0 | P a g e
CENTRE FOR RIGHTS EDUCATION AND AWARENESS | CREAW
RAPID ASSESSMENT: Women Leadership and Governance in Meru and
Nyeri counties
Rapid Assessment Report:
Women Leadership and Governance in Meru and Nyeri Counties.
Final Report
May 2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This assessment was conducted by Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness
(CREAW) with the generous support from Forum Syd.
Cover Photo: WordCloud Representation of challenges women face in leadership – Meru County
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Executive Summary
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
1.1. Problem ............................................................................................................ 3
1.2. Contextual Background .................................................................................... 3
1.3. Methodology .................................................................................................... 5
1.4. General Demographics ..................................................................................... 5
2. Political and non-political decision-making spaces ................................................. 6
3. Meru County Assessment Report ........................................................................... 11
3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 11
3.2. Demographics ................................................................................................. 12
3.3. Access to Decision-making spaces ................................................................. 13
3.3.1. Gender representation in decision-making spaces ................................... 16
3.3.2. Gender Representation in County Administration .................................. 17
3.4. Lens on decision-making spaces .................................................................... 17
3.5. Challenges to women participation in leadership ........................................... 18
4. Nyeri County Assessment Report ........................................................................... 23
4.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 23
4.2. Demographics ...................................................................................................... 24
4.3. Access to decision-making Spaces ...................................................................... 25
4.3.1. Gender representation in decision-making spaces ................................... 27
4.3.2. Gender representation in county administration ...................................... 28
4.4. Lens on Decision-making spaces ................................................................... 29
4.5. Challenges to women participation in leadership ........................................... 30
5. Findings ..................................................................................................................... 36
6. Conclusions and Recommendations ....................................................................... 37
References
Annex 1: Terms of Reference
LIST OF FIGURES
Meru County
1.1 Gender Disaggregated Data for All Respondents in Assessment 6
1.2 List of leadership bodies identified with gender disaggregation 10
3.1 Map of Meru County 11
3.2 Gender Disaggregated Data for Meru Respondents 12
3.3 Number of Positions Listed for Women Leadership 13
3.4 Perception on Equal Access to Leadership Positions 14
3.5 Perception on Women Representation in Leadership 15
3.6 Ranking of Women Participation Spaces 16
3.7 Chances for Women Aspirants in the 2017 elections 17
3.8 Top Challenges to Women Leadership – Female Responses 18
3.9 Top Challenges to Women Leadership – Male Responses 19
3.10 Most mentioned Challenges to Women Leadership (by gender) 20
3.11 Strengthening women Participation in Leadership 22
Nyeri County
4.1 Map of Nyeri County 23
4.2 Gender Disaggregated Data for Nyeri Respondents 24
4.3 Number of Positions Listed for Women Leadership 25
4.4 Perception on Equal Access to Leadership Positions 26
4.5 Perception on Women Representation in Leadership 27
4.6 Ranking of Women Participation Spaces 29
4.7 Chances for Women Aspirants in the 2017 elections 29
4.8 Top Challenges to Women Leadership – Female Responses 29
4.9 Top Challenges to Women Leadership – Male Responses 31
4.10 Most mentioned Challenges to Women Leadership (by gender) 32
4.11 Strengthening women Participation in Leadership 34
ACRONYMS
CA County Assembly
CDF Constituency Development Fund
CEC County Executive Committee
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women
CEO Chief Executive Officer
CIDP County Integrated Development Plan
CoK Constitution of Kenya
CPSB County Public Service Board
CREAW Center for Rights Education and Awareness
FIDA Federation of Women Lawyers
MCA Member of the County Assembly
MP Member of Parliament
NGEC National Gender & Equality Commission
NLC National Land Commission
SACCO Savings and Credit Co-operative
VSO Voluntary Service Overseas
Gender equality is not only fundamental right but it is increasingly becoming aware that
alienation of any particular gender suppresses about half of the global population and isolates
them from participating in, and benefitting from development. Gender equality has therefore
been realized to be a necessary precursor towards sustainable development. The highly
limited representation of women’s voices in critical decision making spaces in Kenya is
reflected in the slow progress towards women’s involvement in politics and leadership. With
women making up just over 50% of the Kenyan population, it is a stark reminder of how far
gender equality in representation is, with the figures that only 18% of the current National
Assembly are elected women, and no single woman was elected governor or senator in the
last (2013) elections.
This is in contrast to the Constitution of Kenya 2010 (CoK) which recognizes women, among
special groups deserving of constitutional protection, and provides for them in this regard
through Article 27, which obligates the government to develop policies and laws, including
affirmative action programs and policies to address past discrimination of women, that
women have faced; and article 81(b) that requires not more than two-thirds of the members of
elective public bodies be of the same gender. The Constitutional requirement to implement
this principle is therefore yet to be met, six years after the promulgation of the new
constitution, and over 3 years since the first elections under the new constitution.
In light of this disparity and the continued discrimination of women through unequal
representation, the Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness (CREAW), with support
from Forum Syd rolled out the Women Leadership and Governance program, whose purpose
was to improve the contribution of women leaders in the formulation of gender responsive
policies, legislation and projects.
A rapid assessment of Women and Leadership in Meru and Nyeri counties was carried out to
explore the political, community and other leadership structures and networks, and their
potential to support the leadership and governance programme towards the objective of
increasing the number of accountable and gender sensitive women `in political and non-
political decision making spaces in these counties. The key interests included: key political
and decision-making spaces in the two counties; local government structures that have low
representation of women; processes for accessing the spaces; and an assessment of these
spaces in relation to women aspirants in the forthcoming elections.
This study reveals that whereas there is a growing interest in leadership by women, most are
grappling with issues of confidence, a situation worsened by the highly patriarchal system
that defines the spaces for women as being at home, tending to chores and raising children.
On this basis, there is limited information on positions through which women can engage in
leadership, how they can access such positions, and in certain cases, some women have
questioned their own role in leadership. The male domination in leadership is clearly
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
manifested in the fact that both counties have the county governor, deputy governor, Speaker,
deputy speaker and clerks of the county assemblies being all male.
Cronyism and a highly patronized political party system also contribute to the limited interest
in, and engagement with political leadership. It stems from this that the best women hope for
is to be nominated, and even this has been corrupted by a lack of accountable procedures, that
some women have argued against the existence of nominated positions. This reflects, not
only a serious under-representation of women in governance and decision making structures,
but also an inherent disadvantage that even systems designed specifically for women to be
beneficiaries of representation and participation sometimes end up becoming tools for further
alienation of women and entrenchment of the status quo.
This report finds that women still have inadequate information on the range of positions
available to them to lead. The very low mention of positions such as governor, senator and
members of parliament as positions for women to lead hint at this scarcity of information.
Only one woman in the entire assessment mentioned the presidency of the republic as an
existing position of leadership that women can go for.
The role of culture on leadership becomes apparent when it emerges that women were asked
why they don’t engage more with leadership, and the common response was that they had
family responsibilities that couldn’t be abandoned. It appears men can make leadership as a
primary role and the family responsibilities secondary, but for women this is not a common
option. This could partly explain the other finding that very few women engaged in political
party activities at the county level despite mentioning having an interest in leadership. While
both men and women see nominations as useful this option has been used as a reward system
for their cronies, making nominated positions appear to lose focus on advancing women’s
participation and representation. The current low representation of women in governance and
leadership has confined women to believe the two-thirds gender principle simply means men
can be two-thirds, and women are the ones referred to in the remaining one-third.
The study also finds a largely skewed representation in leadership favouring men, with the
number of women further decreasing up the ranks of leadership in counties from a larger
number at ward administration level to no woman governor. In Meru, the Governor, deputy
and county secretary are all male, women make up only 2 of 5 CEC members, 2 out of 8
Chief Officers, 2 out of 6 directors, 2 out of 8 sub-county and town administrators, and 28 out
of 45 ward administrators. In Nyeri, the governor and deputy are male with a woman county
secretary, while women represent 1 out of 6 County Executive Committee members (CEC) ,
2 of 11 chief officers, 3 of 16 listed county directors, 1 of 8 sub county administrators, and 8
out of 30 ward administrators.
The report recommends a redoubling of efforts to sensitize both women and men on existing
structures that women provide space for women to engage in leadership. The sensitization
should also cover processes and contexts that shape elective politics, which information will
help women know when and how to engage with different leaderhip positions, a sensitization
process that requires a multi-stakeholder approach covering county leaders, women leaders
specifically, political party officials, state and non-state actors, just to mention a few. An
increased representation of women in decision-making and leadership positions in the
country will require enhanced capacities of both the women demanding for increased
leadership participation, as well as the supply side of women being able to take up any and all
positions of leadership.
Processes initiated in attempt to enhance the participation of women in leadership in the
counties must address the role of men, and the cultural influence on the idea of women
leadership. Cultural norms are strongly entrenched in the communities, and a status quo
maintenance is ultimately in the interest of the men as it secures their control through
leadership in the community. The same men can be champions as well as provide a support
system for the increased engagement of women in leadership. Such tactical targeting of men
in women empowerment activities will go a long way in increasing the sustainability of the
gains in women leadership.
There is a huge need to strengthen the ability of women leaders to effectively contribute to
the formulation and implementation of gender responsive policies and legislation. Increased
opportunities for women’s participation in leadership and decision-making will ultimately be
the end-product of well-crafted, context-specific, stakeholder-relevant interventions.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 1
1. INTRODUCTION
As at 2014 December, it was estimated that women made up only 21% of the national
parliaments and hold only 17% of ministerial positions globally.1 The same data source
suggests that women will not be equally represented in parliaments until 2065, and will not
make up half the world’s leaders until 2134, if the current trends persist. The 1948 Universal
declaration of human rights expressly recognizes in its Article 21 the right of all people to
participate in government, directly or through democratically elected representatives. The
2011 UN general assembly resolution on women and political participation reaffirmed that
active participation on equal terms with men, and at all levels of decision-making was
essential to the achievement of equality, sustainable development, peace and democracy. The
resolution calls upon all states to enhance political participation of women, and cites, among
others, “voting in elections and public referendums and being eligible for election to publicly
elected bodies on equal terms with men”2 (United Nations, 2012).
