A political storm is brewing: Ladies take out your umbrellas

Seeing as the 50 seat women bill has been shelved (no surprise here) one wonders what last weapon women have got left to charge into parliament. With a hash political climate, we can only pray that politics will be a lady this year and deliver a good number of women to politics next year.

As we count our losses for women in the race for the top seat; from three presidential candidates to one.

Presidential aspirant Nazlin Umar, once a fire brand for ODM seems to be slowly fading from sight and ear shot. And to what do we owe this? The culprit I dare say is the whole coalition and coalition split business. Or am I being unrealistic?

Dr. Julia, no longer a presidential aspirant but a self proclaimed Kalonzo running mate… And what a kick in the teeth when ODM K announces they haven’t chosen a running mate yet.

With Hon. Ngilu, our ace card we may just have to wait and see how the next few months play. Being an old hand at politics mama has the uncanny ability to make political alignments at the very last minute.

A political climate so silent on political party especially for our female aspirants will play a major role when it comes to nomination. The coming together of political bigwigs may see formidable women loose out of nomination on the major political parties which will ultimately affect their election.

Marakwet she –warrior, Hon. Jebii Kilimo's defection from the Orange camps will definitely have an effect what transpires in the not so distant future.

Yes! Politics is all about strategy, and everyone knows that fools rush in. For our aspirants, we wait to see how it all unfolds but until then how do we brave the political storms?

Coalitions: the ties that blind

Coalitions where they may be good for the entire political scene, they shortchange women and you will find that women often lose out on both parliamentary nominations in the parties and have to content with promise of nomination after elections. When it comes to winners choosing there running mates, it is often very difficult to find women as the chosen or preferred running mate as in the case of Dr. Julia Ojiambo.

True, not many women can claim to deliver their regional vote mostly due to the already existing bias towards women at the grassroots level. In my view, women have no business drumming up support along ethnic lines as those are the same vehicles that perpetuate the bias against them.

If women would come together despite their tribal divisions, we could possibly kiss the fight for affirmative action goodbye, and begin building coalitions with strong like-minded women to deliver the female vote and prove once and for all what the public has been saying all this time – women don’t need affirmative action.

How can women remain in the public eye in the advent of coalition politics? Click here >>

Woman to Woman support

A lobby for women parliamentarians last year swore to support their own for both parliamentary and civic seats in the next general elections. The group said that it would support women for the posts irrespective of party affiliations to ensure increased numbers in all governance institutions.

A closer look at the male counterparts will tell you that it pays to have your cronies rallying behind you during your meet-the-people tours. How are women supporting one another in that regard? How are the more experienced women mentoring the young upcoming leaders?

Ethnic politics: the beast that purports to deliver women to the Promised Land

While there is nothing wrong with the idea that ethnicity is an important part of ones identity, ethnic chauvinism manifested as tribalism has emerged as a key issue in successive regimes. While most regimes have been careful not to step on the toes of ethnic “sensibilities” they have totally disregarded women’s needs and aspirations. That explains why women hold a measly 8% of parliamentary seats despite comprising over half the population.