More women should run for elective office

The successful and merited appointment of Justice Martha Koome as the President of the Supreme Court and the first woman Chief Justice marked another great milestone in women leadership and a demonstration that the future is brighter. It is clear that our country is appreciating our women and their capabilities.

However, it is important to note that even with this achievement, there is not a single woman in the Kadhi’s Courts. This trend is particularly disconcerting considering the Kadhi’s Courts deal with issues that disproportionately affect women, such as divorce, inheritance and family matters.

Courts are created to serve the public interest. They play the role of arbitration and resolving disputes arising from family matters such as marriage, inheritance and divorce.

It is worth noting that one of the key pillars of our Constitution is affirmative action. It seeks to ensure women are fully represented and incorporated in all facets of public life. It states that not more than two thirds of jobs in public service shall be held the same gender. This makes the need to have women in Kadhi’s Courts more urgent.

Women legal professionals have tried to break into higher circles of leadership. However, a number of barriers in the justice sector prevent their full participation in the top tier. The Judiciary has tried to increase women representation and participation at recruitment level, but there is a need to increase their numbers at the high levels of the institution.

The beauty of Justice Koome’s nomination is that it was all about competence. Her competence, which is as a result of the 33-year experience, having practiced law for 15 years before becoming a judge, also impressed the National Assembly, which endorsed her nomination and subsequent appointment and swearing-in.

Further her few days in office have proved that she is on a mission to do the right thing, from redeeming the image of the Judiciary, mending the bad working relationship between the Judiciary, Legislature and Executive and at the same time fighting for her space and the independence of the Judiciary in a leadership style devoid of unnecessary confrontations.

The Judiciary has actualised what many thought impossible. It has led from the front in protecting the rights of women and advocating their space. Today, gender parity is key in all fronts, with all high positions having a sizeable number of women. Even the Legislature has a good number of women, including nominated MPs and MCAs.

Despite these achievements, we need to do more as a country. Particularly, we need to ensure more women succeed in elective positions. There should be a women leaders’ forum to give them political bargaining power ahead of the next general election.

Though women get nominated to Parliament, they should go for more elective posts and pull their energies together. In the past, most women aspirants targeted nominations slots, which are given to them on a silver platter, something that we should move away from.

Women should give their male counterparts a run for their money in politics to carve a niche for themselves. Nominated women MPs and MCAs should use those positions to advance their political careers by seeking elective posts in the coming election. They may not be nominated a second time in 2022.

Psychologist and a gender activist