This call had been made earlier in the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) by the same assembly3, which convention
provided for women the opportunity to participate in political and electoral processes, with
equal treatment for both men and women in these processes.
The Beijing Platform for Action4 also notes a large underrepresentation of women in power
and decision-making, and calls for women’s active and equal participation at all levels of
decision-making, without which the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be
achieved. The Platform for Action recognizes the universal declaration of human rights, that
provides for everyone to take part in the government of his or her country. The pursuit of
equal participation of men and women in decision-making will also be in line with the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that seeks to safeguard every citizen’s
right and opportunity to take part in conducting public affairs, to vote and be elected in
genuine elections, and to have equal access to public service.
The constitution of Kenya vests all sovereign power in the people of Kenya, which power is
exercised following constitutionally prescribed processes., values and principles. Kenya’s
Constitution recognizes the equality of all persons and provides for the right to equal
treatment and equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres (article
27). It also guarantees the right of every person to be free from discrimination and to enjoy
equal protection of the law. Cognizant of the cultural, historical and economic influences on
the society that is Kenya, the constitution goes further to highlight women, youth, persons
with disabilities and ethnic minorities as groups requiring distinct constitutional protection.
1https://www.vsointernational.org/sites/vso_international/files/vso_women_in_power_4-page_summary_sep2013_1.pdf 2 Emphasis added. 3 CEDAW http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CEDAW.aspx 4 Beijing Platform for Action http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/decision.htm
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 2
Kenya has initiated policies aimed at the active promotion of the rights of such groups, and
specific to leadership and governance, initiatives have included affirmative action to counter
existing inequality in representation. The constitution goes further to provide a requirement
that members of the elective public bodies shall not comprise of more than two thirds of the
same gender (article 81(b)). Article 177 (b) and 197 provides that gender principles apply in
County Assemblies and the County Executive Committees (CECs).
Despite strides made in increasing the democratic space in Kenya since Kenya’s
independence, women’s participation in decision-making processes in the country still
remains a difficult issue. Even with the promulgation of the current (2010) constitution,
hailed as a historic moment for the county5, and the view that it advanced the space of women
by according them equal rights in private and public life6, women engagement in elective,
appointive and nominative position in the country is still largely shadowed by the majority
male leadership, with unequal representation for women, who comprise just over 50% of the
county’s population (FIDA, 2015).
This is contrary to the spirit of the constitution that provides for gender equality as a
fundamental right, and the inherent acknowledgement of the inextricable value of women’s
voice in all decisions that affect them. Some of the effects of low women’s participation in
decision-making processes in Kenyan society are evident in minimal gender-sensitive
policies, and a willingness to backtrack on increasing the representation of women in
decision-making spaces in the country. This trend is almost a replication of the global picture,
with there being only 1 woman in five members of parliament globally, though women have
gained ground in parliamentary representation in nearly 90 per cent of the 174 countries over
the past 20 years, according to the Millennium Development Goals Report (2015). The report
rightly concludes whereas there has been continuous progress, the world, still has far to go
towards equal gender representation in private and public decision-making.
The objective of this Rapid Assessment Report is to understand the existing political and non-
political decision-making structures and spaces in the two counties of Nyeri and Meru, and
the level and quality of women engagement in these spaces. It will support CREAW’s
leadership and governance programme towards increasing the number of women in political
and non-political decision making spaces in the two Counties. CREAW’s activities support
both leadership and decision-making processes, thus pertinent is the difference between the
two for purposes of clarity:
Decision-making power is the influence of decisions that affect one’s public and
private life. Formal access to decision-making processes is therefore an important
condition for women to have decision-making power in the public domain, but it is
not sufficient in itself.
5https://www.issafrica.org/iss-today/kenya-beyond-the-constitutional-referendum 6http://www.globalissues.org/news/2010/09/09/6887
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 3
Leadership can be defined as the individual and collective capabilities to mobilise
‘people and economic, political and other resources in pursuit of particular ends. It
may or may not coincide with being in public positions of authority. Leadership
therefore involves the ability to influence the ideas and behaviour of others and is
effective when it translates into outcomes, whatever the content of those might be
(Wales, 2016).
The assessment covers three key areas:
Key political and non-political spaces for women engagement in decision-
making
Representation of women in these decision-making spaces in the two counties,
Processes involved in order to access these spaces
challenges and opportunities for women in taking up these spaces, especially
in the forthcoming 2017 elections
Opportunities for enhanced participation by women in decision-making
By assessing these areas, the report intends to inform a review of the women leadership and
governance programme and related approaches to enhance women participation in decision-
making.
1.1. Problem
Key questions addressed during this Rapid Assessment are as follows:
What spaces exist for women to participate in decision-making in the counties?
What avenues exist for accessing these spaces?
What challenges do women face when engaging in these spaces?
What are the existing perceptions regarding gender-specific access to decision-
making spaces?
What are the attitudes towards women’s participation in elective positions?
How can women participation in decision-making be improved?
1.2. Contextual Background
On the backdrop of a history of consistently low levels of women representation in elective
posts, the 2013 elections didn’t necessarily surprise with the numbers. Prior to the 2013
elections, Kenya’s 10 parliaments had only elected 50 women, and nominated another 25, for
a total of seventy-five women over 11 elections.7Whereas the 2013 elections were lauded for
increasing the space for women in leadership through increased nomination slots resulting in
a record eighty six women elected and nominated to the eleventh Parliament, it is noteworthy
7https://ke.boell.org/sites/default/files/86_and_counting_bookweb_09_03_15.pdf
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 4
that in the senate, all 47 elected members were men, and not a single county out of 47 elected
a woman governor. The trend continues with only 16 women elected in the national
assembly, out of a total elected membership of 290. At the county level, the National Gender
and Equality Commission (NGEC) noted that only 82 women Members of the County
Assembly (MCA) were elected (6%) compared to 1,368 men (94%). This led to the reliance
on nomination where a total of 632 women had to be nominated against 146 men in the
counties.8
In appointive positions, currently only 5 cabinet secretaries out of 21 are women, yet the
constitution providing for a third representation of women in all public offices and elective
posts, a position reiterated by the Supreme court, that public elective bodies did not only refer
to the National Assembly, Senate or County Government but also included all public bodies
that elect or appoint representatives.9
Following the advisory opinion from the Supreme Court that the two-thirds gender rule was
progressive rather than immediate10, there is still a long way to go before the two thirds
gender requirement is observed, and even further before women, who make up slightly higher
than half of the population of the country, enjoy truly equal representation with their male
counterparts. One of the objectives of devolution is to give powers of self-governance to the
people and enhance the participation of the people in the exercise of the powers of the State
and in making decisions affecting them. Therefore, the increased representation of women in
decision-making qualifies as an enhancement of participation. Women participation can be in
elective and nominated positions, as well as appointive roles under the county government
structure.
8http://www.ngeckenya.org/AR2014/NGEC-FINAL-ANNUAL-REPORT-24TH-FEB-2014.pdf 9http://www.fidakenya.org/dr7/?q=node/166 10http://www.judiciary.go.ke/portal/assets/files/Rulings/Majority%20Decision-One%20Third%20Rule.pdf
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 5
1.3. Methodology
The methodology of this assessment includes relevant literature review on women,
governance and leadership in Kenya, qualitative research methods used included open-ended
and semi-structured interviews. Key informants included women leaders in elective,
appointive and community positions representing various levels of leadership at the county
level, while random sampling and snowball interviews were also applied in administering the
questionnaire. The design also incorporated quantitative data sourcing questions in the
administered questionnaire.
Data collection tools included notebooks for the verbal responses, as well as the
questionnaire’s themselves offering spaces under each question for the respondents who
wanted to write their responses by themselves to do so. The sampling methods applied were a
mix of stratified, purposive and snowball sampling, where random people were approached
within a given target area, with preference for female respondents, but a goal to include male
respondents. The study focused on Meru and Nyeri County residents as an intended sub-
group of the Kenyan population, and when possible, especially with key informant
interviews, snowball sampling technique was used to get recommendations for other key
informants the assessment could target.
The final sample reached covered a range of individuals selected to cover the key
demographic representation in the counties. Data collected was analysed through coding for
the open-ended questions, and for the structured ones, statistical analysis was carried out
using the excel tool. The data was then triangulated using the literature review carried out
prior to the fieldwork.
A team of eight enumerators underwent training on data collection, then reviewed and
validated the interview protocols before these were administered. The enumerators assisted in
data collection in various wards and sub-counties, while the principal researcher carried out
Key Informant Interviews with a range of leaders at different county and community levels.
1.4. General Demographics
The sample size for Meru and Nyeri counties was 166 respondents, 88 in Meru County, and
78 in Nyeri county. The breakdown by county will be covered under the specific county
reports, but for the combined gender-disaggregated data, the representation of the total
sample is shown in the pie chart in figure 1.1 below.
The assessment took a sample of 88 respondents in Meru county, and 78 in Nyeri county, for
a combined total of 166 respondents. The overall number of respondents in the two counties
was disaggregated by gender as shown below. Under the specific county reports, this data
will be further broken down to highlight the representative age groups, sub-counties and
wards.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 6
2. POLITICAL AND NON-POLITICAL DECISION-MAKING SPACES
Chapter 11 of Kenya’s constitution (2010) establishes devolved governance structures by
introducing the county governments with their respective administrative structures. The
essence of devolution includes, among others, the need for improving the representation of
the people in decision-making and governance.
The range of representation includes elective, nominative and appointive decision making
positions in various representative bodies at the county level including the following:
Body Positions
County Assembly MCAs (elected at representative ward level in each county)
Speakers (for each county assembly
Deputy Speakers
Clerks
Deputy Clerks
County Executive Governors
Deputy Governors
County Executive Committee Members11(max. 10 per county)
County Secretaries
County Chief officers
County Directors
Senate Senators
National Assembly Members of Parliament
Women Representatives
11Articles 179 (3) and 183 of the Constitution, and section 36(1) of the County Governments Act (2012).
