Mr. Kariri Mucheke, Social worker, Solidarity Goodwill Services, Embu

I think putting women in leadership positions will contribute towards the development of the nation. Firstly, you see when women are empowered to generate their own income, this will help to ensure that there’s food on table and that is a very important thing to a nation. But you see also, we men normally don’t put so much consideration into it. Whenever children are sent away from school, women are at forefront to make sure that their (children’s) fees are paid, and that is a good thing too. Women help in the growth of the economy, for example where I come from, women work very hard, they till land and graze cattle. I believe they should be helped to ascend to high political positions. I believe we should support them, after all they are our wives, daughters and sisters.

Women are also not known to waste resources like men who use their money on very flimsy purposes like drinking, leisure and outright opulence. Women use their resources so well. I also believe in Affirmative Action. This will increase women’s voices and participation in development and decision making on matters affecting their lives and the lives of their family members. I wish to challenge women to support each other to claim stake in government and go further and run for the position of presidency. In the meantime I see little commitment on their part to contest this seat.

 

Aloise Onguti, Security Officer, G4S
Women can make better leaders indeed. The problem is that our culture and traditions are such that women will mostly not make decisions independently without the involvement of men. In a significant way, men have used this attribute to manipulate women.

Society has changed in great respects in that we even have women who are well learned, much learned than men. This means they are in position to compete favorably with their male counterparts, it also means that they well qualify to be in leadership positions just as men. Women are also not corrupt and that is so true.

 

 

Women should be given opportunity to excel. They should be given at least 50% as the president has directed. The benefit in this is that there will be opportunity for women to work hand in hand with men; the advantage in this arrangement is that it lifts the social fabric of families, and you know this does also contribute towards lifting our economic level.

Women seem not keen to provide a woman president at the moment, I hope that in future they seriously contemplate fronting a woman at the presidential contest and we will definitely support them.
I have interacted with numerous women and I also have the feeling that women especially in offices tend to struggle to outdo each other and in turn this works against their collective bargain. If women stood firmly behind each other, theirs would be a force to reckon, and even men would be afraid of them, don’t forget, they have the numbers.