“This is the moment for the women of Kenya”, declared Martha Carua at a press conference. What’s this rally? Well, it’s just a precursor to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga beginning their campaign for Tuesday’s general election. The last election ended with violence and has been described as the world’s largest peaceful protest movement by some.
Kenya was once a hostile territory for women, but this isn’t the case anymore. The next election — which includes 3 out of 4 candidates electing women as running mates — marks the largest female presence in its history.
Arap Moi, the key figure in bringing democracy to his country was known as one of the most important human rights activists. In 1992, he was elected as a Member of Parliament, a position he held for two decades.
In 2008, Kenyan politician Raila Odinga was awarded the Minister of Justice position. However, he resigned a year later in an attempt to make changes to judicial reform to ensure that judges are chosen without their knowledge.
In 2013, Karua made his first bid for the presidency of Kenya. However, he ended up doing really poorly and received only 0.38% of the votes. After this failure, political scientists noted that the formula “Striving for Unity” is really hopeful for Kenyans, mainly the middle class and the urban population.
Rising Prices and the Ethnic Problem
On Tuesday, November 26th, Kenya will hold its seventh general election in the span of 21 years. Six other African countries were included in this election and an important ally to the West, Raila Odinga who has run five times for president and William Ruth is running as Vice President.
In the Kenyan election, both candidates proposed different solutions to solve the problems that Kenya faces with their rising commodity prices. Coca-Cola’s unique marketing campaign taps into the status passion for politics by featuring both candidates in a reality show where they discuss the problems and stake out their positions on these issues.
Fight for Women’s Representation in Kenya
In addition to the president, Kenyans will have to elect 290 members of its parliament. The 2010 constitution required that at least one-third of the House be represented by women. This mandate was not respected in law, however, and left no recourse for interested parties. In 2020, the judiciary announced that it became illegal for The legislature to have forced Uhuru Kenyatta (the outgoing president) out of office.
In 2010, Ecuador’s constitution required that at least one-third of the House be represented by women.
There are currently 24 women in the Senate, accounting for more than 30%. Additionally, there are 28 women in the Assembly (lower house), accounting for more than 25%
The new figures represent a slight improvement over previous statistics. Thus, in the parliament, female deputies and senators make up 19% and 27% of the houses respectively. Kenya still has a problem with women’s representation, coming behind East Africa’s Rwanda to lead the region with 61% of female representation. The most popular countries are Ethiopia (about 40%), Tanzania (37%), and Somalia (24%) while Rwanda takes the top spot of most feminist countries in Africa.
Campaigns to Persecute Women
Women are running for office this election, and Patience Nyange is one of the many running for governor of Taita-Taweta County (Southeast).
“We live in a patriarchal society. and we get sexist comments all the time,” says Nyange, who claims to have been subjected to a veritable campaign of harassment over the past 14 months.
Competing for one of the seats in Kenya’s upcoming elections, Sylvia Mulama has found herself slandered by social networks. “All the female politicians I’ve talked to say it’s totally okay for them to call you a prostitute,” she laments.
One important issue facing Kenyan politics is the huge cost of election campaigns. A Senate seat could cost more than $320,000. These women found it difficult to raise money before the filing period even opens, so they were at a clear disadvantage from the get-go.
Strange Alliances of Kenyan Politics
Kenyan politicians are used to seeing strange alliances and enmities that form year after year. Today’s rivals, Ruto and Odinga, were allies during the severe crisis in 2007-2008.
Mildred Odinga starred in one of the most controversial episodes in recent Kenyan history, having lost the election by a small margin against Mwai Kibaki opponent. After the election, she condemned electoral fraud which led to a wave of violence that drove nearly 600,000 people from their homes – with an increase in ethnic tensions.
At the time of writing, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ruto are seen to be rivals with a connection going back to 2007. Despite this, they support one another’s presidency in an arranged marriage. Both have been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against their respective countries following the aforementioned violent events.
With the ICC charges already dissipating, Kenyatta and Ruto are able to run for president again. They face their opponent, who mistakenly accuses them of rigging the election. With Kenyatta and Ruto coming out on top yet again, they again have a chance to unite Kenya’s ethnic majority – Kenyans of Kikuyu ethnicity supporting Kenyatta and Kalenjes supporting National Super Alliance candidate Raila Odinga.
Although Odinga and Kenyatta reconciled, Ruto was almost powerless. Ruto is a political adversary of Kenyatta but their reconciliation meant that the opposition was neutralized, which left Ruto without much power.
In the aftermath of Odinga’s loss, Ruto has been named the new president. He will face critics – including his opponent – who says he is a liar and bought the election.
