Kenya

More than 300 women aspirants are expected to gather in Nairobi on Saturday to plan how to get to the august House.This is a departure from previous general elections where women have come into the race as underdogs.
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President Mwai Kibaki has challenged women to increase their participation in the formal business sector by taking advantage of a Sh5 billion Women Investment Fund he launched Monday. The President said women countrywide should take advantage of the fund together with the Sh2 billion Women Development Fund initiated by the government to unleash their full potential in business
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Any woman who has been through Kenya's healthcare system will not be at all surprised by the findings of a recent report that shows how women's human rights are routinely violated by doctors, nurses and other health professionals.
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The Cabinet yesterday targeted women's votes by proposing to create 50 special seats for them in a new 300-member House.The seats which are part of the 90 new ones to be created ahead of the December General Election, will be reserved for nominated women MPs. It was not immediately clear what will happen to the 12 seats currently reserved for nominated MPs and which do not specify gender distribution.
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Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister, Ms Martha Karua, has defended her proposal to set aside 50 seats for women in Parliament. Karua said more women should be nominated as the current Parliament had only two per cent women representation. The minister said the proposal would push the representation of women to a mere 20 per cent and urged critics to stop reading mischief in the move.
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Health minister, Mrs Charity Ngilu, emerged as the preferred female presidential candidate with 61 per cent followed by Nazlin Umar with 12 per cent and Mrs Beth Mugo garnering seven per cent
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Kenya's parliament will soon debate a constitutional amendment bill to improve female representation in the legislature by creating 50 special seats for women. At present, only some eight percent of parliamentary posts in the East African country are occupied by women. The bill is scheduled for discussion Aug. 14, to be adopted or rejected in its entirety the same day. Over 2,000 women from across Kenya will be present at parliament to lobby legislators to vote for the bill.
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Opposition to the creation of 50 parliamentary seats for women grew yesterday with trade unions and a Cabinet minister joining in. Central Organisation of Trade Unions secretary-general Francis Atwoli and Labour minister Newton Kulundu said the move was against the spirit of competitive politics.
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A government-backed bill to allocate Kenyan women more seats in parliament flopped Wednesday due to a lack of quorum.The bill was seeking a guarantee of 50 out of 222 seats when the country votes in general elections later this year.
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