•Siaya has six parliamentary units but only one female, Grace Ogot, ever floored men and got elected in 1985 as a parliamentarian representing Gem constituency.
•Alego Usonga, Ugunja, Ugenya, Bondo and Rarieda sub counties have never produced any woman parliamentarian.
Image: JOSIAH ODANGA
Apart from the woman representative, Siaya county may still not produce any other female leader in the August 9 election.
Siaya has six constituencies but has only had Grace Ogot as a woman MP.
Ogot broke the glass ceiling in 1985 when she was elected MP in Gem constituency. She served for two terms.
Alego-Usonga, Ugunja, Ugenya, Bondo and Rarieda subcounties have never produced any woman parliamentarian.
This stubborn fact saw women and other rights and equality champions converge in Siaya on Monday to encourage election of female leaders.
A convention by the Kenya Women Parliamentarians Association led by nominated MP Jacqueline Oduol bemoaned the reluctance to elect women.
“Let us not elect women as women representatives. Women, too, can provide good leadership in other elective seats,” Oduol said.
Oduol is vying for the Alego-Usonga parliamentary seat. She is keen to wrestle it from the incumbent MP Samuel Atandi and the perceived ODM party’s favourite Nicholus Kut.
Kut is being backed by the outgoing Siaya Governor Cornel Rasanga.
Lawyer Brian Weke, who attended the convention, drew a comparison between elections in Homa Bay and Siaya, noting that the latter had shown bad history.
“We have realised there is a problem when it comes to electing women in Siaya. There is no woman from Siaya who has been elected as MP or senator in the recent past,” Weke said.
He further observed that even in the Siaya county assembly, only four out of the 30 ward representatives are women.
The four are Susan Okwiry of West Gem, Abigael Perpetua of Central Gem, Lorna Adida of North Sakwa and Judith Anyango of East Asembo.
“I want to urge voters in Siaya to remember women. A woman’s leadership is always responsive to a people’s needs,” Weke said.
Unlike Homa Bay county that produced Kabondo Kasipul MP Eve Obara, Rangwe’s Lilian Gogo, and Suba North’s Millie Odhiambo, Siaya produced none.
Elizabeth Owiti, a voter who attended the KEWOPA meeting, said it is time to break away from the norm of electing men and instead entrust women with political seats.
“Siaya, too, has educated women who can lead. It cannot be that we vote in men every election cycle yet positive development has been recorded in other places where women have led,” Owiti said.
Bondo constituency, whose pioneer MP was Kenya’s first Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and is home to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, too has a similar challenge.
It is only in the 2022 race that it has attracted two women — Racheal Omollo and Lynnet Olima.
Speaking to the Star earlier, Omollo said she wants voters not to see the femininity in them but the great ideas that they have.
But even in Bondo, either of the women seems not to be the ODM’s party’s favourite for the seat.
The men in the race include incumbent Gideon Ochanda and businessman and close Raila ally Andiwo Mwai.
With Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi having bagged the ODM nomination certificate to defend his seat, the race is considered over since the region is known for its loyalty to the party.
It thus means t it will be difficult for any other person, be it a woman, to make it to Parliament from Ugunja.
The race in Gem has narrowed down to incumbent Elisha Odhiambo and Jalang’o Midiwo, Raila’s cousin.
Rarieda race has no strong female aspirant as the race has narrowed down to incumbent Otiende Amolo and Neto Adhola.
The parliamentary race in Ugenya is tough to call but still, there is no top woman aspirant.
There is also no woman vying for the Senate seat, currently held by James Orengo. Former Bondo MP Oburu Oginga is eyeing the position.
The only woman in the Siaya governor race, Bella Akinyi, dropped out on Monday citing lack of transparency and chaos in the party primaries.
The governorship race is now between Orengo and lawyer George Mbeya, both in ODM and Nicholas Gumbo of United Democratic Movement.
There are, however. several women aspiring to become MCAs but are afraid that men still uphold stereotypes, which makes it difficult for them to succeed in competitive elections.
MCA aspirant for Sigomre Martabel Ogunde says some voters consider them, especially widows, as social misfits.
“The society should encourage us because we are the only ones who can adequately respond to the unique challenges of widows and women,” she said.
Ogunde added that women are branded with derogative names that are enough to make them lose votes.
Pamela Akello, Pauline Onguko and Mary Olute are some of the aspirants seeking to replace Woman Representative Christine Ombaka.
If no woman emerges to compete in the ODM Senate nominations, then Siaya people will wait longer to have a woman senator
It will also take a miracle to have women win in the male-dominated and hotly contested parliamentary seats of Alego-Usonga and Bondo constituencies.
Whether the number of elected female MCAs will increase from the current four, upwards is a matter of wait and see.
(Edited by Francis Wadegu)