Communication dynamics for women participating in competitive politics in Kenya: a study of Wajir County

Abstract

Although the Kenyan Constitution 2010 created opportunities for more women to participate in competitive politics, such participation in Wajir County continues to be low and confined to the Women Representative seat. Generally, women‘s participation in politics remains a challenge in Kenya, as in many other parts of the world. This is despite many strategies formulated, time and gain, in country, and abroad, to increase the numbers of women in political leadership. This study investigates the factors that contribute to these remarkably low levels of women leadership in politics in areas such as Wajir by specifically focusing on communication. It seeks to understand this through interrogation of interpersonal communication and, intra-cultural communication dynamics in order to unearth communication-based factors affecting women in the political arena. I further address how these factors influence the shaping of gendered spaces for women in terms of political engagement and leadership. This qualitative study adopts an interpretivist-constructivist paradigm and analyses data of interviews from a sample size of 27 participants, composed of politicians, campaign members, religious leaders and the councils of elders. Interview recordings were transcribed, and data analysed thematically. Study findings suggest that cultural and religious beliefs influence the way communications is carried out and the places in which it can take place. Public forums were often restricted for women making it difficult for them to express their political agenda. The non-viability of female leadership was propagated through religious discourse that presented teachings and practices that discourage free association of women with men and participation on public issues. In addition, results show that the use of folklore, proverbs, parables, and poems stereotype women negatively thus undermining their leadership in the political space. More importantly, the study highlights women politician‘s unfamiliarity with the culturally known and acceptable political language used by men. Nevertheless, the study found that women politicians tried to mitigate the situation by adopting a culturally appropriate, four-step communication strategy to overcome the challenges they faced. Based on these findings, it can be argued that although the Constitution of Kenya 2010 entitles women to compete on a level playing field for elective positions, these legal liberties are not sufficient to overcome the discriminative, rigid and gender-biased community governance structure, the cultural norms, and religious restrictions that run counter to these provisions. This is manifested through various communication barriers and restrictions that women political candidates face, as seen in this study‘s findings. I therefore recommend that affirmative action initiatives in rural communities, such as in Wajir county, should focus on mitigating the cultural and religious norms, beliefs and practices that are a hurdle to women‘s leadership, and, which mute the voices of women in politics. Further, opinion leaders such as community and religious heads should be sensitised on the need to support women political candidates vying for various seats and be involved in spearheading civic education aimed at empowering women to effectively participate in competitive politics. There is also need for capacity building for women political aspirants especially on the use of culturally acceptable political language.