Fig. 1.1: Gender Disaggregated data for all respondents in assessment.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 7
Whereas the County Assembly members are elected directly by their constituents, the county
executive committee members aside from governors are appointees of, and accountable to the
governor. The County Assembly Together with the governor and the deputy, the County
Executive members form the County Executive Committee that exercises executive power
and functions at county level.
Under the county executive are the chief officers, tasked under section 45 of the county
governments act with the responsibility for the administration of a county department under
the respective county executive committee member. County chief officers are nominated by
the governor, recommended by County Public Service Board (CPSB), and approved by the
county assembly. Other positions of leadership and decision-making that county residents can
actively seek at the county level include membership in various county boards e.g.:
County Assembly Service Board composed of the speaker, majority leader, minority
leader, clerk, and open to the county residents, is the position of 1 county resident, not
an MCA, appointed by County Assemblies to be part of the County Assembly Service
Board. Both Nyeri and Meru counties have male members as speaker, majority and
minority leaders and Clerk, meaning the board in both counties can only support the
appointment of women to the resident position, and even then, the two-thirds gender
rule will not be met, and nomination of an extra member of the board to achieve this
balance will be contrary to the guidelines in the County Governments Act.
County Public Service Board, established under Section 57 and 58 of County
Government Act of 2012, consists of a Chairperson (nominated and appointed by the
county Governor, not less than 3, but not more than 5 members appointed by the
governor with approval of the county assembly, and a certified public secretary.
Meru county has a seven-member board, of which two are women. Nyeri county, on
the other hand, has two-thirds of members being female, with 4 out of the 6 board
members being women.
County Land Management Board, with a secretary appointed by the National Land
Commission (NLC), 3-7 members appointed at the County level, with County
Assembly approval, and a surveyor/planner appointed by Governor, according to the
National Land commission act (2012).
Data for this board in both counties was unavailable, and therefore there is no
information as to the gender-disaggregated composition of the boards. However, with
five to nine members allowed to form the board, there is space for at least 2 women to
be appointed to the county Land Management Boards.
County Policing Authority Board, established under the National Police Service Act
(2011)12, section 41, especially part (e) that requires for every county policing
authority board to have at least six other members appointed by the Governor, from
among business groups, community based organizations, women, persons with special
needs and the youth, who are ordinarily resident in the county. This mean at the very
least, a woman will be represented through the women category. However, for the
12www.cickenya.org/index.php/legislation/acts/item/download/232_197f24c97a14d0d4f706ad545adea938
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 8
upholding of the two-thirds gender rule, the board still has positions that can be
offered to women members to constitute part of the boards.
County Alcoholic Regulation Board, established under the 2010 Alcoholic Drinks
Control Act, specifically part (f) that requires three residents of the county to be
appointed through a competitive process to join the board.
Nyeri County data presents 4 members of the alcoholic regulation board, one being a
woman, and therefore falling short of the two-thirds principle. The county also has
sub-county Alcoholic Board with 8 women and 16 men. Data for Meru county was
not available during the duration of the assessment.
Nationally, there are 8 existing Water boards with regional coverage, as mandated by
the Water Act of 2002.13 The Water Bill (2014)14 is under review, and, if passed,
would create in each county a Water Works Development Board, which would
present another platform for women involvement in leadership and decision-making
in the counties. However, Nyeri county reported having county and sub-county water
boards in place.
County Education board established under the Basic Education Act (2013), section
17, and particularly section 20 that dictates the composition of the board, with 12
members aside from the chairperson. This provides for at least 4 women in each board
at the very least. While data for Meru County was unavailable, Nyeri reported 7
members in the education board, with two being women.
CDF management at county level as contained in the CDF Act (2013) including the
Constituency Development Fund Committees in each constituency, which part 2 (c) in
section 24 requires three women to be nominated by the ward development
committees. Data for this board in both counties was also unavailable during the
assessment.
School Boards (Primary, Secondary), Coffee and Tea Boards, Savings and Credit
Cooperative Societies (SACCOs), and religious entities such as churches also provide
leadership avenues at the county level for women.
13 Water act, http://www.wrma.or.ke/index.php/publications/water-act-2002.html 14 http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/bills/2014/WaterBill2014.pdf
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 9
The County government act, in sections 48 to 53, also establishes decentralized service
delivery units at the county level, including:
a. Sub-county administrator: this office is established under section 50 of the county
governments act and the bearer’s responsibility includes coordination, management
and supervision of the general administrative functions under the sub-county level. the
bearer is appointed through the county public service board through a competitive
process. Two out of eight Sub-county administrators in Meru County are female, and
one out of eight in Nyeri county is female.
b. Ward administrator: an office established under section 51 of the county governments
act, the bearer being appointed through a competitive process by the county public
service board, and whose job is to coordinate, manage and supervise the general
administrative functions at the Ward level. Meru County has, on this level, more
women (28) than men (17) as ward administrators, while Nyeri County similarly has
eight women against 22 men in ward administration.
c. Village administrator: This position is also filled through acompetitive process by the
county public service board, and the village administrator’s mandate includes the
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 10
coordination, management and supervision of the general administrative functions in
the village. The village administrator is also the chairperson of the village council.
d. The village council is composed of between 3 and 5 village elders competitively
appointed by the village administrator with the approval of the county assembly. The
village council formation must take into consideration the two-thirds gender principle.
There is no data verifying the existence of village council members and village elders, as
envisioned in the county administrative structure. With the county Governments Act in Part
VI setting out the village unit as a component of further decentralization, the positions of
village administrators and the village council are potential for quick wins for getting women
into positions of leadership.
The above-mentioned representative bodies are bound under article 175 of the constitution to
ensure that no more than two-thirds of the members of representative bodies in each county
government shall be of the same gender. This assessment was carried out in the counties of
Meru and Nyeri as an exercise to understand the existing decision making spaces in these
counties and in particular, the spaces for women in leadership.
Body Meru County Nyeri County
Women Men Women Men
Sub County Administrator 2 6 1 7
Ward Administrator 28 17 8 22
Village Council n/a n/a n/a n/a
Village administrators n/a n/a n/a n/a
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 11
3. MERU COUNTY ASSESSMENT REPORT
3.1. Introduction
Meru county lies to the east of Mt. Kenya bordering Laikipia County to the west, Nyeri to the
south west, Tharaka Nithi to the east and Isiolo to the North. It straddles the equator and has a
total area of 6,936.2 km2. Meru county comprises of nine administrative sub-counties which
are Tigania East, Tigania West, Igembe North, Igembe South, North Imenti, South Imenti,
Buuri, Igembe Central and Central Imenti. The county has a total of 45 electoral wards within
the nine sub-counties.
A core value espoused by the county is that of Inclusiveness, where the county commits to
involve people of all the diverse backgrounds in the county processes. The value is further
elaborated to incorporate perspectives of all people and to treat “all groups and members of
the county . . . equally without exception.”15
The county had a population of 1,356,301 during the last census of 2009, with females
outnumbering men at 685,645 and 670,656 respectively. The county integrated development
plan of 2013-2017 projected that the county will have a total of 1,601,629 people in 2017,
with 791,965 males and a slightly higher number of females at 809,665.
Women’s role in the day-to-day activities of the county are highlighted in the plan, with over
1,500 women groups active in the county as at 2012, and the county recorded 47 Cooperative
Societies with a membership of over 50,000 people.
15Meru CIDP http://meru.go.ke/file/20150518_meru_county_integrated_development_plan_2013_2017.pdf
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 12
Representing just over a half of the entire county’s population, the number of women in
leadership and decision making spaces at the county level is expected to reflect this near-par
status. However, in the 2013 elections, Meru county elected only 5 Members of the County
Assembly out of the 45 electoral wards available.
LEADERSHIP LEVEL FEMALE MALE
Sub County Administrators 2 6
County Chief Officers 2 6
Ward Administrators 28 17
County Chief Executive Committee Members 2 3
County Public Service Board 2 5
County Directors 2 4
3.2. Demographics
A total of 88 respondents were
participated in the rapid survey, and
filled in the questionnaire administered.
Gender: Of the total number of
respondents in Meru, 59.1% were
female, 36.4% were male, and 4.5% did
not fill in this category.
Age Group: The table below presents the age groups captured by the sample size selected in
Meru County.
Sub – Counties: 5 sub-counties out of a possible 9 were represented by the sample for Meru
County, with the most respondents being from Imenti South (39), followed by Tigania East
(18), Tigania West (16), Imenti North (12), and Igembe North (1). Two respondents did not
give their sub-counties.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 13
Wards: Similarly, 15 wards out of 45 were represented, this indicating a 33.3% coverage for
wards in the sample. The wards included Municipality, Igoji East, Abogeta West, Nkuene,
Mikinduri, Thangatha, Muthara, Karama, Kiguchwa, Mitunguu, Abogeta East, Akithii,
Kianjai, Nkomo and Igoji West wards.
3.3. Access to decision making spaces.
In the questionnaire administered, a range of questions were to assess the perceptions existing
regarding the access to leadership positions by women in Meru County.
Question: What posts exist in the county for women to engage in leadership?
This was an open ended question in which the respondents were encouraged to list as many
of the positions as they could, starting with elective posts, nominative posts, and appointive
positions. The chart below shows the result to this question based on a weighted average (the
longer the bar/higher the number, indicates the number of times the answers positions were
mentioned in the interviews by respondents.
More than half of all respondents in Meru mentioned the Members of County Assembly (71),
the women representative (63), the Member of Parliament (49), the County Executive
Member (43), and the County Director (42) posts as positions for women to engage in
leadership at the county level.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 14
It is insightful that only about a third of respondents felt the governor position was space for
women engagement in leadership, as was that of senator. This cements further the view that
women in positions of leadership are still at the lower levels, and not only in practice, but
also in the community’s view, an overarching belief in the role of women in leadership being
limited to elective posts, and even these cannot go higher than the Member of Parliament or
spread wider than the Women Representative post. This may be the glass ceiling of sorts in
women leadership.
