, should guide us to the realization that providing equal opportunity to all for economic and social progress gives enough room for everyone to achieve and reach their individual summit. The thought that the national cake is finite substance that can be finished leads a people to the crippling mindset that one needs to grab lest they miss out on their share. Kenya's economy has grown, and with it, the gap between the rich and the poor. Our slums remain the largest in the world. Something is wrong with that picture. Our national cake must be baked continuously from a new paradigm of equality, fairness, and freedom. As a nation thinketh, so are its citizens. Leading through fear divides a people and plants in them survival tactics where one groups becomes the enemy, hence tribalism and gender discrimination. Not everyone is interested in being a political leader, a rich person, or a power-broker. But all humanity is interested in being treated with dignity and achieving their own level of comfort in life.. Achieving a healthy national conscience starts with addressing our greatest imbalances. For Kenya, more than tribalism, gender imbalance and its pursuant injustices stands as our greatest challenge.
It is important that the Kenyan legislation places all matters concerning gender at the front burner. That includes fast-tracking Bills that call for the balancing of gender representation. Male legislators have in the recent past kicked out one such Bill like a dusty football that didn't belong in their field. Kenya now goes to the poles with a paltry sum of women vying for civic, parliamentary and presidential seats. Few as they are, let us see them as women whose struggles against odds and positive contributions to society are noteworthy before we vilify them for power-mongering or dismiss them as non-starters. Indeed, the term, "huyo ni mwanamke tu, anataka nini?" (she is just a woman, what does she want?), has been used to dismiss many women who rise up and be counted as worthy leaders. In the interest of nation-building, the next Parliament needs to have a fresh agenda and less crassitude when it comes to women in leadership.
The recently reported horrifying torture of an aspiring female parliamentary candidate, Flora Igoki Tera, of North Imenti, is an example of an act of political terror against women, and against humanity. It brought to mind the scourge of sexual crimes suffered by women and children in Kenya. In our better traditions, our level of "utu", the milk of human kindness, is determined largely by how we treat women and children. This is because it reflects on how much we value Family, the smallest unit that molds our social fabric. Never again should a female candidate have to contend with torture and ridicule for being a woman as part of her journey to public service. Family should be every presidential candidates top agenda if nation-building means anything to them.
When we go to the polls, let us proceed wisely, placing in leadership roof-top climbers whose interest and sworn duty is to rebuilding the nation.
Among the Wadawida, when one calls the village to help with the rebuilding of a hut that is falling apart, the women begin to stream in to the compound with grass balancing on their heads, a working song rising with the crowd. The men replant any loose poles to strengthen the foundation, rebuild the wall, and rope up the frame of the roof. Then the women, having bunched up the grass and cut up the banana tree bark that is used for insulation, begin to climb the walls of the hut and get to work on the roof. The interlocking of bark, the laying of the grass, and the roping that secures it to the frame and central pole, is a science that is traditionally the work of women in this community. It ensures the standing of the hut for years to come; a place to cook in, sleep in, tell stories and raise family. The women build the roof. Then - and this is important - they descend when their work is done.
The ascending to the roof-top is not an act of usurping power for individual recognition, self-aggrandizement, or ego-padding. Women now rise up to demand a place to be heard, a vote in the house, and support in passing progressive Bills so that the families and communities they are naturally bound to care for are elevated beyond the poverty and strife they suffer. That you may find a woman driven to competitive politics purely for the love of power and no other goal is the exception that must not define the whole. We need to focus on all the women who since independence have fought hard to bring positive change in their communities and in the country. They are more, much more, unsung and unappreciated.
Women who hear a calling to leadership should dare to break away from the traditional bounds of shadowy places and silence. They need realize that as roof-builders in the process of nation-building, they must dare to climb up the foundation that has been laid by the male counterparts, precarious and dangerous as the action may be. They must contend with the fact that roof-building exposes them to the eyes of the world. Insults and ridicule will come. Yet it is not what the world perceives or says about them, but what they do to secure the roof, ensure that there is no leakage, and insulate their families and communities against adversity. The Njoki Ndung'u Sexual Offences Bill was roof-building done to excellence. Indeed, we have many other past examples to draw from both history and our recent efforts in nation-building.
A woman does not rise to the top of the roof to sit there and be seen. She rises to the top of the roof to build, and then descend with grace when the work is done. Let her rise, encourage her, protect her. Let the nation arise.
Mkawasi Mcharo Hall
2006-2008 Kenyan Community Abroad (KCA) President
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