Nyamira women have been urged to join political parties and contest for positions to boost their chances of clinching leadership positions.
Nominated Senator Daisy Nyongesa who was on Saturday mobilising women from Nyamira to participate in ODM grassroots polls scheduled for November 23 said women were struggling to make an impact in a male dominated field of politics because many of them are not active in political parties.
She said it was easier for women to get elective positions if they actively engaged in political parties activities.
“Having links with political parties increases our chances of being elected to offices. It becomes cumbersome to get chances in the political field if we play a low profile in politics. It’s high time we took political parties seriously,” Nyongesa said during a 'Meet Women Campaign' in Nyansiongo Township after a fund raiser at Menyenya SDA church.
She challenged women from Nyamira to compete for top ODM posts without necessarily waiting for appointments.
“Some of us were active in party activities at grassroots that is why we got chances to serve. It will be advisable if as a party, we see many of you challenging our male counterparts. We can pull shocks and I am confident our party (ODM) will be even formidable with women in leadership,” she said.
She said the current constitutional stalemate of gender equity would have been a thing of the past if women were active in political parties.
“The country is almost in a constitutional crisis simply because we haven’t implemented the two thirds gender rule. I honestly think we (women) should have gotten many elective posts in 2013 if we knew the importance of joining political parties to push our agenda,” she added.