Similarly, seven (7) respondents said they had no idea what positions existed at county level
for women to engage in leadership. This confined knowledge of the available positions may
provide some indication in terms of priority areas for awareness creation, advocacy and civic
education for state and non-state actors in the field of leadership, gender and governance.
That the respondents rarely considered the governorship as a possible avenue for women to
engage in leadership portrays on one hand a limited and unclear knowledge base concerning
women and leadership, and on the other hand, may indicate the continued impact that hitherto
existing cultural beliefs and practices may still be entrenched among the populations, and will
demand concerted efforts over time for a change inperception on how far women can engage
in leadership in Meru.
Other positions mentioned by only one respondent each included Chief Executive Officers
(CEOs) though there was no clarification of the bodies or institutions the CEOs would lead,
school heads, Maendeleo Ya Wanawake, Church Leaders, deputy governors, development
fund leaders, cabinet secretaries, factory directors, health coordinators, and clan leaders.
Question: In your opinion, do men and women have equal access to the existing spaces of
leadership and decision-making?
This question was semi-structured, with a “Yes or No” choice, in which the respondents were
to pick one, and followed by an open ended sub-question seeking a reason behind the choice
of either answer.
The responses were as follows:
Two thirds of the participants believe that women do not have equal access to positions of
leadership, whereas a third maintain that both men and women have equal access. For those
that believed equal access existed, the common explanations to this belief were that women
were free to contest for all elective positions, and that appointive positions were “advertised
for all”. This perception of “gender equality” was repeated by most of the proponents of the
existence of equal access to leadership.
However, those that opposed this notion of equal access mentioned the cultural influence that
limits women’s participation in elective processes, with a “stereotype that women cannot be
good leaders”, and that men “cannot be led by a woman”.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 15
Few women applying for high level vacancies, but a
majority do for ECDE-related and secretarial roles -
County Public Service Board official
That leadership
positions are still
perceived as a
preserve of men is a
major limiting factor
that affects both the
willingness of women
to vie for elective
positions, as well as
the acknowledgement
of men that women
can lead just as well
as men can.
Specific to the nominative and appointive positions was the perception that women needed
“godfathers” to be able to get nominated or appointed to the existing top leadership positions.
Seeing as most of these appointments are through the county governor, especially in the
county government structure, the lack of connections to put in a good word for the interested
women has made many women to shy away from leadership.
The ways in which women can access
leadership positions, aside from the
elective processes are the nomination
and appointment routes. However, a
crucial factor in accessing nomination slots is active participation in the affiliated political
parties. This, according to
some respondents, was why
women do not benefit from
many appointive and/or
nominative positions at the
county and national level. An
aspect of training and
sensitization on how to
engage in active party politics
may enhance the chances of
the program to achieve its
goal of increased women
participation in leadership
and governance.
Fig. 3.4: Perception on equal access to leadership positions.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 16
3.3.1. Gender Representation in decision-making spaces
The survey was also to gauge the perceived and actual gender representation in decision
making spaces, considering the principle of devolution that provides that not more than a two
thirds of any public body will be of the same gender.
Question: In your opinion, is women representation in leadership positions in the county high
or low?
This question was similarly semi-structured, with a “Yes or No” choice, and an open ended
follow-up question seeking a reason behind the choice of either answer. The response rate
was as follows:
A surprising majority of respondents (90 percent) were of the view that there was low
representation of women in leadership in the county. They characterized the representation of
women in the leadership as low, while only 9 percent said the representation was high.
The remaining 1 percent did not answer this question.
For those who opined that women representation was high in leadership positions in Meru
County largely argue around the constitutional provision for specific seats for women,
including a women representative and the nominations that followed the elections of 2013.
From this provision and the specific special seats for women, some respondents conclude that
women representation in leadership is therefore high. One respondent argues that “very few
women were elected, [but] appointments [are] high”.
For the respondents who sided with low representation in this particular question, repeated
reasons for this stance included comments such as “all crucial positions are taken by men”,
“ratio of men to women is 10:1”.
The statistic is important for women in leadership, as a crucial step towards changing an
unequal system is the reaching of an initial general realization that there is an inequality.
It seems that whereas
people notice the
disparity in election
of women to
leadership, some find
the ensuing
nominations are
bridging the gender
gap in leadership. The reliance on nominations will only offer a temporary solution to the
inequality in leadership, but a stronger democracy will elect both men and women as leaders,
and the role of nominations would only be for very few and rare instances.
Question: How would you rank the space for women participation in decision making in the
county?
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 17
This was an interval scale question designed to assess the potential receptivity of a program
towards increased
women participation in
leadership and
governance. The scale
offered ranged from
“Excellent”, “Good”,
“Can do better”, “Bad”,
to “Terrible”.
The answers by
respondents in Meru
county are represented in
figure 3.6.
There was an overwhelming consensus that the space for women to engage in leadership in
the county was there, but needed major improvements. Most issues affecting women
attempting to become leaders were community-initiated, and these could therefore be easily
removed. An example is the harsh competition that sometimes invokes gender based violence
against women aspirants. Similarly, support and a largely patriachal structure always affected
the women comparatively worse than men during election-seeking.
3.3.2. Gender representation in county administration
Women at sub-county level: A snapshot from the county website shows that 2 out of 7 sub-
county administrators and 1 town administrator are women.16 This would represent a quarter
of the total number and therefore fall short of the gender principle. However, county
respondents suggested that 4 out of 9 sub county administrators were women, 2 out of the
current 9 chief officers were women, just as 3 out of 10 county executive committee members
were women.
3.4. Lens on decision making spaces
A question was asked of the respondents, to offer an opinion on the 2017 elections, and how
they thought the women aspirants would fare. The responses here reflected the views and
underlying notions of success specific to female candidates in elections. From the responses
answers, the data was analysed with results presented in the figure below:
16Meru County Government Website at: http://meru.go.ke
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 18
“We are many, we can win.”
Female, Nkuene Ward, Meru.
There was a near equal
split between those
that think women will
have a high rate of
success in 2017
elections and those
that think the success
rate will be low, with
a difference of only
5% more for those
that believe women
aspirants will highly
succeed.
For those that sided
with a high success
rate for women in 2017, the most mentioned reasons included: that more awareness having
been created in the communities (20); that the women who had become leaders had proven
themselves, and women as leaders (6). Other reasons included government support for
women, the constitution demanding more women leaders. A single comment yet worth
mentioning here is the view that those women that had been nominated to leadership
positions had shown that they were capable, and so they would try elective posts next.
with the group that said women aspirants
would have a low success rate in 2017,
the majority blamed this on culture and
society, with a common theme presented
that society was not ready for a women
leaders (14). Interestingly, the family was also mentioned as a reason for potentially low
women aspirant success in the next general elections, with the spouses getting a fair mention
as a problem. A different yet related comment on the family that was mentioned was the idea
that women vying for elections was synonymous with marriage breakdown.
Other reasons given in the category of low success rate for women aspirants included no
support from various quarters including the spouses, community and a special mention of
other women. Another reason was that women leaders had not performed well and therefore
had set a bad example, yet others blamed a lack of confidence, no interest and no resources
for the interested women to engage with the elective process.
3.5. Challenges to women participation in leadership
In order to understand the differences in perception between men and women on challenges
hindering women from greater participation in leadership in Meru county, a question was
floated to prompt answers in this regard. The respondents were requested to write their
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 19
Top challenge to women leadership -
descending priority
Challenge Men
Inadequate Finance 9
Lack of Skills 5
Culture 4
Lack of confidence 3
Lack of support 3
inequality 3
answers in order of priority, with the biggest challenge being at the top of the list, and the
least challenge being the last. The report disaggregates their responses by gender.
Question: What are the main hindrances or challenges to greater women participation in
leadership?
Disaggregated data: Females
For female respondents, the results showed that most women had as a top challenge a lack of
confidence (top of the list for 12 women),
followed by cultural challenges (11
women’s top problem), a lack of adequate
finance (10 women mentioned this as their
priority challenge), men/husbands/spouses
were used interchangeably, but made the 4th
top challenge with 7 women prioritizing it
over all the rest. Lastly, only 6 women saw
the lack of knowledge, skills or education
as a top challenge to women participation in leadership.
Disaggregated data: Males
The males’ responses and ranking to this question differed from the responses by the female
gender. Male respondents perceive the
biggest challenge to women participation
in leadership to be finances (top for 9
males), the lack of education, knowledge
and skills as a top challenge according to 5
males, 4 males prioritized culture as a top
challenge to women participation in
leadership, whilst inequality between men
and women, the lack of support from
family and community, and the lack of
confidence each came as a top challenge for 3 males respectively.
The responses reveal the gendered experiences when it comes to women in leadership in
Meru County. Whereas the majority of men consider limited access to financial resources as
the top challenge for women to participate in leadership, women in the sample group saw the
lack of confidence and existing cultural barriers as greater challenges compared to financial
resource access.
That confidence is top on the list for women interviewed in the rapid assessment might be an
indication of an existing environment that in one way or another takes away the confidence of
women and limit their ability to interact with the positions and processes of decision-making,
or end up in passive roles, thereby facing adverse inclusion.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 20
A different but similarly crucial result is the clearly gendered view that men (also referred to
as husbands or spouses in the interviews) were cited as a top challenge to greater women
participation in leadership by women respondents, whereas not one male respondent
mentioned this as a top challenge. Nonetheless, it is worth mentioning that some males listed
“men” as a challenge to women engagement in decision-making (see graph below), though
not as a top challenge.
A lack of confidence by women, limited financial resources, cultural barriers, and the lack of
skills were mentioned by both male and female respondents in their answers to the top
challenges for greater women participation in leadership. This similarity in responses for top
challenges highlights the shared experiences when it comes to women and leadership.
A further analysis of the data coded and aggregated all the responses to the question of
challenges facing women’s participation in leadership. The intention was to follow from
finding out the top priority challenges, to establish which challenges were mentioned by most
of the respondents, regardless of the order of priority. The results are presented in the figure
below.
