Women Political Participation: A Case Of Bomachoge Constituency In Kenya, 1963-2013.

ABSTRACT

Women constitute more than half of the world population yet they are marginalized in political participation globally. Although literature on politics in Africa is growing the vast majority of detailed research has addressed women political engagements at the national level while grass root level has received minimal scholarly attention. This work studies women political participation in Bomachoge constituency in Kenya, 1963 - 2013.The study interrogates women’s participation in elective politics as candidates and political office holders at both civic and parliamentary levels. The study examined the patterns of women political participation and the structural impediments to their participation at a micro level. The study was flexible in retrospect to cover periods prior to 1963 particularly the colonial and pre-colonial period on the eve of colonialism. Bomachoge, for purpose of this study was limited to the current Bomachoge-Borabu and Bomachoge-Chache constituencies formerly referred as Bomachoge constituency. This study employed gender and patriarchy as theoretical approaches in the analysis of women’s political place in Bomachoge. The two theoretical approaches were used to complement each other. The study employed mixed methods research design that was largely qualitative in nature. The research design was explorative, descriptive and interpretive in nature. The study relied on primary and secondary sources of data. Primary data was obtained from oral interviews and archival sources. Archival sources were mainly sourced from the Kenya National Archives in Nairobi. Secondary data comprised of published and non-published works that were collected from public university libraries, national libraries, and government departments in Kenya. The study target population were women and men aged 18 years and above; and, registered as voters by February, 2013. A total of 103 informants were interviewed. The study employed the use of stratified purposive and snowballing techniques of both probability and non-probability sampling designs in the selection of informants. The research instruments for this study involved the use of structured interview schedule and questionnaires for key informants, church members, focus group discussions, voters, candidates and political office holders. An observation checklist was also used. Data was collected using a combination of methods that entailed content analysis of documents, interviews, observation, and focus group discussions. The collected data was qualitatively and quantitatively analysed, compared and interpreted in relation to the study objectives and respective historic period. The study established that although women political engagement has been insignificant, they have made some progress at civic and parliamentary level. The study revealed that structural challenges continue to impede women political participation at individual, institutional and societal levels. The study recommended for the need to engender political space through multi-dimensional intervention by various political actors and policy makers.