Martha Karua at a past event. Martha is admired by many due to her ability to compete with her male counterparts fearlessly. She has however disappointed many by not going for the presidential post. www.ongozakenya.wordpress.com
It is five months to go to the general elections yet there is no single woman who has shown interest for the presidential post. The big query now remains whether women have given up in leading our country or are they afraid of defeat?
Some time back in 2016, the iron lady, honorable Martha Karua, had declared that she would be in the list of the presidential aspirants come 2017.
However, the Kirinyaga based lawmaker is now set to battle former cabinet secretary Anne Waiguru and the current Governor Joseph Ndathi in the Kirinyaga gubernatorial race.
Karua had participated in the 2013 presidential race but she lost after garnering only 43,881 votes and losing to candidates such as Mohammed Dida who joined politics late on and was deemed to be a joker by many.
Former land cabinet secretary Charity Ngilu is also one of the ladies who is known for her guts in the political sector. She once vied for the presidential post in 2007, being the first woman in Eastern Africa to go for the presidential post but also lost. Since then, Ngilu has not tried her luck again for that particular post.
The two, Karua and Ngilu have been the role models for women in leadership and their political come down is worrying to the women fraternity. It is naturally expected that one climbs from down the ladder to the top but the two seem to have left the topmost post for their male counterparts.
The trend is now a threat to the future of women in leadership given that even those who have shown interest in the other electoral positions are fewer compared to the male. Who will the little girls aspire to be like if those who they have always admired face defeat once and call it quits?