Women leaders in Central and its Diaspora counties are showing a potential of eclipsing their male counterparts in an interesting political trend that signifies the surge back of the legendary reign of chief Wangu wa Makeri.
With possible exception of Nairobi where elected women legislators with their origin in the House of Mumbi have retained a matronly silence, counterparts in the other Mt Kenya counties appear to have given a warning that they will be taking charge of the political destiny of the region.
For a start, Murang’a County is among the handful of counties nationally with an equal number of women and men legislators with the parliamentary group there tied at 4-4 an improvement of the 4-3 Nyeri record in favour of men in the last Parliament.
Nakuru has 3-10 equation in favour of men while Kiambu had 2-12 before the election of Gatundu South MP Wanjiku Kibe was nullified by the petition’s court.
But it is the profile of women leaders such as Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, Woman Representative Wangui Ngirichi, Murang’a Woman Rep Sabina Chege, Kandara’s Alice Wahome, Gilgil’s Martha Wangari and Kiambu Woman Rep Gathoni wa Muchomba that has been on the spotlight for their ability to hog headlines when their male counterparts remain in the shadows.
Ms Ngirichi and Ms Waiguru who is remembered as one of the highest profile Jubilee Cabinet Secretaries in the last term have been in a vicious political fight that has seen male leaders in their county only cheering on the sidelines.
Unstoppable wave
In Kiambu, Ms Wa Muchomba, a former Gikuyu radio queen, has decided to confront a phenomenon threatening the house of Mumbi — diminishing population.
Wa Muchomba’s new gospel of polygamy to plug in the population gap has set tongues wagging.
On her part, Ms Chege will be remembered as the only Central Kenya MP who had the guts to hit back at Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko when he accused regional leaders of holding night meetings to plot against Deputy President William Ruto.
Her sentiments are said to have stung Sonko when she pointed out that the Nairobi governor had 200,000 more odd votes than Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi during the last elections.
“Before he criticises Mt Kenya leaders,” shot back Ms Chege, “Sonko should work to bring those votes under the umbrella of Jubilee.”
This was outstanding according to one senior Central Kenya leader because since he edged out former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth in the bitter fight for the Jubilee ticket in Nairobi and then the acrimonious fallout with his deputy governor Polycarp Igathe, no Kikuyu leader has openly taken on Sonko.
Ms Wahome is remembered over that spat with a Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Returning Officer during the tallying of the repeat presidential elections. She is also among the few Murang’a leaders who publicly take on governor Mwangi wa Iria.
Chege and Wahome are highly visible in Parliament and require little introduction outside their region.
The Kikuyu community is seen as unique in Kenya because for all its clans, the matriclan founders are female, but men traditionally hold leadership positions within the society.
This matriarchal logic is because Gikuyu, the founder of the community only begot daughters – 10 of them.
Then according to legend, nine men descended from Mt Kenya (where Ngai, the God of the Kikuyu lived) each establishing their own family.
The last daughter never married and is customarily the matriarch of all Kikuyu children begotten by single women.
Ever since the Wangu wa Makeri reign, the Kikuyu has not embraced women leadership. Although most of them played significant roles in freedom struggles - Mama Ngina Kenyatta, Mukami Kimathi and Wangari Maathai, they were least honoured.
It took the return of multiparty democracy in 1992 for the first women to be elected MPs. Those were Martha Karua in Gichugu, Kirinyaga County and Mary Wanjiru – the prophetess - in Kinangop, Nyandarua County.
Ever since, women have progressively increased their numbers in the region and currently stand at 15 for the counties of Kiambu, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Nyandarua, Nakuru, Laikipia and Nairobi.
Makeri dynasty
So is this the start of the second Makeri dynasty?
“Definitely not,” said second term Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni, one of the thoughtful legislators in Central. According to him, the women leaders are being driven to staying visible because of past perception that leaders lost seats because of being too quiet.
“At the end of the day what matters is not saying things but the quality of your pronouncements,” said Kioni who was Musalia Mudavadi’s running mate in 2013. ”
Catherine Waruguru, the first term Laikipia Woman Representative said the electorate is demanding sufficient representation.
“We are expanding, we do not want a step back to the freedom and representation of people. The population explodes with wide needs,” said Ms Waruguru.
Chege called the turn of events as the turbo charging of women leaders.
“This might be the rise of Nyanjiru’s spirit,” she said. “She was killed at the Central Police Station in 1922 when she fought for the release of Harry Thuku and challenged men to swap their trousers for skirts.”
One of Kenya’s unsung heroes, Nyanjui is remembered as having marshaled a crowd that went to the station to demand for Thuku’s release. The skirmishes that followed left 21 people dead.
But political analyst Prof Peter Kagwanja while lauding the progressive assertiveness of elected women leaders said there was no fear of going back to a Wangu wa Makeri dynasty.
“In any case, Wa Makeri is only a very recent case as she was a chief under the colonial government appointed through the influence of her lover Senior Chief Karuri wa Gakure,” said Prof Kagwanja.
“Women are definitely on the rise with Central setting the pace but I only see a normal flow.”
