Men from the Gusii community have been warned against hiding behind retrogressive cultures to unleash political violence against women seeking various political seats in the region.
Nominated Member of the County Assembly (MCA) Josephine Ombati, challenged men from the Gusii community to respect women candidates' democratic rights as enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, which provides women equal opportunity to compete with men for political positions in a free and fair playground.
Speaking on Friday at the Kisii Cultural Hall during a Women leaders forum organised by Peace Initiative Kenya (PIK), a project of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Ombati said women had equal opportunities as men to contest for any political position provided for in the constitution and should not be seen as being against male candidates.
"I am reminding men from this community that women seeking for various political positions are not a threat to male candidates. Instead, they are seeking such positions based on their constitutional right," said Ombati.
The MCA said the women representative seat was not introduced to bar women from seeking other elective political positions provided for in the constitution, but the constitutional drafters introduced the seat to give women a platform where they can address the principle of gender equity in political representation.