The young, modern and well-educated trio

Njoki Ndung'u, Amina Abdalla and Cecily Mbarire made history by being the youngest trio of female MPs to sit together in one parliament. These three women managed to get past the traditional dictates of who deserves to be an MP and enter Parliament, when they got the mandate to influence the direction that new laws in the ninth parliament took and consequently, the way that young women in positions of power were perceived.

When elected in 2002, at only 30, Cecily Mbarire was the youngest of the trio. Like father like daughter, you could say; she is the daughter of Njage Mbarire, former MP for Embu North (now Manyatta and Runyenjes constituencies).

Amina Abdalla, then 33, became one of the only two KANU nominated female MPs in the ninth parliament. This in itself was a surprise - KANU being known for its rabidly anti-feminist stand in the past. During her tenure, she represented the young Muslim woman, one who is constantly under-represented in Parliament each term.

Njoki Ndung'u, at the time was one of those at the forefront of NARC's political campaign and a shoo-in for nomination; at 37 Njoki Ndungu was a vocal lawyer and activist in the human and women's right's sector, Njoki always wanted to be an MP. "Working in the NGO sector," she said, "I felt very frustrated, working on bills that were designed to benefit Kenya's women, but that never went through the full Parliamentary process, because there were not enough women to push them. I decided that I needed to get into this house that makes those decisions so that I could help push them through."

A message for women eyeing nomination

Contrary to what people think, nomination is not something that just happens. Nobody sits and waits for it to happen. You have to be pro-active.

Njoki, as one of the people who had drafted the Memorandum of Understanding that NARC members signed, as well as playing an active role in President Kibaki's campaign bid, was right in the middle of all the action and started off by letting each member of the NARC Summit know that she was interested in nomination. Thankfully, NARC had marked itself as a gender-sensitive coalition, willing to welcome women who wanted to participate. "It was great that President Kibaki wanted to have more women in Parliament," Njoki said. "Had that not been his policy then perhaps (the nomination process) would have been more cut-throat," she continues.

Cecily agrees that you have to show interest in nominations. You have to campaign for it. Cecily had a 'word here and there' with the relevant people, to let them know that she was in the running.

Amina Abdalla, who had been working in the NGO world, also took a pro-active stand, sending her application for nomination after KANU said the reason why women were not nominated was because women didn't apply. "I decided to take them up on that statement," she said. However, she felt that simply handing in an application would not be enough, and that she needed to do a little more to support her application. "I lobbied in a small way," she said. "I let it be known that if KANU was willing to work with people who wanted to help in its reconstruction, I was one of those people."

Moments as nominated MPS in the 9th Parliament

No matter which door they used to get into Parliament, Amina, Njoki and Cecily made an impact in the ninth parliament. Being a young, female MP had its good, its bad and its hilarious moments - like when you are accidentally mistaken for a fellow MP's wife. Recalling a hilarious moment,Njoki says, "I went for an International Women's Day function with Mr. Najib Balala, where everyone thought I was his wife," she laughs. "I had to point it out that I was an Honourable MP myself before they realised and sorted it out." Cecily had a hard time getting into Parliament every morning in the beginning - because the guards couldn't fathom how someone as young (and probably as a female) as her could be an Honourable Member.

And then there is the way that Parliament is structured, that shows just how much a young, single woman is such a foreign entity. "I was shocked to realise that Parliament has no maternal policy," Njoki says. "There are no days off, and there is no maternal cover in our insurance. I don't know whether this is because they have never had a need for it, since there has never been a member off on maternity leave, or if it is just another sign of gender insensitivity." Of great concern to Njoki and Cecily is the fact that there is no sexual harassment policy within the precincts of Parliament and Continental House where MPs have their personal offices. This, they managed to remedy with the enactment of the Sexual Offenses Bill and the 2007 Employment Bill.

At the crux of it, Njoki and Cecily say, is the immense power such positions give their holders. "Men don't want to share it," Njoki says. "That's why they hold on to it and restrict the number of women who have access to it."

And with power comes responsibility...

Especially, for the young woman and more so the singles, the responsibility to look and act the part of an Honourable Member even when all you want to do is let your hair down and paint the town red with your girlfriends every evening. Njoki says she missed being able to have a quiet drink with her buddies in the evening. Social events were almost always turned into work events. “If I go out with my friends, I will bump into people who want to discuss business." Her primary mode or relaxation right now is to jump into an aromatic bubble bath with a good book, and to go shopping for plants and house accessories on Sundays.

Cecily missed being able to wear her tight jeans and short skirts in public - her attire turned signature African, attractive without indecent exposure because there was always a way that people kept an eye on them. "If you are seen with one alcoholic drink, you are an alcoholic," Cecily complains. "If you are seen with a man, you are a prostitute."

Since marriage and partnership is still part of the agenda, it has to be asked whether men are intimidated by them. "It's half-half," says Njoki. "Many men are intimidated by women in power, and there are those who are drawn to it. I get a lot of attention nowadays from men who just want to talk to me, hang out with me." But in a long-term relationship, partners are definitely affected by the balance of power. "Men have such fragile egos," Njoki says, "and to upstage them means that you have to do a lot of nursing of those egos."

And there are the good times as well - such as seeing Parliament accepted them as they served in several house committees which reflects on how their colleagues perceived them during their tenure in the 9th parliament.

The paths that young women can walk have been forged. Very soon, many other young women will take up the challenge. And thanks to Amina Abdalla, Njoki Ndungu and Cecily Mbarire, things will be that much smoother when the rest of the country catches up.

Here’s to the 10th Parliament. The onus rests with you to appoint young and vibrant female leaders as the modern trio.

Adopted from an article by WAYUA MULI, Saturday Nation