Media Focus on Africa in partnership with FIDA Kenya is set to roll out a two years political programme targeting women aspirants in the country ahead of 2017 general election.
Media Focus on Africa project coordinator Harrison Manga said the programme will support women aspirants’ capacity.
Mr Manga said the programme will only be carried out in eight selected counties with each giving 12 participants that will be selected in a competitive process.
“We will support women in the counties of Mombasa, Kisumu, Nandi, Narok, Kajiado, Nyandarua, Trans Nzoia and West Pokot counties,” he said.
Manga explained that in the last general election, women who were elected fall short of the one third gender rule as enshrined in the Constitution.
“The programme will only target women aspirants who intend to contests for governors and County Assembly representatives,” he said.
Speaking in Kisumu on Saturday during a public forum, Manga said the programme is aimed at molding the women aspirants to be able to compete effectively with their male counterparts.
Manga said the women will benefit from free skills in communication for campaigns and offer them free radio talk shows to be able to sell their manifestos.
“The women aspirants will be taken through a lot of things in regard to the coming election. They will range from coming up with campaign posters to how to communicate in a rally,” he said.
Manga further announced that after the election, the women aspirants who will be elected will continue with the programme to showcase how they managed to succeed.