Whereas the lack of financial resources was not the top challenge for women, in the
aggregated results finances take a central role in Meru. This could be indicative of the
monetization of leadership in Meru county, that even capable women leaders face challenges
and are limited in their leadership roles if they do not have access to finances. Noting the
differences in accessing such resources and the means to the same, it is clearly a major
problem for women’s participation in leadership.
Fig. 3.10: Most mentioned challenges to women leadership by gender
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 21
Related to the lack of financial resources is the arising challenge of corruption, mentioned by
a few respondents from both males and females. The view that corruption not only affects,
but even sometimes determines the outcome of elective, nominative and appointive processes
means that women leadership
empowerment processes must be
supported, and complemented by efforts
to create awareness on corruption, and
limit the adverse effects the vice has on
leadership.
Whereas inequality was raised by some of the respondents, both male and female, as one of
the challenges to women in leadership, more men than women mentioned it as a challenge.
This may be a reflection of an acknowledgement of the unequal society in which women are
unfairly expected to participate in decision-making through the same processes as men.
Lastly, a useful response was that of insecurity, raised only by some women respondents in
the survey. The electoral process was described as one that is characterized by violence, and
intimidation, and therefore the setting itself, rigs the system against women. Some women
claimed having to avoid late evening campaigns for example, whereas their male counterparts
campaigned day and night, inadvertently benefiting from insecurity. That no man raised
insecurity as an issue also draws a sharp contrast in men and women accessing and
competing for leadership and decision making processes and positions.
Question: In what ways can women participation in leadership at both political and
community level be strengthened?
Most of the respondents (48) mentioned the need for greater awareness creation and civic
education on women and leadership in the county. Similarly, training and empowerment of
women was also mentioned by 40 respondents, financial support to women aspirants was the
third most mentioned way to strengthen women’s participation in leadership. Support and
encouragement for women (26), and more appointments (9) were also raised as ways to
strengthen women leadership at the community.
It can be argued that there is a link in the solutions suggested, especially awareness creation,
civic education and training as solutions to the major problems of the lack of confidence, and
the cultural barriers that were raised mainly by women respondents.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 22
Similarly, the
monetized
nature of
leadership and
decision
making
processes gains
even more
credence with
the fact that the
belief that
financial
support will
strengthen
women
participation in
leadership was
the third most suggested solution.
Other ways to strengthen women participation in leadership at both political and community
level included: Security (3); Build reputation with public (4); SHG (5); Vie, (4); Equality (5);
Networks (1); end corruption; and 4 said they did not know how.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 23
4. NYERI COUNTY ASSESSMENT REPORT
4.1. Introduction
Nyeri County is one of the five counties situated in what was formerly known as Central
Province, with its largest town being Nyeri town. It has a population of 661,156. The county
covers an area of 2,475.4 Km2and borders Laikipia, Kirinyaga, Murang’a, Nyandarua and
Meru Counties.
From the National Census of 2009, the total population of Nyeri County 693,558 with males
representing 339,725 (49%) of the total, while females made up the remainder (49%)with
353,833. This population is projected to have grown to 720,708 by 2017.17
Nyeri County has 8 sub-counties including Tetu, Kieni East, Kieni East, Mathira West,
Mathira East, Othaya, Mukurweni, and Nyeri Town. The sub counties are further
decentralized into 30 wards, in which, in 2013 general elections elected 30 male Ward
Representatives. 17 members of the County Assembly were nominated to represent People
with Disability, Women and Youth.
Number of Electoral Wards in Nyeri County 30
Number of Women elected as Members of the County
Assembly in the 30 Wards
0
Number of women nominated to the County Assembly 16
17 Data from the Kenya Population and Housing Census, 2009
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 24
The county notes in the County Integrated Development Plan - CIDP (2013-18) a mission to
help residents “achieve the highest standards of political, social and economic life” through
creating an enabling environment for this achievement.18
Similarly, the CIDP acknowledges under its Gender, Culture and Social Services sector the
need to formulate, mainstream and implement responsive policies through
coordinatedstrategies. However, the planned county response appears to address the social
services sub-sector more directly, with not much in gender mainstreaming. For example,
whereas the sub-sector priority identifies the need for gender mainstreaming, and the strategy
includes getting updated data and community sensitization, both the ongoing projects and
programs, as well as the identified new project proposals do not in any way apply these
strategies, apart from an intent to ensure the prudent utilization of the Women Enterprise
Fund (CIDP, pg.167).
With over 4,000 active women groups in the county, covering an estimated 89,000 women, it
is a clear opportunity and avenue for the county to interact with women towards moving from
a broad-brush approach to a more targeted, elaborate plan and strategy towards gender
equality.
The same questionnaire administered in Meru county was also administered in Nyeri county,
and the results and analysis are presented under the demographics section below.
4.2. Demographics
A total of 88 respondents were participated in the rapid survey, and filled in the questionnaire
administered.
Gender: Of the total number of
respondents in Nyeri County,
51% were female, 33% were
male, and 16% did not fill in this
category.
Age Group: The table below
presents the age groups captured
by the sample size selected in
Nyeri County. The N/A category
represents the number of
respondents that did not indicate
the age group on the administered
questionnaire.
18Nyeri County CIDP http://www.nyeriassembly.go.ke
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 25
Sub – Counties: 6 sub-counties out of a possible 8 were represented by the sample for Nyeri
County, with the most respondents being from Mukurwe-ini (26), followed by Nyeri Town
(22), Tetu (15), Othaya (12), Kieni East (2), and Kieni West (1).
Wards: 18 wards out of 30 were represented, this indicating a 60% coverage for wards in the
sample. The wards included Kiganjo/Mathari, Rware, Gatitu /Muruguru, Ruring'u, Kamakwa
/Mukaro, Gikondi, Rugi, Mukurwe-Ini Central, Dedan Kimathi, Wamagana, Aguthi- Gaaki,
Mahiga, Iria-Ini, Chinga, Karima, Gatarakwa, and Mwiyogo/ Endarashawards.
4.3. Access to decision making spaces
In the questionnaire administered in Nyeri County, one of the questions asked was to assess
the perceptions existing in the county regarding the access to leadership positions by women.
Question: What posts exist in the county for women to engage in leadership?
This was an open ended question in which the respondents were encouraged to list as many
of the positions as they could, starting with elective posts, nominative posts, and appointive
positions. The chart below shows the result to this question based on a weighted average (the
longer the bar/higher the number, indicates the answers that ranked highest in terms of
positions:
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 26
Nyeri County’s sample group had over half of all respondents mention the Member of the
County Assembly as a position for women to engage in leadership. Even the women
representative position only was mentioned by just over 30% of the respondents. This may
reflect a lack of knowledge on the affirmative positions and what they mean for the people. A
useful derivation for stakeholders will be the prioritization of the range of county appointive
positions that are open for any citizen to engage in leadership at the county level. Greater
sensitization will increase the critical mass to protect the spaces for women to engage in
leadership from deterioration.
Appointive positions, from the graph, have the least knowledge among the community
members. CECs, county directors of departments, Chief officers and county board members
were the least mentioned positions for women leadership. The limited and unclear
knowledge base concerning governance, women and leadershipmay also be an indicator of
the continued influence of culture and societal pressure that demotivates equal engagement
with leadership. Whereas this can be changed through a multi-stakeholder response, the CIDP
reveals confined strategy that, as it is, may fall short of realizing equal opportunities for
women as men in leadership.
Other positions mentioned fewer than 5 times included: county assembly speaker (3), coffee
factory chair (3), SACCOs leader (3), school principles (3), church leaders (2), chief of staff
(2), women groups leaders (2), Nyumba Kumi head (2), governor’s advisors, Community
Development Fund (CDF) representatives, women’s guild, deacons, preachers, treasurer,
heads of parastatals, preachers, and Maendeleo ya Wanawake leaders.
Question: In your opinion, do men and women have equal access to the existing spaces of
leadership and decision-making?
This was a question semi-structured with a “Yes or No” choice, and an open ended follow-up
to establish reasons behind the choices made by the respondents. The responses were as
follows:
Almost two thirds
(63%) of the
respondents believe
women do not have
equal access to
positions of
leadership, whereas
a smaller fraction
(38%) think women
do have equal access
to leadership
positions and spaces.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 27
For the latter group, the constitution of Kenya, with the aspects of gender equality (human
rights, 2/3 gender principle) is the most cited reason for there being equal access to positions
of leadership for women as there are for men, and others believe the fact that some women
are in leadership positions already is a sign of equal access.
However, for the group that disagrees with the notion of equal access, the most mentioned
reason is the number of challenges that women face in their quest for leadership participation
(these will be highlighted in greater details later on in the report). Some in this group give the
example of very low number of women in leadership as an indicator of unequal access, in
contrast to the first group that takes the existence of the few women leaders as indicating
equal access.
4.3.1. Gender Representation in elected spaces
This survey also sought to establish the perceived and actual gender representation in
decision making spaces, considering the principle of devolution that provides that not more
than a two thirds of any public body will be of the same gender.
Question: In your opinion, is women representation in leadership positions in the county high
or low?
This question was semi-structured, with a “Yes or No” choice, and an open ended follow-up
question seeking a reason behind the choice of either answer. The response rate was as
follows:
A surprising majority of respondents were of the view that there was low representation of
women in leadership in the county. Over two-thirds of respondents felt the representation of
women in county leadership positions was low, with less than 10% agreeing that women
representation was high in the county. A small proportion (3 percent) did not answer this
particular question.
For those who sided with
the notion that women
representation was high in
leadership positions in the
County, reasons given
included a comparison of
current numbers with ‘the
past’, and a feeling that
people were more
enlightened now.
