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Kenya: Country's Obsession With Ethnic Politics Hurting Women
The Nation (Nairobi)
21 May 2007
Posted to the web 21 May 2007
Rasna Warah
Nairobi
ETHNICITY HAS BEEN AN integral part of Kenya's political landscape both during the colonial era and after independence.
While there is nothing wrong with the idea that ethnicity is an important part of one's identity, ethnic chauvinism - manifested as tribalism - has emerged as a key issue in successive regimes
There is no doubt that incumbent presidents have used their power to favour some ethnic groups over others. Under President Jomo Kenyatta, the Kikuyu took a larger share of the national political and economic cake, while under President Moi, the Kalenjin were over-represented in key positions within parastatals and within the Cabinet.
Now claims that President Mwai Kibaki's government is following in the same tradition have fuelled allegations of tribalism, prompted in part by a new report entitled Readings on Inequality in Kenya, published by the Society for International Development (SID)'s Eastern Africa Office (on whose board I happen to sit).
Contrary to the analysis presented by some sections of the media, the report shows that if any administration tried to make ethnic representation within government more balanced, it was the coalition that Kibaki headed in 2003.
In fact, if any one group has been over-represented in the Kibaki regime, it is the Luhya, who were given the largest number of Cabinet posts after the referendum in November 2005. In contrast, the Kikuyu, Kenya's largest ethnic group, has held an average of 17 per cent of Cabinet posts between 2003 and 2005.
The post-referendum period did, however, alter the political fortunes of one group - the Luo - whose Cabinet representation dropped to 3 per cent. These changes in ethnic representation were the result of uncertainties in the political system caused by fragmentation of the ruling coalition along party and ethno-regional lines, a scenario which could have been averted by constitutional reforms that would curtail the authority of the Executive.
The SID report says that the present tendency of leaders to represent geographical territories or ethnic groups has resulted in the ethnicisation of society and the reproduction of geographical disparities.
Linking leaders to political parties, institutions, value systems and ideologies, rather than to geographical territories or ethnic groups, is the only way to build more stable Governance institutions.
Concerns about the ethnic composition of government arise from the idea that the share of political appointments allocated to each ethnic group should not be significantly out of proportion with the group's share of the population.
IF ONE USES THIS LOGIC TO make appointments, then the Kikuyu, who represent 18 per cent of the population according to 1999 census reports, should hold 18 per cent of Cabinet and parliamentary posts, followed by the Luhya (14 per cent), the Kalenjin groups (12 per cent), the Luo (10 per cent) and the Kamba (10 per cent), who together represent two-thirds of the Kenyan population.
But if Kenyans believe in equal representation, then they must also ask themselves why women hold a measly 8 per cent of parliamentary seats, despite comprising more than half the population.
The ratio of female to male parliamentarians in the current Parliament is a shocking 1:12, the lowest in East Africa. Rwanda, a country with a less developed economy, has nearly equal representation of men and women in Parliament, making it one of the most egalitarian governments in the world.
Tanzania and Uganda are not doing badly either, both with roughly a quarter of their parliamentarians being female.
This suggests that while the male-dominated parliaments of successive regimes in Kenya have taken special care not to offend ethnic sensibilities, they have totally disregarded women's needs and aspirations. Readings on Inequality in Kenya notes that the Bomas Draft Constitution tried to reverse this trend by not only entrenching affirmative action principles to ensure gender balance in Parliament, but by prohibiting cultural practices that discriminated against women.
The inclusion of "religious courts" in the Wako draft5 had the net effect of nullifying any gains made by women by legitimising customs and traditions that discriminated against women.
So, for instance, writes Atsango Chesoni, the author of the chapter on gender inequality, under the new constitution, if a "religious group" such as the Mungiki established a religious court, no law could prevent its members from forcibly circumcising women.
Similarly, if a Hindu woman sought to inherit her husband's property, she could be denied the right to do so on the pretext that Hindu culture is patrilineal!
The underlying message of the report is that ethnic and gender balance within government should not be left to the whims of the Executive; rather, proportional representation of marginalised groups and gender parity should come about through constitutional reforms that provide incentives to parliamentarians to seek office for the national interest, not for the interest of one ethnic community or geographical territory.
This would also entail putting in place affirmative action policies to increase women's representation in decision-making bodies.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200705210510.html
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