Men dominating the political arena is a worldwide phenomenon. In Kenya, vying for political positions as a woman is like being part of the annual migration of wildebeest across the ecosystems of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya – a perilous event given the crocodiles of the Mara River laying in wait to eat them alive.
This analogy demonstrates the immeasurable challenges faced by these women which makes most of them avoid the political arena compared to their male counterparts.
The two-thirds gender rule was introduced through the Kenyan Constitution in 2010, requiring that no more than two-thirds of members of all elective and appointive positions should be of one gender. Although there has been an increase in the numbers of women candidates since this change, women have never had it easy in Kenyan politics, often having their positions filled through nomination. According to a 2022 UN Women Report, in the 2022 general election, women made up only an estimated 11 per cent of the total candidates gazetted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
One of the challenges women face as aspiring and elected politicians during each election is gendered disinformation. This is where false information is disseminated with the intention of tarnishing an individual’s political reputation. In most cases, this is meant to lower the target politically in the public eye, while elevating their political opponents. Gendered disinformation is often fuelled by gendered stereotypes about women, and is used to discredit them publicly.
Gladys Kamuren, a three time political aspirant and currently the Chief Officer Gender, Social Services and Inclusivity, Nakuru County, knows this well. When she narrates her political journey in Kenya, she remembers its impact on both her social and political life.
Kamuren tells Missing Perspectives that in most cases the perpetrators of disinformation target the most personal part of a victim’s life – their family. This is also reflective of the high esteem and value in which Kenyan society holds the family unit.
Harmful cultural attitudes have also been seen to influence disinformation tactics in the African setting, as much of the community believes a woman’s place is in the kitchen. In this instance, a woman in politics is considered to have lost societal direction based on the notion that she has abandoned her ‘wifely responsibilities’ of taking care of her family members, especially her husband.
Kamuren notes that in many cases, perpetrators are funded by one’s opponents and leverage both mainstream and social media in dissemination of disinformation.
“You wake up one morning during the campaigns and find a post making rounds on the social media platforms purporting that you are not a married woman or that you divorced your husband for politics and that you should go [and] get a husband then come and ask for votes. When this is propagated, yet in [a] real sense you are a family person, your heart breaks,” says Kamuren. She confirms that it is rare to see such allegations against men.
These types of disinformation have a detrimental impact on a woman’s social and political life, with at least 75% of Kenyan news consumers finding it hard to distinguish between real and fake news online. In most cases, the victim might not be able to convince the public that the information is false.
To deal with this, Rose Mutai, a two-term Member of the County Assembly in Nakuru, says that a woman with ambitions of joining politics needs to be focused. They also need a positive support system around them, especially from friends and close family members who are ready for the possibility of targeted disinformation and can provide a shoulder to lean on. This helps to navigate those instances when it happens, and helps to clear the horrid memories of negative propaganda.
Ms Mutai said that her friends were her strong supporters and that is why she was able to clinch her position for the second time.
Women in political leadership are also supportive of each other and in calling for women to get involved.
In its 2024-2027 strategic plan, the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) has set priorities to advance the work of women parliamentarians in legislation, oversight and representation. KEWOPA states that leveraging partnerships will be key in achieving gender equality and the advancement of women’s rights (including leadership) in Kenya.
The media has a major role to play in this. Winfred Syombua, a Fellow with the Kenya Resentencing Project at Reprieve, a legal action non-governmental organization which fights for justice and defends people facing human rights abuses, recently addressed African journalists on the importance of the media in fairly representing women.
“Every time the media is addressing issues of national importance, women’s voices lack. While seeking for expertise, the media tend to lean towards men and even when women are experts in these matters, the media rarely call on them for interviews. This has played a big role in dragging behind women from contributing to serious national issues including politics and it is high time that the media bridges this gap in order to change this phenomenon,” says Syombua.