In Fighting for Gender Equality, Are Women biting more than they can chew?

By Daniel Saenyi

On the verge of implementing the new constitution, equitable distribution of power has been eminent with women on the front line demanding for the one third positions in parliament in the next general elections. What they are forgetting is that the positions won’t or should not come on silver platter.

Whilst the committee of experts had the noblest of intentions in including this clause, they should have gone ahead and stated how, especially for the elective posts. Passing the buck to parliament is like expecting my three year old nephew to solve a calculus problem for me. What is happening is clearly what we all expected from a house that is dominated by the majority gender and for once I conquer with the majority.

Martha Karua, A major female figure in parliament and woman rights activist

For one to get into the August house, one has to be elected a decision which solely falls in the hands of the constituents something our sisters tend to forget. The positions won’t magically materialize if the female leaders don’t make an effort to acquire them, and even so, there are very few who have stood out.

According to the bible, God helps those who help themselves, so its time the women stop bickering about what the constitution stipulates and take a step or else, am sorry but the lord isn’t listening, unless the devil is an option.

People should learn from history even though it’s passed, domestic violence was a normal routine with the man beating the hell out of the woman. The cards have changed because the woman learnt to through back a sucker punch and now some big men are crying their way to police stations. That’s how you fight for equality like a man or for this matter like a woman.

How is the country going to manage the one third positions for the women if only a hand full of the women are brave enough to stand out? Take Bungoma County for example, there is only one aspiring female and generally the whole parliament has less than thirty female leaders. Where is the Country going to “fish” the one third from? Unless others will be forced to take up the positions, the clause should be amended to avoid the unnecessary arguments in parliament and tax payers’ money in future.

The law of nature seems to have its own mind when it comes equality, to refer to the good book once more, the Lord made Eve as Adams’ helper and if recent events are to go by, this law of nature is still in full force, Only one woman dared to apply for the position of chief Justice while the rest flocked to the Deputy Chief Justice post. Question is why? The answer is very simple, the law of nature.

Not to put all the blame on the women for not acting upon their rights which they have struggled for, it was over ambitious for the clause to be added with men among the committee of experts when we know well that the women will probably shy away.

I hate to be the prophet of doom, but in this case unfortunately I have to put it across that this does not only sound insanely ridiculous but also is destined to fail. This reminds me of the young man in Kitale who had this humongous dream of building an aircraft or something like that which sadly never even attempted to defy the law of gravity.

 Everything starts small “Baby steps” but we went way ahead to start running before we learnt how to walk. The possibility of achieving the desired number of women in parliament is very minimal if not none, let it not be said that am not a reformist, I believe we should give a chance to our sisters to see what policies they come up with to get their fair share of the pie.

Shock as western province is ranked last in a performance survey

Written by Daniel saenyi

Daniel Wesonga of UWEZO dring the unveiling of its report on educational levels in Western Province, its findings revealed that the province was ranked last among the eight province.

Despite the fact some schools in western province receive funds from the Government for I.T development,  a survey carried by an organization concerned with education matters- UWEZO Kenya has unveiled that education levels still deteriorate to the extent that western province was ranked last in all the eight provinces countrywide where the exercise took place.

Speaking at a National initiative forum that brought together members from the western region, Uwezo Kenya’s Dr. Sarah Ruto expressed her concerns over what might have happened to the region that has been known to produce the best scholars since time immemorial.

Ruto stressed the need to keenly scrutinize the situation, and properly address the problem at hand in order to raise the education status.

“As much as leaders have to take charge of the reality, the level of education is determined by western Kenya populace,” she said.

 Uwezo Kenya’s Dr. Sarah Ruto

According to the findings of the survey that were carried out in the four counties of western province counties, Bungoma, Busia and Vihiga districts are the worst hit regions and lag behind in performance.

One of the major problems that were pointed out to contribute to under performance is lack of enough teachers.

Daniel Wesonga of UWEZO Kenya hinted that in almost every school they visited, teacher shortage was a major problem with an average shortage of five teachers per facility as well as absenteeism by both teachers and students.

“Heavy shortage of teachers does not cover the fact that absentism of both teachers and students is prominent in the region therefore dragging education down,” he said.

In addition, education facilities are wanting, in that most schools lack enough class rooms; mostly in villages or either the classes are in a poor condition, with poor or no desks to be used by the students.

Also in attendance was Professor Ruth Oniang’o who affirmed that poor condition in schools cannot count as a reason for poor performance and explained that years back students managed to become the best, scoring better grades despite the more severe conditions that they had to undergo.

Calls for parents to motivate their children and encourage the exposure of students to an education system outside the province to assist broaden literacy levels were made, as well as the inculcating of good leadership and commitments on the part of both teachers and students.

 Planning and vision 2030 Minister Wycliffe Oparanya reiterated that in line with attaining vision 2030, education is the key player to success.

 Planning and vision 2030 Minister Wycliffe Oparanya

Oparanya added that increasing poverty levels is a major contributor to poor performance in schools and that in order to raise education standards, poverty related issues must be addressed wholly.

On the issue of teachers shortage, Oparanya said the problem will always be a challenge to most schools and free education has compromised the quality of education in that teacher student ratio is absurd.

He urged schools to compete amongst themselves and was quick to note that every school is capable of producing even leaders.

“As a community, enough training of teachers is highly recommended to cope with technological development in the sector,” he said.