Men hold power to elect women leaders, 51 percent female a fallacy

Politicians and activists have on several occasions, through different platforms said women cannot be ignored in political leadership or governance because they constitute “more than 51 per cent of the population.”  

But how accurate is this statement and what is its relevance in promoting women’s political leadership?

In every 100 women, there are 98 men. Hence women are 24,014,716 million to 23,548,056 million of men. That makes 50.5 per cent of women and 49.5 per cent of men.

Therefore, a “more than 51 per cent of the population” statement is a misinformation.

“Women are the majority, why can’t they vote in their own?” This is a question that even journalists, political analysts and governance experts pose to women. In the local communities, it often wraps up conversations on why Kenya is still struggling to achieve the two-thirds gender principle provided in Article 27(8) of the Constitution.

Last March, prior to party primaries, Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu released data on membership of 82 political parties. A total of 24,571,400 million Kenyans had registered with the parties. Of which 15 million were men and 8.6 women. This is a clear indication that men are more politically active than women.

Furthermore, primaries determine who gets the ticket to candidature. And in this case, it is the members who vote for their preferred candidates.

In the August 2017 presidential election, the voter turnout was 77.23 per cent but the IEBC has not provided a voting pattern based on gender.

So do women have a majority power of vote?  Going by the available, No! The claim, therefore, is a disinformation. These figures imply that women have to put more effort to win a man’s vote.  

On the other hand, in some parts of the country, male dominance strips women the right to vote.

The counties were Nyeri, Narok, Kisumu, Bungoma, Baringo, Kitui, Garissa, and Lamu. The women reported that in some cases, husbands dictate whom their wives should support. Thus, influenced a woman to vote for a male candidate, even if a woman is her preferred candidate.

Particularly, in Narok, they said, in cases of women with zero education, their husbands intimidated them to supporting specific candidates.

Other times, “the husband decides who will assist them in the voting booth, thus ensuring they vote according to their husband’s wishes.”

Considering these circumstances, men still hold the power to elect women leaders and hence the need for a shift in mind-set on allowing qualified women to lead.