Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
7 August 2007
Nyeri — The Catholic Church and other faiths should lead in promoting gender equality in Kenya, the First Lady Mrs. Lucy Kibaki, said.
"In urging the church to support the agenda of gender equality, I wish to emphasize that the relegation of women to a subordinate status in society is an injustice. Since part of the calling of the church is to fight injustices, the church has an important role to play in addressing the degradation of women."
The First Lady was speaking in Nyeri, central Kenya, on Saturday, while presiding over a funds drive in aid of Karima Catholic Parish where her husband, President Mwai Kibaki, had learned Catholicism. She helped raise Sh6.9 million.
Mrs. Kibaki expressed concern over opposition that has been voiced against a recent government proposal to reserve 50 seats in parliament for women. She appealed to the Catholic Church - which has not reacted to the proposal - to support it.
In preaching the gospel of justice, she said, "churches should actively lend support to policies, legislative frameworks and benchmarks that will help in uplifting the status of women." Of Kenya's 222 Members of Parliament, only 18 are women.
Mrs. Kibaki rejected the argument that there is nothing to stop women from coming forward for leadership, saying women faced many obstacles including cultural issues, finance, electoral violence, engaging the media and the capacity to mount successful campaigns. Clearly, she said, women are starting from an unequal play ground and there is need, through the quota system and other initiatives, to tilt this around in their favour.
President Kibaki has announced that 30 percent of all public service appointments will be reserved for women. The government has also set up a special fund for women. The national women's organization (Maendeleo ya Wanawake) is involved in the management of the Constituency Development Fund and other devolved funds.
"I urge churches to use their voices and influence to support the proposed affirmative action that will increase the number of women in decision-making and advance the agenda of women empowerment," Mrs. Kibaki said.
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