Rift Valley women out to turn tables

Published on September 13, 2007, 12:00 am

By Vitalis Kimutai

A historic number of women have lined up to challenge their male counterparts in the race for parliamentary seats in the South Rift region.

In constituencies falling under the seven districts — Bomet, Kericho, Bureti, Kipkelion, Molo, Trans Mara, and Narok South — women from all social strata have thrown their hats into the ring, both for the civic and parliamentary seats. And they have done so in numbers not witnessed since Independence.

The candidates are seen to be going against the grain in the nine out of 11 constituencies of Narok South, Chepalungu, Bomet, Kuresoi, Bureti, Konoin, Sotik, Belgut, and Ainamoi in a region where cultural barriers have long worked against women seeking elective and other public office.

Rite of passage

So far, no woman has shown an interest in Kipkelion and Kilgoris, represented in Parliament by Sammy Ruto of Kanu and Immigration Minister Gideon Konchella respectively.

Members of the Kipsigis and Maasai communities in the region still cling to archaic but deep-rooted cultural practices and beliefs that militate against women aspiring for leadership positions.

Four decades after Independence, outlawed female genital mutilation, withdrawing girls from school at a tender age and marrying them off for dowry are nearly daily occurrences in the region.

Some provincial administrators in the region who are supposed to enforce the FGM ban are themselves known to force their daughters to undergo the rite of passage.

But over the years following the appointment of a number of women as administrative chiefs or assistant chiefs, the practice has slowed down.

Two women candidates — Lorna Laboso and Lizah Chelule — made history of sorts when they surmounted cultural barriers and contested in Sotik and Kuresoi constituencies respectively at the last General Election.

Political fighter

When the history of the Kipsigis community is finally written, the two will go down as the first women from the area whose names ended up on Electoral Commission of Kenya’s (ECK) ballot papers.

And the two put up a brave fight in the hotly contested elections.

Lorna, who graduated recently from Day Star University with a Bachelors degree in Communication, is a tough political fighter who never says die. She has many feathers in her cap; she is a former director at the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK), the Sotik ODM chairperson, the National Treasurer of the Education Centre for Women in Democracy (ECWD) and the convener of the Bureti Assembly of Women Political Caucus, among other capacities.

Lizah is a director at the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya, a member of the Kenya Women’s Political Caucus and a child and women’s rights activist among other capacities.

Before Lorna and Lizah — as they are popularly referred to in their respective constituencies — a former Nairobi City Council nominated councillor, Alice Ng’ok, had made a stab at the Sotik parliamentary seat in 1997.

However, Ng’ok lost in the Kanu preliminaries and the current Sotik MP, Anthony Kimetto of Kanu, carried the day and has not been defeated since. Both Lorna and Ng’ok will be seeking to unseat Kimetto.

Besides the two, three other politicians — Gladys Koskei, a retired civil servant, Beatrice Chebomui Cheruiyot, a Nairobi businesswoman and Auriela Chumo, a retired educationist — have declared their interest in the seat.

First female candidate

Lizah on her part would be battling out with area MP Moses Cheboi, the man she lost to in the last polls.

In the neighbouring Bomet Constituency, Lila Siele, a Nairobi businesswoman and retired civil servant, will make history as the first female candidate for a seat now occupied by Kanu’s Nick Salat.

The same applies to Chepalungu Constituency — represented by Cabinet Minister John Koech — where Carolyne Ruto, a gender activist and NGO operative, is making her first stab at elective politics.

In Bureti, three women have thrown their hats into the ring and are ready for a duel with legislator Paul Sang.

Recho Yegon, a retired civil servant, Edna Bore, a retired educationist and Rachel Ng’eno, wife of a one-time area MP, the late Jonathan Ng’eno, are lined up to contest for the seat.

Yegon is a businesswoman, a member of the Women’s Political Caucus and a gender activist; Bore has been involved with micro-finance institutions at the grassroots level; Ng’eno is a board member in various schools in the constituency.

In Konoin Constituency, area MP Sammy Koech is set to face retired teacher Bornice Soi.

In Ainamoi, area MP Noah Too, who before plunging into politics was Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), will face a challenge from Ann Kibet, a medic working with a multinational tea company in Kericho Town.

Esther Keino, the former lecturer at Egerton University who made history as the first Kipsigis woman to be nominated to Parliament, is expected to battle it out with area Belgut MP Charles Keter, who is seeking a second term.

Also in the race is long-serving councillor Florence Koskei, a prominent businesswoman in Kericho Town. She has been involved in numerous development projects.

Everlyne Wastabei, a Moi University Law student, will be seeking to unseat Narok South MP Stephen ole Ntutu, a Kanu MP and assistant minister.

Most of the women candidates are not as economically well endowed as their male counterparts and most will be banking on their savings, family resources and contributions from friends and well-wishers.

This year’s election provides the right platform for the women aspirants to convince voters that they have the ability to lead. However, everything depends on their ability to mobilise voters and articulate issues beyond the gender agenda.