Influence of Political Culture on Women Participation in Politics in Nairobi and Kajiado Counties

Abstract

Women are a major force behind people’s participation in life of society today. Kenya is a patriarchal society and the status of women is relatively low with gender inequality/inequity prevailing in many aspects of the society. The main aim of this study was to examine the influence of political culture on women participation in politics in Nairobi and Kajiado Counties. The study compared two counties in Kenya one from urban area (Nairobi) and the other one from a rural setting (Kajiado). The study used a descriptive survey design. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. A questionnaire and an interview guide were used. Random and purposive sampling, were used to select sample of the study. The study sampled a total of 240 respondents where 190 were female and 50 men since this was a study on women. The analysis of the collected data established that the current political developments did not favor women to contest certain elective posts, as the society viewed the aforementioned posts to be a reserve for their male counterparts. The analysis of the collected data indicated that it was clear that patriarchal structures within parties, state, and people’s lives had deleterious effect on the level of political participation by women and that cultural stereotypes labeled against women continued to pervade the county of Kajiado to an extent that women were not viewed as equal to men. Despite the structures put in place by the Kenya’s constitution, 2010, such as the two-thirds gender rule, the representation of women in leadership positions had been low. The study recommended that women should be supported financially and socio-politically as an approach to countering the contemporary political culture and that political parties ought to formulate internal structures, which would ensure that women played critical roles because the parties were the vehicles that propelled individuals into leadership.