FYI
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Title: RIGHTS-KENYA: President Moi, Enemy of Women s Progress?
Judith Achieng
NAIROBI, Oct 15 (IPS) Kenyan women who have been fighting for
gender equity are seeing their chances of advancement slipping back to the
dark days when womens rights were still unrecognised.
Their main obstacle to achieving their internationally recognised rights
through legislation, they say, is the head of state, President Daniel arap Moi
himself, who has clearly stated that he is opposed to affirmative action and
equality bills soon to be tabled in parliament.
Moi this week said affirmative action would threaten social cohesion in the
country, and instead prefers a process where gender parity comes out of a
''natural evolution'' to avoid social upheavals.
''What we need is the ability to do things, and do things naturally. What is
this affirmative action women are talking about?'' Moi said last
week.
Mois statement against affirmative action comes barely a week after a group of
Muslim women marched through the capital, protesting the equality bill, which
they said goes against Islamic tenets.
Among other things, the Muslim women said the Quran (Muslim holy book), accords
women their inheritance rights, and therefore did not need the equality bill to
protect their rights.
They also contend that the bill, by seeking political power for women, goes
against Islamic teachings that require a woman to stay at home.
The Muslim women, however, said they had nothing against the affirmative action
bill.
Muslims make up about 16 percent of Kenyas official population of 29 million,
and are accommodated in the countrys secular constitution, under its freedom
of worship provisions.
''I am for unity in the country, but if the equality bill is dividing women,
then I am not for it. If Muslim women say they do not want it
affirmative action, how then can we move forward,'' Moi was quoted here as
saying.
Mois statement has raised concern among womens rights group which, say he is
not only confusing issues raised in the two bills, but also see it as part of
his governments efforts to frustrate womens advancement in the
country.
''We are perturbed that somebody who is in the presidents position can issue
statements against the bill from such an ignorant position,'' says Catherine
Dungo, who heads the Association of African Women for Research and
Development (AAWORD).
''The president is exploiting the ignorance of the ignorant masses to influence
public prejudice and also a vote against the bill in parliament,'' she told
IPS.
''Why should social cohesion be achieved at the expense of women? Are women not
part of this country?'' asked a letter writer in one of the Kenyan dailies.
Citing examples in Islamic states like Pakistan, the writer argues that the
Quran has nothing against women joining politics. ''Women national
leaders have come out of these countries, so if they are saying that women
cannot go into
politics, then which Quran are these people reading?''
''We need to be clear about the womens agenda. If Muslim women want to be
exempted, then they should also give a chance to others not covered by the
Quran.''
Alice Wahome, the vice-chairperson of the Kenyan chapter of the International
Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), regrets that the equality bill is being
portrayed as a source of division among Kenyans, and in particular, women, who
have been fighting against gender disparities in development.
''It is clear that the president is possibly not reacting from an informed
position as to the actual contents of the two separate pieces of
legislation.
It is apparent that there has been an attempt on the part of critics to divide
popular support for both bills through a campaign of
misinformation,'' she says.
The affirmative action bill aims at increasing the participation of women in
governance and politics, to address the glaring gender imbalance
in the public leadership of this East African country. The bill seeks to
reserve
33 percent women representation in parliament and other political posts in the
country.
Currently, only 3.5 percent of Parliaments 220 members are women. President Mois government has no
women in the Cabinet. This poor
representation, is largely blamed for the little influence women have in the development of the
country.
With the affirmative action bill at least 76 seats would be reserved for women in parliament, comp
ared with the current seven.
The equality bill on the other hand aims at promoting equality of access to opportunities and prohi
bit discrimination against members of
historically marginalised group, including people with disabilities, women, children and
nomadic groups.
Supporters of the bill say the legislation on the contrary, is about more than gender, and advocat
es for a ''just and fair society''.
''If the presidents intention is indeed to promote unity among Kenyans, then he must support this
very important bill and strongly urge the
citizens of this country to read, understand and support this bill, which in its essence
promotes unity through its principles of equality and non discrimination,'' says Wahome.
Groups like FIDA are increasingly frustrated at the little sensitivity with which Mois government t
reats issues relating to the rights of
women. Crimes such as violence against women and rape carry little punishment in
Kenya, with most perpetrators not prosecuted.
The latest example of this is the case in which a powerful minister accused of sexually abusing mi
nors in his constituency was allowed to go free
after his accuser, a 17 year old whom it was alleged he had got pregnant, withdrew her
suit against him.
FIDA officials, who provided free legal representation for the girl, say Julius Ole Sunkuli, a mini
ster in the office of the president, used his
position in the government to influence the outcome of the case, by harassing the
complainant, her witnesses and even her lawyers.
Sources in the constituency claim that the minister has developed ''a habit of frequenting a girls
school in the area and befriending the
pupils'' with the full knowledge of the teachers. Several of the girls have had to drop out of
school because of pregnancy.
Sunkuli, despite the scandal and protests from his own constituents in Transmara, still retains his
powerful portfolio. He is in charge
of running the police and defence departments. (END/IPS/HD/ja/da/00)
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