‘I vied in Nairobi’s Kibera slums three times and lost but still hopeful’

Perseverance in the face of adversity: Young woman vies for a political seat in Nairobi’s Kibera slums for the fourth time.

This story walks us through the journey of one woman who despite facing defeat three times in her pursuit of a political seat, remains undeterred and steadfast in her efforts to bring positive change                                                           

As the choking black smoke subsided after three days of protests in Nairobi’s Kibera slums, one of Kenya’s biggest informal settlements, I embarked on the maiden journey in search of one resilient young woman who has emerged as a beacon of hope in her community.

Despite facing defeat three times in her pursuit of a political seat, she remains undeterred and steadfast in her efforts to bring positive change to the neighbourhood she has called home for many years.

Malasem Hamida is a minority indigenous woman in Kibera who has vied for a political seat three times.

Popularly known by her nickname ‘Mama Mazingira’ (Swahili for Environment mother), Hamida has vied for a Member of Parliament (MP) seat in Kibera three times and looks forward to vying again in the forthcoming election in 2027.

“I have so far vied for elective seats three times, in 2022 as an MP, in 2019 still as an MP during a by-election and party primary in 2017, ” said Hamida.

She adds that throughout her three trials, she has received a wonderful experience despite the challenges.

“I have created a bigger network and the lessons I have learnt are enormous,” adds Ms Hamida.

Challenges she has faced and how she overcame

Ms Hamida says that the challenges she has faced are crosscutting. “We as women come from backgrounds that don’t have a lot of finance, finance was my biggest challenge because voters are brainwashed that they must be paid,” adds Ms Hamida.

Ms Hamida stood to her policies that were issues-based and at last realised that in as much as appealing policies one may have, she still needed money to bribe voters.

On matters of cyberbullying, Ms Hamida says that it happens a lot but she has received a lot of training from different organisations that have trained her on how to respond to such issues.

“Cyberbullying happens a lot but for me, it is not a big issue, I engage in comments that I can handle and disengage immaterial things,” she adds.

Ms Hamida said that she prepared her family well in case of any outcome. “I was both mentally, emotionally and psychologically prepared. My confidence gave them confidence,” reiterates Ms Hamida.

She however disagrees with the law that was put in place during the last election.

“The law this time was unfair to some extent because they barred anyone who went for an elective post not to be considered for any nominations, I felt left out,” adds Ms Hamida 

According to her, Kibera is an ethnic majority constituency which to her was a big competition.

“Coming from an indigenous minority was quite challenging to convince other ethnic majority people to vote for me, “adds Hamida.

Annabel Njoki is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya who also vied for an elective post.

She agrees with Ms Hamida that finances are the biggest challenge when vying for any political seat and even worse when it is from a young person.

“The moment you announce your interest in politics in Kenya, even the neighbours start looking at you as a big person, they expect handouts, they expect you to travel in big vehicles forgetting that one needs financial support,” says Ms Njoki.

Competition from male counterparts and also older women is also another challenge Njoki cites hindering young women from going for political seats.

“Young people are energetic and good at technology, but are not getting the empowerment they deserve, “says Ms Njoki.

She calls upon women-led organisations to harness their networks and equip them on how to address the public that always demands handouts.

“Let these organisations back up young women with proper support, train them on how to counter cyberbullying and how to handle the public that always demands handouts,” adds Ms Njoki.

She further reiterates that the expectation to give out handouts is, unfortunately, a demand made by about 50 to 60 per cent of fellow youth. 

“So for every 10 youths I engaged with, about 5 to 6 demanded I give them money or buy them something, ” adds Ms Njoki.

She feels that unemployment among the youth could be a reflection of systemic rot that makes a young person’s quest for office much harder.

Esnahs Nyaramba, the founder of Onzembe Community Based organisation in Kisii County and also Young Women Democrats has been fighting for women’s rights for a decade and here are her insights on challenges young women are facing in the political space.

“Financial muscle is the biggest challenge our young women are facing when they go for these political seats, men are always heavyweight and loaded,” said Ms Nyaramba.