On the other hand, those
that argued women
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 28
representation in leadership positions in the county was low largely cited the challenges that
faced women when they considered political or appointive office, the most common cited
challenge was the family responsibilities that appear to suffer when women attempt to take up
leadership opportunities, and the view that “men have not accepted that women can be
leaders”. Some of the respondents also suggested the representation of women was low due
to low awareness by women on what they can go for, as there were those that argued the two-
thirds gender principle was notmet in the county. A smaller number cited the lack of women
leaders who were elected as evidence for low representation of women in the county
leadership positions.
4.3.2. Gender representation in county administration
A triangulation of respondents from the county key informants showed that 1 out of 8 sub-
county administrators is female, while 8 out of 30 ward administrators are also female. 2 out
of the current 9 chief officers were said to be women, and 1 out of 9 county executive
committee members is female, though this position was said to be in acting capacity. The
County Public Service Board was said to have 4 women on the board, presenting the only
other appointive administrative body aside from the ward administrators that meets the two-
thirds gender principle.
LEADERSHIP LEVEL FEMALE MALE
Sub County Administrators 1 7
County Chief Officers 2 7
Ward Administrators 8 22
County Chief Executive Committee Members 1 9
County Public Service Board 4 6
County Directors 3 13
Other bodies include 8 sub-counties alcoholic regulation committees that have 8 female
members against 16 males, and 8 sub county water boards with 8 female members as opposed
to 40 males.
Question: How would you rank the space for women participation in decision making in the
county?
The survey applied an interval scale question to assess the county views on women
participation in leadership and governance. The scale ranged from “Excellent”, “Good”, “Can
do better”, “Bad”, to “Terrible”.
The answers by respondents in Nyeri County were as follows:
A half of the respondents reached in Nyeri County felt that the county could do better on
space for women participation in decision making, followed by those who thought the county
was doing badly in this area (27%). Those who ranked the spaces for women participation as
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 29
terrible, and those that felt it was good tied at 12%. Not one respondent ranked the space as
excellent.
The large proportion of respondents who answered that the county could do better arguably
present an opening for programs, strategies and ideas that will improve the spaces for women
to engage in decision making. The general trend may be interpreted as a positive outlook
offering opportunities, rather than a possibly resigned view that would present challenges to
any women empowerment efforts.
4.4. Lens on decision making spaces
In the survey, the respondents were asked for their opinion on how they thought women
aspirants would
perform in the
2017 elections.
The responses
reflected the
views and
underlying
notions of
success and
failure specific to
female
candidates in
elections. From
the given
responses
answers, the data
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 30
“It is only 17 months to elections, and no [woman]has declared interest.”
Female, Kimathi Ward,
Nyeri.
was analysed with results presented in the figure 4.8 below:
The results show very low
expectations for women in 2017, with
the majority of respondents (82%)
believing women have low chances of
succeeding in 2017. Less than 10%
think women have high chances of
succeeding, while a similarly smaller
percentage (9) said they had no idea of
the chances women had.
With the overwhelming majority
siding with the view that women
aspirants have low chances of success
in 2017, the reason mentioned by most
respondents (26) was that women had
shown little or no interest in the elective politics, despite the elections being only a few
months away. Other reasons offered for expected low success included the current status that
has few women in elective positions (9 respondents), a lack of funds to campaign (9
respondents), a curious one being that women were their own enemies and would not support
their own (9 respondents), and a lack of awareness on the possibility of women in leadership
positions in the county (7 respondents).
For the respondents that anticipated a high success rate by
women aspirants in 2017, their reasons were that unlike
2013, there was increased awareness among the voters.
Other reasons offered included that women were more
motivated now than before, that current women leaders had
performed well, and there was hope for the coming elections.
4.5. Challenges to women participation in leadership
To understand the differences in perception between men and women on the top challenge
hindering women from greater participation in leadership in Meru county, the survey design
incorporated a question to prompt answers in this regard. The respondents were asked to
write, in order of priority, the challenges that women face when trying to access leadership
and decision-making processes and spaces. The report disaggregates their responses by
gender.
Question: What are the main hindrances or challenges to greater women participation in
leadership?
Disaggregated data: Females
For female respondents, the results showed that most women had as a top challenge a lack of
finance (top of the list for 11women), followed by intimidation (6women), a lack of family
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 31
support (5 women) confidence (4), a lack of awareness (3) Discriminating culture (3) and one
woman each mentioned women as a challenge to themselves, church discouraging leadership
for women, and corruption.
Disaggregated data: Males
The males’ responses and ranking to the
question of challenges to women leadership
in Nyeri county differed from the responses
by the female category. Male respondents
perceive the biggest challenge to women
participation in leadership to be finances
(top for 12 males), fear of violence in
politics (6), a lack of interest (3), culture
(3), 2 men each saw a lack of awareness,
inferiority feeling, women themselves, and
a lack of support as the top challenges, and
1 male mentioned the church as a barrier to
women leadership.
A small number of respondents did not choose either the male or female options, and their
answers to the same question on the top challenges facing women’s access to leadership
positions also rank inadequate finance as the top challenge with 6 respondents agreeing with
this prioritization, whereas 3 respondents cited a lack of confidence as the top challenge for
women in leadership.
The responses reveal a similarity in the experiences when it comes to women in leadership.
The monetization of leadership appears to affect men’s view on challenges women face in
leadership, the same way as it affects women themselves. All respondent categories see
limited access to financial resources as the top challenge for women trying to access
leadership spaces in Nyeri county.
The role of money is mentioned in relation to both elective and appointive positions, with
those seeking elective leadership positions needing finances to campaign, without which
finances the respondents assume women attaining leadership positions through elections will
be difficult. On the other hand, elements of corruption also bring into focus the extent to
which finances are seen as key to leadership for women.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 32
A further analysis of the data coded and aggregated all the responses to the question of
challenges facing women’s participation in leadership. The intention was to follow from
finding out the top priority challenges, to establish which challenges were mentioned by most
of the respondents, regardless of the order of priority. The results are presented in the figure
4.10 below.
As with the disaggregated data, the comparative data also shows the lack of financial
resources being perceived as the leading challenge to women leadership in Nyeri county. The
general overwhelming belief is that women are held back from active and equal participation
in decision-making and leadership due to the lack of financial resources. This could be
symptomatic of the phenomenon of monetization of leadership and office-seeking in Meru
county, that even when women want to engage, they still will be held back without financial
resources.
Similarly, Nyeri County respondents see a lack of education and awareness on the avenues
that exist for women to engage in leadership, which also causes poor strategies in office
seeking. However, some respondents felt that it is fear that limits women participation in
leadership processes and positions, especially the fear of being ridiculed, and the fear of
failing.
Related to fear is the insecurity that was mentioned as a hindrance, where elective positions
and processes to access these are fraught with election violence and intimidation. With men
being able to campaign into the night, women aspirants are, from the onset at a disadvantage
as they do face very specific violence towards them unlike their male counterparts. Some
women claimed they have had to hire groups of Related to fear is the insecurity that was
mentioned as a hindrance, where elective positions and processes to access these are fraught
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 33
“when a woman shines in the community, other
people poison the husband with stories that she was
talking ‘nicely’ with a certain other politician, causing
suspicion and loss of support from the husband.”
Former Councillor, Mukurwe-ini, Nyeri.
with election violence, abuse and intimidation. With men being able to campaign into the
night, women aspirants are, from the onset at a disadvantage as they do face very gender-
based violence towards them unlike their male counterparts. Some women claimed they have
had to hire groups of youths to provide security, but engaging these groups require already
scarce resources.
When terms of support towards
women leadership, the family, the
church and the community are
sources of challenges to women
seeking leadership positions, with
women claiming they have to
prioritize their families, otherwise
the community thinks they have neglected them, the husbands fear that the wives will be
“stolen” if they get into politics, and the church was mentioned as opposing women being
leaders, with the repeated mantra of “the husband is the head” and “women should “submit”,
which views trigger negative reception when women engage in leadership processes,
particularly women who are married. Conversely women consistently give “family
responsibilities” as a reason for staying away from leadership in the county.
From the data reviewed, there was little disparities in cumulative numbers between male and
female respondents, except when it came to family, community and corruption, where the
difference between male and female respondents was starkly visible, perhaps indicating a
lack of internalization by males on their contribution towards limited women leadership,
especially under community and family, as men are the direct beneficiaries through unequal
opportunities and patriarchy in the community, as well as the perceived victims in the family
when women engage in leadership.
Culture, Corruption, low self-esteem and low interest were also mentioned as challenges to
women leadership. Culture was said to contribute to the feeling that women were inferior and
only men could lead, while low self-esteem by women contributed to low interest in
leadership positions.
Corruption was said to discourage women from engaging in office-seeking processes as
these, from nominations, to party politics and internal elections were marred with corruption
at every turn. Connected to this is the view that women who got nominated into leadership
turned out to be very poor leaders as they were not chosen on merit. One respondent even
suggested that the whole process of nominating women to fulfil the gender principle
requirement was fuelling corruption, and should be done away with.
Question: In what ways can women participation in leadership at both political and
community level be strengthened?
Most of the respondents (41) saw the need for greater training and empowerment on women
and leadership in the county, as they mentioned capacity-building, improved qualifications
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 34
and getting education as ways to strengthen women participation in leadership. The second
most suggested way was civic education, linking the empowerment of the individual to the
knowledge base of the community and context of operation. Respondents emphasized the
need to have civic education for women, but also civic education for the community itself.
For those that suggested encouragement (28 respondents), a specific distinction was made for
encouragement from men in general, encouragement from husbands, and encouragement
from the community. Such a layered response may denote a dynamic discouraging force that
challenges women in their attempts to engage in leadership and decision making.
Some respondents (16) suggested that the way to strengthen women leadership was to push
for greater equality, including upholding the constitution, while others suggested greater
equality could be through improving the two-thirds gender principle. Curiously, a section of
these respondents suggested an “improvement” of this gender rule from two-thirds to 50/50,
obviously oblivious of the principle’s meaning, where the two-thirds could be women, and
therefore numerically better than 50/50. The assumption here is that for these respondents,
the two-thirds gender principle is taken to mean the one-third is the fraction for women, not
men.
