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Women In Nakuru County Have Emerged Victorious In Most Government Seats

SK 2 years ago 2 min read

According to the statistics that have been publicly released thus far, Nakuru County distinguished itself from other devolved units at this year’s General Election by having the greatest percentage of women elected into government.

Few female leaders actually hold elected positions in Kenya, despite the fact that women make up over half of the registered voters in the nation.

This is true despite the government’s efforts to reduce male domination in positions of power by implementing a constitutionally required gender quota regulation in 2010.

However, if Nakuru’s example is any indication, things may be changing for the better.

Eight women who ran for various county offices in the August elections, starting with the highest position, the office of the Governor, are currently awaiting to be sworn into office.

They are: Susan Kihika, governor; Tabitha Karanja, senator; Liza Chelule, woman representative; Charity Kathambi, lawmaker for Njoro; Martha Wangari, lawmaker for Gilgil; Irene Njoki, lawmaker for Bahati; Grace Mwathi, lawmaker for Bahati; and Jayne Kihara (Naivasha MP).

Only 6 guys have so far been successful in winning the polls in Nakuru.

Samuel Arama (Nakuru West), David Gikaria (Nakuru East), Samuel Gachobe (Subukia), Kuria Kimani (Molo), Alfred Mutai (Kuresoi North), and Joseph Tonui are the members of parliament for those constituencies (Kuresoi South).

For the most part, the aforementioned women leaders won the aforementioned seats by defeating male opponents.

For instance, Kihika received 440,707 votes to win the governor’s race in Nakuru County. She defeated incumbent Governor Lee Kinyanjui, who received 225,623 votes, to become the first female governor of Nakuru County.

After receiving 442,864 votes compared to Lawrence Karanja of Jubilee’s 163,625 votes, Tabitha also defeated Karanja to win the Senate seat.

Kenyans on social media have dubbed the county “Nakuru Girls County” due to the rise in the number of women officials. They have also playfully questioned if the county has any capable male leaders.