President William Ruto has thrown his weight behind women’s leadership, specifically for the governor’s seat.
On Tuesday, Ruto urged Kenyans to vote for women leaders when given a chance.
“If you have a chance to elect a woman governor, don’t squander that chance,” he said.
The Head of State made his remarks while in Homa Bay.
Kenya at the moment has seven women out of 47 governors
They are Ann Waiguru ( Kirinyaga), Cecily Mbarire ( Embu), Gladys Wanga ( Homa Bay), Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos), Kawira Mwangaza (Meru) and Susan Kihika ( Nakuru).
This is a small but significant improvement on the results of 2017 elections when three women were elected as governors.
They were Joyce Laboso (now deceased) for Bomet, Anne Waiguru for Kirinyaga and Charity Ngilu for Kitui
President Ruto went further and commended the female Governors who came together and formed the G7.
“I want to tell G7 our great women governors that you have my support as you do the wonderful job that you’re already doing. You are really doing a wonderful job,” he stated.
The G7 is an initiative made up of the seven women governors in Kenya.
The G7 strategy seeks to empower and support women leaders in demonstrating efficient, transformational, and strategic governance within the devolved structures.
It also aims to amplify the collective voice of women on national and gender issues, create a women leaders networking platform across various sectors, and facilitate mentorship between seasoned leaders and emerging women and girls.
Some of the G7 strategy declaration objectives are to localize mentorship programmes set up in the women-led 7 counties and lobby for women nominations in various political parties.
The objectives further outlined an increase in women’s participation in devolution and voice in decision-making, unity between women governors and women senators to deliver devolution promises, and ensure good governance and financial accountability.
In a push for gender equality, Council of Governors Chairperson Anne Waiguru had earlier urged current second-term male governors to throw their support behind female leaders in future gubernatorial races.
The Kirinyaga Governor emphasized the need for nationwide support from men to help women achieve the 30 percent gender constitutional threshold.
“The G7-16 Strategy aims to increase the number of women holding governor positions in the country from the current 7 to 16,” she said on Monday.
Waiguru also encouraged all women in leadership to be ambitious and surmount all challenges as they serve the electorate.
Waiguru hailed Homa Bay County Governor Gladys Wanga for the county’s achievement in one year, through her good governance.
Health being an integral part of the G7 strategy, Governor Wanga affirmed that the 7 governors have an agenda of addressing the triple threat menace; HIV and AIDS, teenage pregnancies, and Gender Based Violence which she said is a major threat in Homabay County.
Nakuru County Governor Susan Kihaki, echoed Waiguru’s sentiments, saying that she is impressed with Governor Wanga’s good work, especially in the education sector in which she disbursed 500 million in scholarships and bursaries.
Governor Cecily Mbarire of Embu County thanked Homa Bay residents for electing their Governor who has impacted the leadership of women positively through her achievements in the county.
She cited Waiguru as the governor’s mentor who has led by a good example as a second-term governor in Kirinyaga County and has supported women’s governance.
