Time for Harvest

Mukabi Kabira

Description

From the bleak days of severe marginalisation; days when words such as �women�s empowerment� or �affirmative action� were taboo in Kenya, Time for harvest: Women and Constitution Making in Kenya captivatingly traces women�s struggles to change their status, their lives and their entire destiny. It is a brilliant exposition of the sheer ingenuity, perseverance and tenacity to contribute to the attainment of an all inclusive Constitution that banishes, inter alia, gender discrimination in all spheres of life, including social, economic, cultural, and political spheres. In this way, it opens up massive space for Kenyan women to �exhale�. Wanjiku deftly tells the story of many great women actors in the struggle and the nature of their contribution while sparing us the pain that was suffered by individual women and their families as they identified with what at times seemed like mission impossible. They must be the women who, in her words, �have names, hearts that ache, eyes that weep, feet that hurt�. The books is suitable for the general reader as well as scholars in cultural and feminist studies. Student of politics, law, history, sociology, anthropology and literature who want to know the path travelled by Kenyans - women specifically - in constitution making will find it useful.

Informations

• Publié par: University of Nairobi Press
• Date de parution: 29 décembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789966792488
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 35 Mo

Extrait

Time for Harvest

      

Time for Harvest Women and Constitution Making in Kenya

Wanjiku Mukabi Kabira

University of Nairobi Press

First published 2012 by

University of Nairobi Press (UONP) Jomo Kenyatta Memorial Library University of Nairobi P.O. Box 30197 – 00100 Nairobi E-mail: [e-mail] www.uonbi.ac.ke/press

© The University of Nairobi Press, 2012

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

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All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of fully acknowledged short passages for the purposes of criticism, review, research or teaching, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or means without prior written permission from the University of Nairobi Press.

KN 31 .K4K3

University of Nairobi Library CIP Data

Kabira, Wanjiku Mukabi Time for Harvest: Women and Constitution Making in Kenya /W.M. Kabira. – Nairobi: University of Nairobi Press, 2012 464P. 1. Constitutional amendments – – Kenya – – women 2. Women – – Civil rights – – Kenya 3. Constitutional law – – Kenya – – Women 4. Women – – Legal status, laws, etc. – – Kenya I. Title

ISBN 10: 9966-792-10-4 ISBN 13: 978-9966-792-10-5

Printed by: Colourprint Limited P.O. Box 4466-00100 Nairobi.

Dedication

This is the story of the women of this country; all of you mentioned in this book; all of you who gave your views on the kind of constitution you wanted. Those of you who did not give your views but wished deep in your hearts that this country would be better for women, our children and for all our people. You are the nurturers; the silent gardeners who tender the crops; who nurture life; who continue to water the seeds of freedom. This book tells your story; our story; and the story of our struggle for a new constitutional dispensation. It is dedicated to you personally and collectively.

Table of Contents Dedication..........................................................................................................................v List of Photographs..........................................................................................................xi List of Maps................................................................................................................... xvii Foreword .........................................................................................................................xix Acknowledgements.................................................................................................... xxvii Acronyms ......................................................................................................................xxxi Introduction: The Nurturers and Silent Gardeners ....................................................1

Part 1: The Path Travelled .......................................... 11             

Kenya Women’s Movement: a brief background ......................................................13 United Nations Women’s Decade and the Kenya Women’s Movement ...............15 Women’s focus since 1992.............................................................................................16 Why 1992 is significant ..................................................................................................17 The National Women’s Convention, 1992 .................................................................19 Hon. Phoebe Asiyo motion, 1997.................................................................................20 The beginning of a national women’s political movement ......................................25 Formation of the Affirmative Action Steering Committee ......................................26 Introducing Affirmative Action Bill 2000...................................................................28   !      "#$ %  

Women at the negotiation process...............................................................................32 th Constitutional review stakeholders consultation at Bomas (May 11 1998).........32 Women and the Constitution Review Law 1998/1999..............................................34 The battle for control of the selection of women commissioners ...........................37 Women’s nominations of the five women commissioners (1999)..........................39 Mrs Zipporah Kittony’s troubles with KANU............................................................41 Women’s day in court over the nomination of women commissioners ................42 Women’s shuttle diplomacy and the stalled review process ....................................43 Women’s consultations with political party leaders..................................................43 Women’s consultations with religious leaders ...........................................................44 Women and the people driven process .......................................................................45

  

Ufungamano and the People’s Commission 1999/2000........................................... 46 Women commissioners in PCK and consultations with KANU ........................... 48 The women commissioners and CKRC 2000-2005................................................... 49 Consulting the veterans ................................................................................................. 52 Twists and turns of the review process at the CKRC ................................................ 54

  & !   '( Women at the National Constitutional Conference ................................................. 57 Women’s efforts to safeguard their gains in 2004/2005 ........................................... 59 The multi-sectoral forum – 2006 ................................................................................. 63 The famous 50 Seats Bill ................................................................................................ 64 Women’s march for the 50 seats .................................................................................. 66 Women’s one million signatures for 50 seats............................................................. 67 Women petition parliament ......................................................................................... 67 The 2010 harmonised draft and the referendum....................................................... 68 Pictorial I.......................................................................................................................... 71

Part 2: Women’s Voices ................................................ 89  )  *   %# + Introduction .................................................................................................................... 91 How women spoke during the public hearings ......................................................... 94 Section 1: Voices from Nyanza Province ..................................................................100 Section 2: Voices from Western Province ................................................................112 Section 3: Voices from North Eastern Province ......................................................119 Section 4: Voices from Nairobi Province..................................................................130 Section 5: Voices from Rift Valley Province.............................................................138 Section 6: Voices from Eastern Province ..................................................................160 Section 7: Voices from Central Province ..................................................................169 Section 8: Voices from Coast Province .....................................................................180

 '  ,    -+' Introduction ..................................................................................................................195 Voices from national women’s organisations ..........................................................195 Voices from women in academia ...............................................................................205 Pictorial II ....................................................................................................................213





Part 3: Negotiating the Double Covenant.................. 221  .  !   !   /00100)2  

Introduction ..................................................................................................................223 Preparation of the CKRC draft and national constitutional conference..............223 Validating the process ..................................................................................................224 Reconvening of the Bomas Constitutional Conference ..........................................226 Womendelegates..........................................................................................................227 Women’s lobbying and negotiating strategies at Bomas ........................................229 Women’s focus on critical committees at the National Constitutional Conference...............................................................................................................231 Women and representation at the National Constitutional Conference .............232 Women in the Committee on Representation of the People .................................232 Devolution of power, the most contested concept and structures ........................236 Women’s negotiations in the Devolution Committee ............................................241 In pursuit of the Gender Commission.......................................................................248 Remaining accountable to women and monitoring progress at the Bomas Conference...............................................................................................................248 Keeping their eyes on the goal ....................................................................................249 The basket of fruits from the Bomas negotiations...................................................253

 ( 00' " - 3 3  . Introduction ..................................................................................................................261 On referendum..............................................................................................................261 Women’s response to the referendum results ..........................................................263

 4 &    5#  ( Introduction ..................................................................................................................273 Negotiating the contested issues and the 2010 Constitution .................................273 Women’s presentation to the Committee of Experts ..............................................275 The 2010 referendum ...................................................................................................284 2011: Remaining vigilant even as we celebrate the first season of harvest ...........287 Pictorial III....................................................................................................................297

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