For these women, getting a seat at the top of the decision-making table has not been an easy ride.
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By KAMAU MAICHUHIE
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Thursday July 09 2020
Women representation in high-level leadership positions remains critically low in Kenya, even within international organisations that shape global dialogue.
The country is also lagging behind in embracing gender parity in political and corporate leadership. The Constitution, through affirmative action, seeks to elevate women to a pedestal that has hitherto been the preserve of men, but it has not been an easy ride.
UNDER-REPRESENTED
Women are critical to advancing gender justice and equality, but continue to be vastly under-represented in decision-making in politics, businesses and in our communities.
This far, women constitute 28 per cent of Cabinet. They also account for only 23 per cent of the National Assembly and Senate elected leaders, a gender analysis by National Democratic Institute and the Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya reveals.
CORPORATE SPHERE
A study on gender equality at the workplace by Nairobi Securities Exchange, Equileap and New Faces New Voices shows that in the corporate sphere, women represent only 22 per cent of management.
Despite Covid-19 dampening the overall outlook in 2020, Kenyan women have something to celebrate — we have more women who have overcome barriers to leadership and influence to the decision-making table.We honour some who have made it to local, regional and international executive leadership positions in the last six months. Fatuma Dullo – Senate Deputy Majority Leader Ms Dullo is the Isiolo Senator who replaced Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika in the recent leadership changes by Jubilee Party. Senator Dullo is a woman of many firsts. She is the first elected woman Senator of Isiolo County. At age 22, she made history by serving as the first female District Officer from the Borana community. She later served as a commissioner at the Kenya Human Rights Commission. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP Kathryne Maundu – Company secretary at the East Africa Breweries Limited and British American Tobacco Kenya PLC Ms Maundu has, within three months, earned herself two executive appointments to blue chip companies. In March, EABL appointed her to serve as company secretary, a position that hands her rights to handle the firms’ legal and secretarial matters. In June, BAT also settled on her to fill a similar position. She has more than 12 […]