Traditionally the Kenyan woman, like any other woman in African countries, performs roles of wife, mother, child-bear, care taker and food provider. But the modern woman is involved in nation building through very many respects.

The Kenyan wage employment is disproportionately concentrated in the services sector: Services absorb 75 percent of total female wage labuor and 57 percent total male wage labor. Manufacturing absorbs 10 and 23 percent of wage employed women and men, while the agriculture sector accounts for 15 and 20 percent respectively. An estimated 500,000 Kenyans enter the labor force annually, a relatively large proportion of this figure providing unskilled labour being women.

And with the Post poll chaos escalating, top chief executive officers have warned of economic slump in the country, something that bears a devastating effect on the women who constitute a sizeable percentage of Kenya’s wage labour.

The CEO’s meeting in Nairobi this week under their umbrella body Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) expressed worry that the economy is unlikely to register the predicted five per cent growth this year due to political turmoil, and 400,000 people could lose their jobs if the violence that has nearly 1,000 people killed and 300,000 displaced spirals on.

The Chief executive officers of various companies said Kenya’s economy which grew by seven per cent last year could record zero per cent growth or less if the instability persisted.

In a meeting to discuss the post election situation, the business leaders said lower investment, slowed down lending and poor performance of tourism, agriculture, transport and manufacturing sectors would lower economic growth. This are critical sectors from which the majority of Kenyan women work providing both professional and unskilled labour, typical examples include the flower farms in Naivasha, the pineapple farms in Thika and women working as waiters and cooks in the major coastal hotels which have not been spared either. The private sector further cites tourism, agriculture, transport and manufacturing as some the sectors worst affected by the chaos.

Production, they said, had dropped by between 40 and 50 per cent and some investors were contemplating relocating as Kenya had become an expensive point. Some 12 hotels, the CEOs said, have closed shop in Malindi and Mombasa while occupancies had dropped to 10 percent. This has led employers to sack a big number of its employees who comprise mainly of women working as room attendants, caterers and waiters. In Nairobi, hotel occupancies is said to have reduced to 30 percent. But Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers (KAHC) Mike Macharia indicated that most other members were closely monitoring the developments.

Transport and logistics has become a nightmare with blockages of highways and railway. This industry has the majority of women working as booking agents for bus companies as well hostesses for airway companies. Early last week Easy Coach – a major transporter- laid off nearly 600 of its employees.

And further compounding the situation is the in ability of workers to travel to their areas of work, be it business or otherwise. This has been exacerbated by goons who have taken control of the road network. The majority of Kenyan women are business people. This situation effectively locks them from accessing the market. The violence has destroyed critical infrastructure and distribution network with some companies losing as much as Sh 6billion and listed companies at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) have losing about Sh40 billion in market capitalisation.

Kenya’s economy has usually been reputed to be Africa’s fifth largest and the largest non-resource based in Africa. But the slide and the puncture on the on the wheels of an otherwise robust economy is threatening to deflate the women labour force.

Tea auctions have also been suspended since a large portion of Kenya’s production originates from the Rift Valley, where much of the recent insecurity has been centred. The majority of the tea pickers are usually women.

Recently Ms. Betty Maina, the Chief Executive of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers said "We cannot divorce political stability from economic growth, In just hours, the country’s top international rating had been downgraded, the shilling climbed down against the dollar and the stock market forced to shut down for lack of activity.” She added.

While Dr Anna Tibaijuka, the Director-General of UN agencies in Nairobi, asked the authorities to ensure the main transport corridor leading to and from the port of Mombasa is open and secure. She also called for the immediate restoration of calm, saying the crisis was hurting mostly women and children and people in the slums, who cannot go to look for jobs. "These people are dying because they have no opportunity to earn their daily upkeep as a result of the prolonged delay in resuming work," the UN official said.

It is apparent that the effect on the economy caused by political skirmishes has not spared the women labour force that comprises nearly 75 percent.