Outstanding women who stood up to be counted

By LILLIAN ALUANGA-DELVAUX???

KENYA: As   the clamour for    multi-partyism grew, Prof Wangari Muta Maathai launched a crusade to conserve the environment. Maathai’s belief was simple; that environmental conservation was?inextricably linked to good governance. For that the former Tetu MP?was willing to pay a high price, earning herself numerous arrests and?beatings in the hands of law enforcers. In one of the most memorable?photographs, Maathai is seen holding tufts of hair yanked off her?scalp in a confrontation with police at Karura Forest.

After decades of environmental and political activism, Maathai’s?crowning moment came in 2004 when she became the first African woman?to earn a Nobel Peace prize for her contribution to sustainable?development, democracy and peace.

As Kenya celebrates 50 years of independence, we acknowledge efforts made by women in different spheres. They include Dr Phoebe?Asiyo, Chelagat Mutai, Wambui Otieno, Priscilla Abwao, Sarah Sarai,?Prof Micere Mugo, Margaret Ogola, Prof Miriam Were and Prof Maria?Nzomo. Others in the long list are Dr Eddah Gachukia, Martha?Karua, Grace Onyango, Dr Sally Kosgey, Ida Odinga, Dr Betty Gikonyo, Prof Julia Ojiambo, Court of Appeal judge Martha Koome and ICC judge?Joyce Aluoch. Others who have set pace in their respective?fields include CNN’s Zain Verjee, Tecla Lorupe, paralympian Mary?Nakhumicha and Asenath Odaga. More recently, Juliana Rotich and Lorna?Rutto, have been cited among an emerging crop of young technological?innovators, earning a place in the Forbe’s list for their?contributions.

Though somewhat forgotten, the courage demonstrated by a group of?otherwise ‘ordinary women’ camped at Uhuru Park’s Freedom Corner in?1992 to press for the release of political prisoners, made a political?statement that could not be ignored.

Other ‘ordinary women’ who have?helped shaped the destiny of the nation through their contributions?include nurses like Christine Kasyima, feted for her role in training?mothers on curbing infant mortality, teachers like Eunice Wambua and?Annet Wanyonyi, and many others who have in their different ways?contributed to economic, social and political growth of Kenya.???

PHOEBE ASIYO??

The former teacher sowed seeds of Affirmative Action, now?enshrined in the Constitution to enable better representation of women?in elective and appointive office. Asiyo, a former commissioner at the?defunct Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC), is credited?with championing the Affirmative Action motion in Parliament in 1997. This birthed the Kenya Women’s Political Caucus, with Asiyo as leader. The former Karachuonyo MP has held various?positions locally and internationally, including as UNIFEM’s?Goodwill ambassador for Africa, and a member of Kenya’s delegation to?the UN General Assembly and UN Commission on the status of women. The recipient of the Golden Warrior Award, has also headed the?National Council of Women of Kenya and Maendeleo Ya Wanawake?Organisation during her illustrious career in politics.

CHELAGAT MUTAI??

At only 24, Mutai became the youngest MP and first Kalenjin woman?elected to Parliament. Despite her youth, Mutai, a former?Eldoret North MP, boldly articulated issues on land in the Rift Valley?and pushed for democratic governance — efforts that quickly marked?her out as an ‘enemy of the State’. As her star rose, Mutai, together?with a group of other radicals branded the ‘seven bearded sisters’ grew more critical of the Kanu regime.

That stance would lead to her?arrest, jailing and later exile to Tanzania. She would later retreat?to a quiet and lonely life, broken and forgotten by successive?regimes. She died this year, nursing spinal injuries sustained?in a car accident a few years earlier.?

PROF WANGARI MAATHAI

The 2004 Nobel laureate was a political and environmental activist who did not shy away from criticising the Kanu government. The former Tetu MP and a presidential candidate in 1997, was relentless in?her efforts to protect the environment and push for democratic?governance. When a group of women camped at Uhuru Park to protest ?detention of their sons and husbands for political reasons, the former assistant minister for environment, joined them. She received?numerous awards and was also recognised for scoring many firsts during?her tenure at the University of Nairobi. Maathai is believed to have?planted millions of trees through her Green Belt Movement. She died in?2011, of ovarian cancer.???

PROF MICERE MUGO

A professor in the department of African-American Studies at Syracuse?University in the US, Mugo is known as a literary scholar, playwright, poet and political activist. Her stand against human rights abuses put her on a collision course with the Kanu government, forcing her into?exile in the 1980s.

