The result of Kenya's presidential election hangs in the balance tonight, with the electoral commission auditing results in several areas to ensure an accurate declaration on Sunday. Meanwhile, many parliamentary seats have changed hands. It seems that several key ministers have lost their seats and some political veterans have been displaced by younger rivals. One positive trend reflected in this election is the advancement of women in Kenyan politics. As the article from 'The Standard' linked here reports, female candidates have truly broken through - many will serve for the first time, though some will return having retained their seats. Many battled in an otherwise all-male field and against cultural expectations, in a society that remains strongly male dominated. It's one positive sign to emerge from an election that has been extremely tense throughout. Let's hope it indicates a democracy coming of age and a society becoming more equal.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
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5 comments:
This is great news, and, as eazibee has already explained, you don't need to be a feminist to appreciate it.
What's good about this story is that is shows old, corrupt networks of power can be broken into. There was a huge amount of support work which went into this result - dozens of NGOs were training up women and helping them campaign. It doesn't matter so much that they're women as that they were (generally) outsiders, and all democracies needs regular infusions of them to stay fresh.
Thanks Diana - well said. I completely agree about the need to gradually 'turn over the old guard' in any political system. The difficulty is in achieving the right balance between fresh perspectives and experience. It's something the UK grappled with in the early days of New Labour, too, and it's a key issue in the ongoing US presidential campaign... It'll be very interesting to see how things pan out, including in Kenya, where it does seem as if there has been something of a socio-political revolution during the last decade or so. People expect more of their leaders now, which must be a good thing. E
Postscript: alas, there has been an outburst of violence across Kenya today, as the result of the presidential election was finally announced, with Mwai Kibaki re-elected. Several parties have questioned the results, including EU election monitors. E.g. http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143979743
This is only related to the presidential vote, not the parliamentary election, but it's a great shame that the situation is now mired in such controversy. Clearly it will make it difficult for a new government to be formed promptly, so the promise inherent in the recent parliamentary results will take some time to be realised.
E
women have proven whereever they have been to be more nationalistic,down to earth not ruthless like men and really care so its goodtah women populations in decision making especially in government is good
Richard mufumbya
www.jacofoods.blogspot.com
Thanks Mawanda
It's great to have some perspective on this from the East African region.
It's interesting that you feel women are more nationalistic. How does that manifest itself?
(You might also be interested in the little debate we had on this blog on 'Day Thirty-Six' about women and leadership!)
I think that the main thing is fostering representative democracy - it's as important to have a broad range of religions, cultures and ethnicities represented as it is to have a good gender balance. Kenya seemed to have made major strides towards this recently - one can only hope it won't be undermined by the controversy and violence that has afflicted the presidential election... it's so sad to see things breaking down...
E
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