4,000 women meet to declare political stand

Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki will open the convention. (Boniface Okendo/Standard)

Over 4,000 women leaders will converge at Bomas of Kenya Friday to declare their political stand in this year’s polls.

The women, including former presidential candidate Martha Karua (Narc Kenya leader) and former Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu (Narc leader), are expected to encourage other women to contest elective seats during the August elections.

“We know that Kenya will achieve its aspirations if half of its population (women) participates and drives political power. Women in Kenya want to compete for political power. The convention at Bomas will provide an opportunity for women to chart their path,” said Daisy Amdany, the executive director of Crawn Trust, one of the organisers of the convention.

The convention will be opened by Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki. Others expected to attend are MPs Cecily Mbarire (Runyenjes) and Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay) among others.

According to Wangeci Wachira, the executive director of the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (Creaw), women want to provide visionary leadership and solutions to drive change.

During the 2013 elections, no woman was elected governor. But this year, more women have declared an interest in top county seats.

They include Ms Karua (Kirinyaga), Ms Ngilu (Kitui), former Devolution CS Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga) and businesswoman Mable Muruli (Kakamega).

The convention is spearheaded by the National Women Steering Committee with support from the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Crawn Trust and Creaw.