The monetization of leadership and decision making processes is supported by 15
respondents who suggested that funding women in their campaigns was a way to strengthen
their participation in leadership. The common thread is that leadership, elective or appointive,
is expensive, and therefore requires more than just the desire to lead.
12 respondents mentioned the need for women to participate actively in political parties and
contest for leadership positions in those parties, with some making the connection from this,
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 35
that it was those that were active in party politics that became known and consequently were
easily picked for appointments and nominations to leadership positions. Women avoiding
engaging in party activities at county level was therefore seen as one of the reasons even
appointments did not favour them.
Also connected to engagement in local politics was the notion that women becoming leaders
in their own communities was a way to strengthen their leadership skills and to seek for
higher and more demanding positions. This need to engage in community leadership first was
suggested by 10 respondents, and was also linked directly to the community getting to know
who can lead, and thus vote for them should they vie for elective positions of leadership.
Other ways to strengthen women participation in leadership at both political and community
level included the view that women would strengthen their chances if they behaved well (3
respondents), explained as women acting in a way that made the community know them, and
a suggestion by 2 respondents that young women should be nurtured from a young age so that
they can have the skills and experience to become leaders when they grow up.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 36
5. FINDINGS
Women still have low awareness of the range of positions that are available to them. While
the gender-specific positions such as women representative and the nominated MCA are
easily mentioned in conversation, there is a stark contrast with the very low mention of
positions such as governor, senator and members of parliament. Only one lady, in the entire
survey mentioned the presidency as an existing position of leadership that women can go for.
The level of civic education on this positions is generally low.
The role of culture on the engagement around leadership also comes out from the discussions
on leadership, where most respondents mentioned culture as one of the challenges to
leadership. That women were historically confined to roles in the home, the same view is still
predominant in the counties visited, and even from women themselves, a common response
to the question on why they don’t engage more with leadership is the fact that they have
family responsibilities. It is unsurprising that this is prioritized by women but not men who
engage in politics in the same way. While men can be leaders as a primary role and the
family responsibilities come after, for women this is largely inconceivable. This may be
partly influenced by a cultural gap, caused by the attitude that women have about what is
expected of them in the society due to their gender, often affecting their behaviours in the
workplace, from their communication styles to their leadership styles (Oliech et al., 2015).
This cultural gap, where existent, is further reinforced by hostile male behaviour towards
women who take up any interest in pursuing leadership positions.
Most respondents did mention the interest in leadership, but few engaged in political party
activities at the county level. Acknowledging that the political party is the common vehicle
for contesting for political leadership and for nominations, there is a gap in these two
processes, where women seek political leadership, and are planning to vie for political
positions, but very few engage in political party activities. It is worth noting that the limited
engagement is both a result of an unclear understanding of political and leadership processes,
as well as a feeling of exasperation by those trying to engage in party political who claim that
cronyism and corruption will carry the day in party politics, no matter how active they are in
the parties.
The sheer weight lent to the role of nominations in leadership positions is worrying, as both
men and women see even more nominations as a solid leadership process worth maintaining.
However, as opponents to this posit, nominations have been used by political victors to
reward undeserving cronies, friends and family at the detriment of the rest of the county and
willing leaders with greater potential. Similarly, some women have equated nominations of
women to leadership positions as a peace-meal leadership response that has a single role of
fulfilling a constitutional requirement, but nothing to
do with promoting women leadership. An example
given in this regard is the political and financial
powerlessness that women representatives and other
nominated representatives suffer in their posts.
Nominations can serve as a temporary solution, but
There is a difference between
women’s formal and actual
power. Nominations ultimately
appeal to formal, rather than
actual power.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 37
concrete processes and actions need to be developed around women and leadership towards a
more meaningful position for women leaders. Nominations cannot, and must not be the
permanent solution, as it appears to both empower and disempower women with near-equal
measure.
Lastly, the representation of women in governance and leadership is still nowhere near their
actual numbers in the population. The current state of affairs has confined women to believe
the two-thirds gender principle simply means men can be two-thirds, and women are the ones
referred to in the remaining one-third. It is no wonder that some women agitate for what they
refer to as an improvement of the constitution, to have a 50/50 balance. With clear and fair
leadership attainment processes, and an enabling environment around women in governance
and leadership, women can make the two-thirds, in which case the 50/50 amendment would
actually limit their spaces.
However, with the current low representation, it can be understood why the feeling is that
50/50 share that is constitutionally mandated will offer women greater representation.
6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the responses on women and leadership spaces and challenges facing Meru and
Nyeri counties, the report’s key findings can be summarized as follows:
1. Women are willing to engage in leadership at the counties, but they face a range of
challenges that confine this willingness to a distant interest. The sheer range of
positions across county and national structures that are accessible by women is
staggering, yet the lack of knowledge of these openings may partly limit the
participation of women. The positions across the county leadership structures do not
meet a commensurate information base and uptake from the women. More needs to be
done to balance the information with the spaces, to enhance the likelihood of greater
women participation in leadership.
2. The potential challenge of limited resources in the program and the fast approaching
elections may mean that the greatest attention in awareness creation be directed to the
existing elective positions, followed by appointive positions that result from the
culmination of elections at both national and county levels. This is not to say an
alternative track of action may not work, but rather the suggested progression may
provide a roadmap towards participatory design of training and advocacy efforts.
3. A women leadership and governance program may consider an emphasis, in the
training concepts, on the notion that increased nominations being indicative of the
failure of the electoral system to support or influence equality. It will be useful to
emphasize the qualitative difference in an electoral system that elects all its
representatives, from one that frequently relies on nominations to achieve gender
balance.
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 38
RECOMMENDATIONS
A set of recommendations can be issued for both Women governance and leadership support
and strengthen women engagement in elective, nominative and appointive positions.
1. Recommendations to CSOs
a) More, and sustained sensitization programmes: With the lack of awareness on the
breadth of positions available for women to engage in leadership, the limited attempts
by women will benefit from increased sensitization on these positions. Women will
benefit from more information and should indeed go for the wide leadership position
in the country if they know which positions exist, and procedures for attaining them.
This is in line with the actions suggested by the 2011 UN resolution on women and
political participation, paragraph 6(d), and the Convention On the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women - CEDAW of 1979.
b) Politics-sensitive awareness creation: programmes tailored to emphasize on the
processes that surround elective politics will be crucial in changing the level of
women participation and representation in in leadership in general, and in the elective
arena in particular. Women want to be elected, in large numbers, but very few are
active in local political party activities, which are the cornerstone for nominations for
elections and other leadership posts. For most CSOs, political engagement is usually
not the go-to activity, but a middle ground has to be found that will not be seen to be
partisan, yet address an obviously political problem of unequal representation and
unconstitutionality. This could be explored through an open and clear engagement of
all women, regardless of political affiliation, with a proactive process that involves
women from various institutions, parties and socio-economic circles. To create
change in a political process requires a political commitment.
c) Similarly, the awareness creation must also address the meaning of the two-thirds
gender principle. A considerable number of respondents suggested a change of the
constitution to make it 50/50, which could be disadvantageous for women in the long-
run, as it would lock them out of greater participation should they reach the threshold.
The awareness should extend to highlighting the existing positions of leadership, who
the current occupants are, and what the requirements for holding such offices are.
This will help in creating greater interest in the future, especially the range of sectors,
departments and structures already having women leaders.
d) Capacity building on leadership skills and knowledge: A clamour for women
increased representation of women in leadership will be the result of demand-driven
programmes, but they must include a supply-side component that builds the capacity
of women to rise to these leadership posts. Nominations have been criticized as
tokenism, but a popular mandate by citizens through the ballot is undisputed.
Nominations will remain a temporary solution, but in the interim, greater capacity
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 39
building conducted by civil society organizations will help position women to supply
the needed leadership when opportunity comes.
e) Make men advocates for women leadership: programs targeting women for leadership
are great, but more inclusive programming will actively include men and boys as key
advocates for women in leadership. First, the dominance of men in politics, and the
gendered environment they propagate and thrive in during campaigns must be
targeted for intervention, so that as more women participate in leadership-seeking
processes, men do not become a bottle-neck and limit the potential surge in interest
and participation, either directly by preventing the women from political engagement
and leadership, or indirectly by perpetuating a violent campaign system that affects
women aspirants more than men aspirants. Men don’t see themselves as a big problem
for women to engage in leadership, but women do see them as a key hindrance. More
so, activities that keep men aloof will only maintain the status quo by limit the men’s
role as a potential constituency for women candidates.
2. Recommendations to the county government
a) Actively mainstreaming gender in the county: The different nomination avenues that
exist for appointments to county leadership are an open space for counties to take the
lead in supporting women’s active participation in leadership. Ensuring women are
aware of these positions, their application procedures, and also the dissemination of
this information must take into account the disparity in information gathering and
sharing between men and women. A gender-sensitive lens at county level will trigger
a re-imagination of county engagements to make space for greater women leadership,
which in turn will break the physical and psychological barriers that constrain
women’s interest in leadership.
b) Civic education: the issue of public participation is a cornerstone of devolution, and
counties have, in this process, a direct route to define participation in terms of not just
quantity, but also quality. Actively encouraging the involvement of women with
parity to men will greatly aid in deconstructing the existing stereotypes, and bring
forth the value and credibility of women’s ideas and opinions through such forums as
citizen participation forums. The women who get into leadership are role models to be
leveraged for such activities.
c) Cultural engagement: the role of negative culture emerged as a challenge to women
leadership in both counties, and other problems mentioned also having links to
culture, e.g. the family, men and community, were similarly cited as detrimental.
County Government Programmes that address these cultural dimension will, if done
correctly, add value to the push for greater women participation, and win allies across
generations. That culture is housed with gender and social services in Nyeri county,
while in Meru County gender is in the same department with culture and sports may
present an opportunity for a paired gender and culture program. The historical
patriarchy has had deep effects on what both men and women believe about women in
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 40
leadership, and the same can be harnessed to unhinge the deep-seated cultural
constraints.
d) Role of the County Public Service Board: The CPSBs have powers to establish offices
and appoint people to the public service, as well as promoting values and principles of
the constitution, including the gender principle. Counties should support further the
work of the CPSB, and facilitate, as far as possible, the upholding of the constitution,
including spearheading the discussions on gender in the workplace, especially in the
county service, for a coherent plan that not only acknowledges the role of gender
equity in leadership and county development, but also supports the highest possible
achievement for both men and women in public service.
