By Joab Apollo
“A woman is a bicycle. If you leave it by the roadside, someone will just pick it up.” “A woman is a child.” “Stop being silly like a woman.” These are some of the derogatory statements about women Kenyans have been accustomed to and have for a long time been taken as a gospel truth about the nature of women in the East African country.
Not anymore. The elevation of Justice Martha Koome as the Chief Justice and President of the Judiciary of Kenya after a competitive process that saw her beat ten other reputable lawyers in the country has brought to the fore the silent and rapid revolution by the women in the country. It has been a journey of sweat and blood, a journey where even women have been viewed as architects of their own misfortunes.
Justice Koome, a renowned human rights defender, joins a star-studded list of woman at the Apex of Kenyan judiciary, who include her deputy Philomena Mwilu, Judiciary Registrar Anne Atieno Amadi and Supreme Court Judge Njoki Ndung’u.
It is the first time Kenya is having a woman as the Chief Justice, something that has been hailed as a new dawn for a country whose social, political and economic development has been punctuated with emasculation of women.
Former Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister, Martha Karua, herself a battle-hardened human rights advocate and a presidential candidate under the NARC-Kenya party described it thus, ” This is not only momentous but also great significance to the country.”
Kitui County Governor, Charity Ngilu, who unsuccessfully sought the country’s presidency in 1997 on the Social Democratic Party (SDP) was on cloud nine.
“The sky is no longer the limit. Next for the girl child is the Attorney General’s position and the leadership of Parliament.”
Another woman of firsts, Kirinyaga Governor Ann Mumbi Waiguru, also did not hide her pleasure in seeing decades of struggle by Kenyan women bear fruit.
She wrote on Facebook thus, “May this day inspire many more to come! To men, believe in women leadership.”
Kenya has withstood years of blatant subjugation of women despite their masterly show in the fields of technology, science, the arts, sports and the corporate sector.
Women who have mustered the art of going out of their way to take on men in elective positions have always suffered violence, both individual and state-sponsored, and labeled SlayQueens, a term which in Kenyan parlance means prostitutes.
Constitutional efforts to level the playing ground have often been met with runway chauvinism. Kenyan Parliament has severally failed to enact the much-touted two-thirds gender rule, a constitutional requirement under Section 27 (8) that binds the state to ensure that not more than two-thirds of elective and appointive positions are held by people of the same gender.
This failure by the male-dominated houses of Kenyan Parliament is linked to the deeply-rooted cultural practises that debase women. Opponents of the rule have publicly opined that women should fight for positions like men. They argue that the rule gives leeway for political leaders to appoint their girlfriends and wives to positions of leadership.
However, despite these numerous roadblocks, the Kenyan woman has time and again emerged unscathed. Currently, there are 172 women holding elective positions in the country. Out of the 47 governors, three women were elected- Charity Ngilu of Kitui, Ann Waiguru of Kirinyaga and the late Joyce Laboso of Bomet.
Today Kenya boasts women Vice-Chancellors, company CEOs and reputable artists and runners.