At one point, the former student at Alliance?Girls and Limuru Girls High Schools was denied landing rights in?Zambia as a result of the relations Kenya and the southern Africa?state enjoyed. The first woman Dean at the University of?Nairobi, has authored several poems and books, including, ‘Writing and?Speaking from my heart’s mind,’ ‘The trial of Dedan Kimathi’ (co-authored with Ngugi wa Thiong’o), ‘Daughter of My People, Sing!’ and ‘My Mother’s Poem and Other Songs’.

WAMBUI OTIENO

At a time when no woman dared challenge traditions, which favoured?burying the dead in their ancestral land, Wambui Otieno thought?otherwise.

That was in the 1980s.?In what would turn an 18-month legal battle to bury her?husband, lawyer Silvano Melea (SM) Otieno, Wambui took on his Umira Kager?clan in a classic case that pitted common law against customary law. Although?she lost the battle to bury her husband at their Upper Matasia home in?Ngong, Wambui set a precedent with regards to how the public?viewed a widow’s rights in a largely patriarchal society. Wambui, a?politician in her own right, was a former Mau Mau freedom fighter and?among the first women to seek elective office. In 2003, she hit the?headlines over her controversial marriage to a man 40 years her?junior. She, however, ignored her critics and stayed in the?union until her death in 2011 from heart failure.??

LADY JUSTICE JOYCE ALUOCH

She is Kenya’s first judge at the International Criminal Court in The?Hague. The former Butere and Limuru Girls student rose from a District?magistrate, in 1974, to a senior judge at the High Court and head of?the court’s Family division. Her appointment in 2001 as the first?chair of the African Union Committee on the Rights of the Child, saw?her engage with the continent’s leaders to promote children’s welfare. As a member of the Girl Guides movement, Aluoch is credited with?developing an HIV/AIDS peer prevention programme for youth, adopted by many African countries.?

PROF MIRIAM WERE

The newly appointed Chancellor of Moi University was the first?recipient of the Hideyo Noguchi African prize that honours individuals?with outstanding achievements in medical research and medical services?to fight infectious and other diseases in Africa. The alumni of?the John Hopkins University in the US, is recognised for her role in?initiating community-based programmes to improve access to better?healthcare for women and children in Kenya and East Africa region.

Besides chairing the National Aids Control Council, Were has also?served on several boards locally and abroad. Her contributions to?public health earned her the Queen Elizabeth II Gold medal for?outstanding contribution to International Public health and?supporting health needs of disadvantaged people.?

DR EDDAH GACHUKIA??

The founder of the Riara Group of schools, and lately university, is?among those credited with promoting girls’ education in Kenya. Gachukia,?who rose from a high school teacher in Thika, was among a group of?education ministers, researchers and policy experts that helped?establish the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). The?organisation was formed in 1992 to help girls across Africa access?education in keeping with UNESCO’s Education For All movement.???

PROF JULIA OJIAMBO??

A former schoolmate of the late Prof Wangari Maathai, Ojiambo has?also scored a series of firsts as the first woman elected to?Parliament from the former Western Province, (she represented Funyula?constituency). In 1974 became Kenya’s first female assistant?minister. The nutritionist and alumni of Harvard University,?chairs the Kenya Nutritionists and Dieticians Institute. During her?tenure as assistant minister of Education in the 1980s, she?successfully negotiated for establishment of the Kenya Institute of?Special Education (KISE), and steered negotiations that saw the UN?Habitat headquarters stationed in Nairobi. Her political career?has seen her serve as both an elected and nominated MP besides other?positions straddling Kenya’s four regimes. A strong?believer in Affirmative Action, Ojiambo heads the Labour Party of?Kenya and was a running mate of former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka?during the 2007 General Election.?

IDA ODINGA?

She is one of several women who bore the brunt of then Kanu?government crackdown on those with dissenting political views. Her?husband, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, was among such?politicians, earning his place as a regular guest of the State in the?1980s. On the day she was pictured with a group of women at Uhuru?Park to push for release of political detainees, Ida, a former teacher?at Kenya Girls High School, was fired. This was one of several?tactics used as punishment for her ‘defiance’, besides?unwarranted arrests and constant surveillance by police. In 1991,?she formed the Kenya League of Women Voters, to promote opportunities?for women in politics. She is an advocate for prevention of?fistula and mentor to schoolgirls.