She adds that when male competitors realise a young woman is strong in the seat they are vying for; they tend to buy their spouses so as to create enmity among the young person vying for the seat.

“Sometimes these people also use a lot of threats like kidnapping one’s kids, they sell fear when they realize you are better than them,” adds Ms Nyaramba.

Ms Nyaramba also noted that most of the party meetings happen at night leaving women behind because in some cases most women are unable to make it at night.

“When you vie for a political seat, your life becomes a public life, the public enters your life with a couple of questions like are you married? How many children do you have?” says Nyaramba.

Advice from Nyaramba to young women in politics 

Ms Nyaramba says that one should not fear going for an elective seat no matter what the circumstances.

“Go for it no matter what and develop a thick lane when it comes to threats, don’t allow it to pull you down, don’t let anything negative distract you,” adds Ms Nyaramba.

According to UN Women’s elections analysis,women in Kenya now hold 201 out of the 1882 elective seats, representing 10.6 per cent of the elected leaders.

This is up from 172 (9.1) per cent seats after the 2017 elections and 145 (7.7) per cent after the 2013 national polls.

For Binah Maseno this is how she has been able to conquer her challenges while vying for a Political seat.

Ms Maseno was only 22 years old when she vied for a Member of County Assembly (MCA) seat in 2017,  she vied for this seat while living in Kayole, a low-income Nairobi suburb.

She says that the violence she experienced during the campaigns was way too much for her and her parents.

“My parents stopped going to church because the expectations were very high, my mother’s business was affected too because people could come and purchase goods without pay saying that their daughter is a big person,” said Ms Maseno.

During her campaigns, one of her main security officers was gunned down on claims that he was a criminal, this according to Ms Maseno was one of the many red flags warning her to step down since she was associating herself with him.

Ms Maseno was speaking during the third African Girls and Young Women Festival organised by FEMNET that brought together young women and girls across Africa. 

The Festival is celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Maputo Protocol that is geared towards redefining women’s and girls’ rights in the continent.

According to Ms Maseno, leadership is not a gender role, “You don’t have to be a politician to effect change, political offices are citizen offices,” adds Ms Maseno.

She adds that due to her loss in the political arena, she founded Badili Africa, a civil society organisation based in Nairobi, Kenya with a digital reach in five African countries, whose mandate is to cultivate and strengthen the leadership capacities of women and girls.

The organisation also encourages and supports spaces that enable grassroots women and young girls in universities and urban informal settlements to organise as leaders and participate in local development initiatives coupled with pushing for inclusion in the decision-making process.

Ms Karen Cheptoo is the Kabarak University President and she says that gender bias is the greatest challenge she is facing in her coveted position.

“I had seven male competitors when I was running for office, people judge us according to our gender rather than what we put on the table,” says Cheptoo, a final-year Law student.

According to Ms Cheptoo, when a woman gets into the office she gets a huge following online, and if not careful people will bully her with all sorts of derogatory words.

“I am forced to read a lot so that I can communicate well while online. I have inspired a lot of women to run for positions next year because I tried and won, “said Ms Cheptoo, who is only five months in office.

Domestic challenges are another problem facing young women in the political arena.

“Women themselves don’t believe that they can lead, they rather take the application to their husbands or brothers for the jobs and prefer to stay at home,” added Ms Cheptoo

Both Cheptoo, Hamida and Maseno have one agenda, to hold other girls’ hands and inspire them by making their work visible.

This story is part of the African Women in Media (AWiM)/Luminate Young Women in Politics Media Project.

Call for Action

Herman Manyora is a well renowned political analyst in Kenya and here is what he has to say.

“Soldier on and fight for your space, if someone calls you names and you are not, be strong and tough,” says Manyora.

He also urges young women to seek support from their families, friends, their own political parties and organisations that will help them learn more tricks of the game.

“I urge them to look for the Center for Multiparty Democracy (CMD), it will help them learn about various programs related to politics,” said Manyora.

CMD is a dialogue platform that promotes institutionalisation of vibrant political parties capable of enhancing Multiparty Democracy in Kenya.

Manyora also called upon the young women vying in any political seat to read more from the previous women who faced similar challenges but finally realised success. Ends