The public service board should also diversify their information sharing platforms to
increase the access to county announcements on vacant positions and calls for
applications. The use of newspapers and notices at county offices is useful, but misses
a huge section of the population that neither can necessarily afford a newspaper, nor
have a reason to visit the county offices at the same time as a notice is posted.
3. Recommendations to political parties
a) The position and activity of women in political parties is crucial in determining their
further involvement post-elections. The political machinery that is the political party
holds immense sway in how much, how many and how far women engage in
leadership. Their nomination to various positions e.g. leader of majority, leader of
minority, county committees, boards, and others available at the county level, and an
insistence on gender equality in representation through balanced nominations will go
a long way in shaping greater involvement of women in leadership.
b) Political processes at party activity level should consider the gendered experiences
with campaigns, nominations and elections, and strive to advance greater security and
support for women interested in leadership. Parties can strongly advance the
participation of women by advocating for enhanced security measures, and strongly
and jointly condemning any and all violence meted upon any aspirant, especially
women. The dissuasion of violence against women in political processes will
encourage more participation of women in leadership, more so the electoral processes.
c) Whereas financial resources are frequently cited as a hindrance to women engagement
in politics, more women have accessed political leadership positions through
nominations. Political parties therefore stand a better chance of great success by
identifying and supporting potential women leaders with capacity and other required
competencies, as opposed to financial support which few parties have the clout to
accomplish.
d) Specifically, on Financial support, political parties can support an increase in the
number of women aspirants by, at the very least, have parties foot the nomination fees
for interested female aspirants (Ksh. 2,500 for County representatives, 15,000 for the
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 41
National assembly, 25,000 for the governor positions, and 100,000 for presidential
aspirants). This will reflect a direct support for greater women participation in the
political sphere of leadership, and encourage more women to offer themselves for
leadership, and address the highly mentioned financial resources issue.
e) A gender audit carried out by political parties after each election cycle may shed light
on the internal processes that hinder or facilitate greater women participation in
leadership in the party political processes. This process can be led by women
members in the party leadership, and involve all decision-makers in the party in
finding bottlenecks to women in leadership. This will pave way for a gender-sensitive
response plan spear-headed by parties, and involving mechanisms to reduce demand
for kitu-kidogo (vote-buying) by the electorate for political support in elections.
f) Women’s wing in parties: Political parties for women can be established to
specifically advance women’s participation in politics and leadership. Such
mechanisms will be avenues for women to be active, engage with, and learn skills
within the parties. Care must be taken though, as sometimes women’s wings may
cause further marginalization and compartmentalization of women under the party.
This can be avoided by linking the wings directly to the parties’ decision-making
bodies, e.g. by assigning a vote in the party’s decisions to the women’s wing.
4. Recommendations to the development partners and community
a) Support and encourage regional and international best practice communication: A few
citizens still struggle with the notion of women in leadership, based on patriarchal
leanings and male-dominated history of leadership. The myths that have encumbered
the prospect of leadership need a multi-pronged approach, including the sharing of
information about countries and regions that have adopted a more inclusive
engagement of women in leadership. From Majority women parliamentarians in
Rwanda and Bolivia, through Belgium with 50% women in the senate, women heads
of governments in over 20 countries, including Liberia’s current president all present
vital case studies of women in leadership. The mapping and communicating of these
cases may contribute greatly to breaking down psychological barriers affecting
women leadership.
b) Resource support for greater women participation: women face multiple challenges in
the quest for equal participation in leadership, including technical capacity,
awareness, and access to information. The development partners should spearhead
different but coordinated support structures to provide a holistic support packet that
will both place women on a better platform and information base for seeking
leadership opportunities, but also educate men as key actors in advancing women’s
leadership in the electoral, nominative and appointive process. Whereas direct
financial assistance to aspirants is against the Election campaign financing guidelines
from the Elections Commission, imparting technical skills in various facets of
RAPID ASSESSMENT: WOMEN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN MERU AND NYERI COUNTIES
Page | 42
elections, campaigns, leadership and management will greatly strengthen the calibre
of women seeking and engaging in leadership.
c) Leverage national/county government relations: development partners can also engage
the national government as well as the county structures in advocating for the
constitutional principles and values. The same vigour accorded to themes of
corruption, health and economic development could be extended to the area of women
and leadership, and ultimately the upholding of the constitutional principles and
rights.
Ultimately, women participation in leadership will not happen in a vacuum, but rather will
result from being part of an environment where power dynamics shape the boundaries of
what can be done. It will only be through programming that addresses the complex nature of
power and domination politics, that the potential that spaces and women’s participation in
these spaces will be understood, and change initiated to provide a truly equal and
transformative leadership and society.
References
FIDA (2013), Key Gains and Challenges: A Gender Audit of Kenya’s 2013 Election Process.
Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Kenya.
https://www.ndi.org/files/Kenya-Gender-Audit-2013-Electoral-Process.pdf
Institute of Economic Affairs (2015), Implementing the Constitutional Two-Thirds Gender
Principle: The Cost of Representation. The National Women’s Steering Committee
In partnership with Institute of Economic Affairs, May 2015. www.ieakenya.or.ke
Kabira, W. M., & Kimani, E. N. (2012). The historical journey of women's leadership in
Kenya. Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, 3(6), 842.
Kamau, Nyokabi (2010), Women and Political Leadership in Kenya: Ten Case Studies. 2010,
https://ke.boell.org
O’Neil, T., & Domingo, P. (2016), Women and power: Overcoming barriers to leadership
and influence. Overseas Development Institute (ODI), http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk
Oliech, I. A., Odoyo, C. O. &Iteyo, C. (2015). Women Participation in Elective Leadership
Positions in Homa-BayTown and Rangwe Constituencies of Homa-Bay County, Kenya.
American Journal of Social Sciences. Vol. 3, No. 2, 2015, pp. 23-32.
Search for Common Ground, (2008), Women of Africa Leadership Development Program:
Combined Research Report: Kenya, Liberia & Côte d’Ivoire.
https://www.sfcg.org/programmes/lwi/documents/Women_of_Africa_Combined_Report.pdf
United Nations (2012), Resolution 66/130: women and political participation. United Nations
general assembly resolution, 19, December 2011. http://www.un.org
United Nations (2015), The Millennium Development Goals Report – 2015. United Nations,
New York. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
Wales, J. (2016), Women and Power: What can the numbers tell us about women’s voice,
leadership and decision-making? Overseas Development Institute (ODI),
http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk
Annex 1: Terms of Reference
Introduction
The Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness (CREAW) is a non-partisan, non-
governmental women rights organization that works towards a just and free society in which
women and men exercise and enjoy equal and full rights and opportunities. Our Mission is to
transform Kenyan society through the promotion and expansion of women’s human rights,
rule of law and social justice. CREAW believes that social transformation can happen
through a shifting of social norms and practices that curtail the realization of women’s rights.
This is done through legislative and policy advocacy, activism, public education, public
interest litigation and innovative research. The desired change should be evident in attitudes,
knowledge, skills, levels of awareness, behaviour and health at personal, family, communal
and societal levels.
About the Gender and Governance Programme
Gender equality is not only fundamental right but a necessary precursor towards sustainable
development. The absence of women’s voices in key critical decision making spaces
manifests in the poor service delivery for women which stems from local development plans,
budgets and monitoring systems which do not adequately reflect women’s interested and
priorities. In Kenya, the progress towards women’s involvement in politics was initially very
slow. Noticeable changes have only been observed within the last 10 years. Our continuous
contribution to processes and movements that have secured gains for women in the
Constitution have inevitably led to more women occupying decision making spaces at all
levels of governance. In 2013 CREAW successfully supported over 40 women with technical
skills and visibility platforms to enable them launch and manage competitive campaigns
during the electoral period. CREAW’s support contributed to over 20 women ascending to
various elected and nominated positions.
However, statistics shows that women make up 52% of the Kenyan population, but only 63
out of 349 Members of Parliament are elected women. No women were elected as governors
or senators in the 2013 elections and only 88 out of 1,450 seats in county governments are
held by women. This reflects a serious under-representation of women in governance and
decision making structures. The program therefore intends to: strengthen the ability of
women leaders in target counties to effectively contribute to the formulation of gender
responsive policies, legislation and projects; design and implement strategies that support
women leaders to take up appointive, nominated and elected Offices of leadership and
authority; and, influence the development and implementation of laws and policies that create
increased, actual opportunities for women’s participation in leadership and authority.
Purpose
The rapid assessment will focus on the existing c in the counties of Nyeri and Meru. It will
assess the political, community and other leadership structures and networks, and their
potential to support the leadership and governance programme towards the objective of
increasing the number of accountable and gender sensitive women `in political and non-
political decision making spaces in Meru and Nyeri Counties.
Coverage
1. Map key political and non-political decision making spaces in the two counties
2. Local government structures that have low representation of women
3. Gender disaggregated compositions of/in these spaces
4. Processes for access to the spaces
5. Key persons’ assessment of the spaces (prominent political/business/community
women)
6. 2017 landscape: how does it look for women aspirants? Views from
public/private/political/business/ women and men
Qualifications
The consultant to prepare the rapid assessment will work under the supervision of the
Governance Programme Officer, in cooperation with the relevant units at the CREAW
headquarters.
S/he should meet the following qualifications:
Expertise in conducting assessments and evaluation and related methodologies
including data collection and analysis
Knowledge of the women and governance arena in Kenya
Experience in development projects covering both governments and civil society,
preferably in East Africa
Excellent Written verbal and communication skills.
Experience writing high quality evaluation reports
Fluency in English, and Swahili will be an added advantage.
Timeline
The rapid assessment assignment is expected to run for a maximum of 5 days.