Affirmative action so many women not enough representation

1 Million Signature campaign for women seats

Kenyan women leaders have launched the1,000,000 Signatures Campaign for 50 Women’s Seats to drum up support for the proposed 50 Parliamentary seats for women as recently proposed by the Cabinet. More

Celebrating the firsts for women in Kenya

	Mrs. Mwangangi was just two rungs away from the ultimate post in the police system. more
First woman to defy tribal tradition and took her husband to court for wife-beating in 1997. more
	First African woman to win the New York City Marathon, more
First woman geologist in the Ministry of Energy and Regional Development more
	First Kenya Airways woman captain, of a Boeing 767-300 more
First female KAF officer to graduate from the Flying Training School as a pilot more
	First Nutrition professor in Kenya and in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. more

Welcome to USAWA

So many women, not enough representation...

Sounds so cliché when our very own MPs in their response for the 50 special seats have the courage to say that those seats are denying men their rights.

Our online debate is virtually burning up with reactions; some with a view that any increase in the members of parliament is just a drain on tax payers. Many of our online readers are of the opinion that the introduction of these special seats is only a gesture to buy women’s votes. What do you think? click here

Whatever the reason, I welcome the proposal and pray that it gets its way into legislation. My only thoughts on the matter are perhaps how these seats will be shared out taking into account that they are supposed to bring forth strong women who can mute the discontentment we hear around affirmative action.

This month, we bring you the good, the bad and the ugly

The good

We celebrate with the female legendaries and the firsts for women in Kenya. Also in this issue, Our Women in Focus journey’s with Regina Ndune- Aspirant for Uhuru Ward. We have great insights from the aspiring councilor.

So much has been happening at ACWICT. Trestle Group Foundation (TGF), Voices for Innovation (VFI) and the African Centre for Women, Information and Communications Technology (ACWICT) announced an innovative new partnership designed to empower women entrepreneurs and create new voices for innovation in Kenya.

The bad

The growth in numbers of women in public leadership; ministers, assistant ministers, permanent secretaries, District Commissioners, ambassadors and the Judiciary since 2002 to date. You’ll be amazed at just how little the numbers of women have grown.

The Ugly

We attended the Gender Forum on Political parties and what they have for women and just as you thought… high in rhetoric and low in action..

Is your machine down with the Kibaki/Raila Tosha virus? We have the answers you are looking for.

Karibuni USAWA...

Why 50 Seats for Women in parliament?

Kenyan women form 52% of the population
More women in parliament will bring to the table the diverse experiences of Kenyan women into national legislative processes
We want to emerge from the shadows of silence and have our voices heard
To keep the promise of expanding democratic space in our national assembly to include more women representatives
To prove that as a society we have grown and embraced change in our thinking that women too can be leaders
Because power shared is power gained

Regina Ndune – Civic Aspirant Uhuru Ward

Our children play on the roadside because we continue to employ councilors who are not well suited for the job…

During the coming elections you might want to think twice before you elect a councilor you don’t even know. Resist the urge to indulge in three piece suit style of voting especially when it comes to electing a councilor who handles the day to day activities of your area.

Speaking to Ms. Ndune who is aspiring to be the councilor for Uhuru ward in Kamukunji Constituency was true awakening for me who has no clue who the aspiring councilors are in my constituency, something I perhaps share with many of my readers.

“The councilor is like a woman in the home,” she explained, “who knows when the groceries are running low, the children are sick or even the plumbing needs fixing . A councilor runs the day to day activities, identifying the areas of need and articulating those needs to her MP. Even the Constituency Development Fund is only as effective as the councilor you vote in." Click here to read more >>

Do you know the parliamentary aspirants in your constituencies? Follow the link to your constituency...

[Nairobi] [Central] [Eastern] [Western] [Rift valley] [Nyanza] [North Eastern] [Coast]

Growth Trends - Women in Government

The numbers show that much more advocacy and lobbying is still required.

These numbers are nothing to call to home about with only the high commission showing a steady increase in the percentages of women appointed from 2003 to date which currently stands at 33%.

We can possibly deduce that appointments in Government is a case of giving with one hand and taking with the other. It seems that the trend for female ministers is a steady decline from 10.3% in 2003 to a mere 5.8% in 2007.

See more details >>

Female Representation in Kenya Government Ministries

Female Representation in Foreign Missions

Female Representation in Kenya parastatals

Female Representation in Kenya Judiciary

Female Representation in Kenya Police

From the ACWICT news desk

Trestle Group Foundation Partners with Voices for Innovation and the African Centre for Women, Information and Communications Technology

“The collaboration with ACWICT and Voices for Innovation demonstrates how the foundation effectively partners with other like-minded organizations to provide immediate support to emerging entrepreneurs in developing economies, said Dana Smith, Managing Director, Trestle Group Foundation. “Working together, we will help empower women entrepreneurs, promote women’s access to and use of ICT, and create new voices for innovation that can effectively communicate the important role technology, innovation and enhanced entrepreneurial opportunities play in stimulating economic growth,” he continued.

“Through this collaborative effort, the partnership will support ACWICT to develop a strong voice that can effectively communicate to decision makers the goals and benefits of their gender-responsive ICT policy agenda,”

Political parties, high on rhetoric and low in action

“Are women aspirants aware of political party constitutions and are they deliberately choosing political parties to run on based on their gender commitment?”

At the Forum organized by the Henrich Boll Foundation, Jeniffer Miano of the Governance and Rule of Law Programme- UNDP Sudan took us through a presentation on political parties and their gender commitments. Indeed there are many promises to women by political parties. Sadly they only reside in the constitutions and manifestos of these parties. From holding workshops for women to accelerate political and economic participation, creating gender unit to safeguard women’s rights, to a third representation in all party organs as well as reserved seats for women. The Democratic Party (DP) stands out alleging that a DP Government would have a female vice president, deputy prime minister, 5 ministers and 10 assistant ministers.
more

Your support needed,

If you value women's leadership like we do please place this banner on your website and link to us. Click here and we'll show you how...

Tech-Corner - With new political ambitions, comes a new virus

Like the Raila Tosha virus, the Kibaki Tosha Virus copies itself to your hard disk displaying campaign messages every 20 minutes.It is suspected that a few programmers may be compiling and distributing the virus with their installers or programs.

The variant seems to stop reliplicating and instead hops between directories making it difficult to detect and also does not hook startup registry entries instead it hijacks one of the commonly used programs i.e Windows messenger or yahoo messenger which usually startup automatically.

Solution: Restore your registry to the original state. after this you have 4 minutes before it starts running again. install Nod32 then scan your machine with it or simply e-mail webmaster@acwict.org and I will point you in the right direction.

Have your say	Congrats Dommie Yambo-Odotte
What do you think about the cabinet's proposal to create 50 special seats for women? What criteria can best be employed to identify these women Click here to comment	Dommie Yambo-Odotte, Executive Director of Development Through Media (DTM), a partner in the media consortium of the Gender and Governance Programme has been appointed a member of the Actionaid Board.

Read about women freedom fighters

Mekatilili led the Giriama people in a rebellion against the British, in what many had seen as a fulfillment of a prophecy, that she would be a leader of her people. This was a rare prophecy in a patriarchal community. She resisted British invasions and attempts to stamp out the Giriama traditional culture through the destruction of Kaya, sacred forest shrines and places of worship.

Wambui Otieno a former freedom fighter and politician is now 67 years old and recently shattered age and class barriers to marry a 25-year-old man—Mbugua who is a stonemason.