A Civil Society Organization official has told women to unite and support fellow women who vie for elective seats in the impending by-elections in some parts of the country win the seats.
Gusii Governance Watch Secretary, Racheal Otundo said women are majority voters and they can win elective seats if they unite regardless of their political party affiliations.
She noted majority of women have, for long shunned vying for the seats and banked their hopes on being nominated by leaders of political parties, burdening the tax payers with salaries and allowances.
“The issue of two thirds gender rule can be attained without nominating women as enshrined in the constitution,” Otundo said.
The official lauded the proposal in the Building Bridges Initiative ( BBI) that best losers be nominated once the Initiative is passed in the Referendum, saying it will inspire more women vie for the elective seats.
She challenged women aspiring for elective seats to seek financial support from Nongovernmental Organizations locally and globally to enable them campaign and sell their policies to the electorate.
“Vying for the seats is not enough. You should go to the grassroots and campaign to convince voters that you are the right person to be elected,” Otundo said.
Echoing her sentiments, Kisii County Assembly nominated member of the Assembly, Bathseba Sanaya challenged women to support each other during elections to end the male dominated leadership across the country.
Citing Gusii community, the MCA noted men have never valued women leadership due to retrogressive cultural notions that women are weak and cannot lead men.
