- Waiguru advise women to keep their family life private so as to protect their peace and have a strong support system to lean on.
- Asks women politicians to think like women and not like men
Image: FIDA-Kenya
As the 2022 polls draw nearer, more and more aspirants are tossing their hats into the political ring.
Women too are coming out in large numbers seeking to vie for various seats.
Women leaders have all along insisted that they often have to jump over many hurdles in order to get into the political scene and get established.
Earlier this week, the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA-Kenya) launched the Women Leadership Academy to train women on how to navigate the political scene.
Kirinyaga Governor Ann Waiguru was the chief guest at the final day of the leadership academy that brought together hundreds of aspirants from across the country.
The governor said that she knew exactly what the aspirants were going through because she was in their shoes not too long ago, and she still experiences the challenges today.
“I know the challenges we face as women in politics. Our problems are very particular to us because male politicians do not go through what we go through,” she said.
She acknowledged that women politicians are mothers, wives and care givers first before they go out to do politics and that often gets in the way of their political work.
“Because we are mothers, then we should think as mothers. Women politicians need to think like women and not like men so as to distinguish ourselves in the scene and stay relevant,” she said.
Often, the cost of doing politics in Kenya is too high that women aspirants find they cannot keep up with their male counterparts in campaigns.
According to a report done by Mzalendo Trust titled the Cost of Politics in Kenya, the more a candidate spends, the greater their chance of electoral victory.
“However, despite spending more than men, women are not winning as often in the same seats they compete in,” the report revealed.
The governor urged them not to focus on the finances but to focus on themselves because deciding to vie for any seat was laudable enough. The finances would come later.
Women present were keen to understand how they can balance politics and family.
She advised women to keep their family life private so as to protect their peace and have a strong support system to lean on.
“Politics can get rough and often people will attack you and your family on social media sites. You need to make sure that your family is kept out of such negativity,” she said.
FIDA-Kenya Executive Director Ann Ireri lauded the women for heeding FIDA’s call to come together to support each other despite being in different political parties.
“Our women leadership academy was meant to ensure that the next line of women politicians draft women centric policies, advance women’s rights and ensure the fulfilment of the 2/3 gender rule,” she said.
Under FIDA’s Vote A Dada campaign, she said, they hope that they can realize this dream of getting more women into leadership where they all belong.