| dc.description.abstract | Kenya's development record and its demographic composition suggest a need for active
involvement of women in key decision-making bodies. According to Engendering the Political
Process Program (EPPP), the recent survey in Kenya has revealed that women constitute
majority of voters. However, their level of participation in electoral politics stands at 15% in
Kenya. Kenyan women do not fully participate on elective leadership positions, despite the new
constitution providing a fairer playing ground for women candidates. In Seme Constituency, no
female has been elected to parliament and even vie for the same position since 1992. This is a
contrasting situation to other Constituencies such as Kitui South, Othaya and Nyeri Town
constituencies. Therefore, it is important to assess the factors that could be impeding women
participation in politics in Seme. The Main objective of the study is to establish factors
determining women participation in elective leadership positions within Seme Constituency. The
specific objectives include; examining the cultural issues impeding women from participating in
political dispensation, to examine the socio-economic challenges of women participation in
elective leadership position in Seme Constituency and to establish institutional factors that
influence women's access and full participation in political power structures and decisionmaking.
This study is based on Ruth Pearson's gender relations theory (1995). Ruth argues in her
theory that the society views all activities that are carried out to be based on social roles and
interactions of men and women. Pearson's gender relations theory is appropriate for this study
because it emphasizes the various social, cultural and economic norms and standards which must
be considered for women to take the opportunities to participate in social activities such as
politics. This study is significant for the reason that the data will be resourceful to scholars and
policy makers as well as contribute to the inadequate literature on gender participation in
electoral politics in Africa in general and Kenya in particular. The study adopted cross-sectional
descriptive study design. The study population was 98,805. The study used cluster and simple
random sampling to sample 384 voters and purposive sampling to sample key informants. The
study used informant schedule, Observation List, Focused Group Discussions guides and
structured Questionnaires to collect data. Qualitative data were summarized in themes and sub
themes. Quantitative data are analyzed using SPSS version 22 and statistics results presented on
tables, pie charts and scatter diagrams. The findings showed that 68% of the respondents
accepted that cultural structures and processes reinforce the subordinate positions of women in
political dispensation. People still had the notion that women's role is to bear children and take
care of the family in the society as depicted in the study findings. The chi- square test shows that
there was a statistically significant association: X2 (6) = 34.6, p < .001 between cultural issues
and women participation political leadership positions. In addition, it was found that more than
three-quarter of the respondents, 79% accepted that the community valued men who were
educated more than women in leadership positions. The Pearson chi-square test analysis for the
socio-economic factors was computed, (X2 (8) = 21.14, p < .001) indicated that there was a
statistically significant association between socio-economic factors and women participation on
elective political leadership factors in Seme constituency. The study concluded that most women
do not actively participate in women participation in elective political leadership. The Media
should continue to sensitize the general public in the area of gender equity so as to avoid sociocultural
traditions that have negative effects on women participation in political dispension in the
constituency. | en_US |
