Written by Joseph Amunya Otieno
2012-09-11 10:42:00
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Likuyani, Kakamega County: Women based organization dealing with governance and ensuring women participation in leadership has threatened to sensitize women to sue institutions that will ignore a third rule majority for women in all its appointments.
Speaking during a meeting held at Soy in Likuyani District and brought together UDF party officials and several aspirants for various political seats from the newly created Likuyani constituency Ms Violet Shivutse an official from ‘Groots Kenya’ said that her organization was charged with campaigning for political emancipation of women and pledged its commitment towards jealously guarding laws aimed at empowering women politically.
She said the organization was mapping for women aspirant in line with a third majority requirement and called for respect of the clause failure to which women would move to court to block swearing in of men who would have violated the requirement in next general elections.
“All laws guarding women as envisaged in the new constitution should be observed and any institutions that will fail in observing this will have to content with legal roadblocks erected by women based civil societies and this also includes the next general election where this rule must be observed,” she warned
While appealing to women to offer themselves for all available positions, Shivutse expressed her disappointment over their failure to come up in the open and scramble for the positions. She decried Likuyani constituency has few women aspirants due to lack of civic education, ignorance and lack of resources.
She challenged women from rural areas to come up strongly and vie for leadership posts instead of leaving them for those from urban areas. “Groots Kenya believes that those women from villages down there who do much of the community work, those who do jua kali businesses to sustain their family and help the community at large are also leaders, we want to empower the women to come up and take these seats because they are not just meant for the rich women who lives in towns,” she said.
At the same time the organization will launch a capacity building campaign for men to change their patriarchal perceptions and support women who have volunteered to seek elective positions at the grass roots. Switch to Our Mobile Site |
