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Coastal Counties Call for More Civic Education Interventions
Women from two Counties in the Coastal region have decried the low level of civic education in the region and called for greater focus especially in Counties outside of Mombasa town. The women, who were attending separate cross-party civic education workshops hosted by CMD-Kenya in Mombasa and Kwale Counties further decried rising levels of insecurity which, they said, could discourage women aspirants from seeking political office through elective politics. The upsurge of the Mombasa Republican Army (MRA) was cited as a key indicator for a volatile political environment.
Other challenges cited by women aspirants from the two pilot Counties include lack of awareness of the Constitutional provisions, inadequate information on political parties and the rules governing the electoral process as well as marginalization of women by perceived political party players.
Women recommended that more civic education be carried out to reach women in the rural areas where levels of illiteracy and general civic consciousness are generally low. CMD-Kenya was requested to liaise with stakeholders such as Government and the Commission on National Cohesion and Integration to manage growing disquiet especially among the youth.
A total of 86 women participated in the two workshops with 42 attending the Mombasa County while 44 attended the Kwale County workshop. To ensure as wide a representation as possible, the Gender Focal Person for the region mobilized half the participants while member political parties were asked to nominate one woman to represent the party in each of the workshops. This way, women leaders who do not necessarily have a specific affiliation to any party get to interact with the different political parties in the County and are therefore better placed to make independent choices of the party they would compete on come the general election.
The two workshops are part of the Countywide civic education campaign to raise levels of awareness among women on the general provisio s of the Constitution and on the elective and appointive positions available to women aspirants under the new constitutional dispensation. The campaign is being funded jointly by CIDA who will cover 21 Counties while UNWomen will cover the balance of 26 Counties and aim at reaching about 2,350 women aspirants.
Women from Mombasa County listen as Dr Molly Mwangi takes them through a civic education workshop for Mombasa County