Opinion 13
DAILY NATION Monday October 28, 2013
THE CUTTING EDGE
PATRIARCHY NOT THE PROBLEM | Dorothy Kweyu
Proper training, not conferences, will improve quality of women’s leadership A
n interesting virtual conference starts today. Convened by the German foundation Heinrich Böll (HBF), the conference on the theme, “Challenging Patriarchy: New Spaces and Strategies for Advancing Gender Equality in Africa”, is borne of the organisation’s frustration with the fact that, despite enormous gains African women have made through the State, political parties, the media and the economy, gender equality remains elusive. The three-day conference is co-ordinated from the HBF offices in Abuja, Cape Town and Nairobi, and is bound to provoke deep reflection from the debate it ignites. This article is the writer’s contribution to the conference, whose aims include questioning existing approaches and strategies for addressing the challenge of gender equality in Africa, and to explore new strategies for feminist action. HBF laments that efforts aimed at realising gender equality “are frustrated by interpretations of societal norms and values rooted deeply in patriarchal structures and mindsets”. While the wisdom that we don’t judge the book by its cover demands caution before making rash judgments on the conference, there is something
Logo used by Nation publications to campaign for gang rape victim uncomfortably familiar in the framing of the invitation, which appears to betray the fact that the meeting could be premised on an unhelpful dichotomy between genders. Blanket condemnation of patriarchy, and masculinity, ignores the fact that masculinity and femininity are two sides of the same coin, and any attempts at playing one against the other will be catastrophic as it’s quite likely that ignoring the boy-child is the cause of rising violence. In Kenya, the hugely successful girl-child initiative has seen girls’ enrolment in primary schools rise from 34.2 per cent of 982,103 primary school pupils at independence to 49.7 per cent of 9,971,019 children in 2012. The same goes for secondary education where girls’ enrolment grew
from 32 per cent of 30,120 students in 1963 to 47 per cent of 1,914,823 in 2012. This proves that gender equality in education is on reach, and given that educated women are the pool from which we source our leadership in various cadres, the gender equality debate may have run its course. The ‘us’ versus ‘them’ way of tackling the gender issue, which appears to have informed the need for the virtual conference, rests on the questionable belief that patriarchy is the enemy and that women will realise equality when a 50-50 sharing of public offices is achieved. And yet, our enhancement of women’s quotas in the political and administrative arena under Article 27(8) of the Constitution shows that the application of the all-important clause at the moment is more of an avenue for expanding ‘eating’ space for womenfolk rather than realising genuine reforms for the advancement of all women. The clause requires the State to take legislative and other measures “to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender.” Nobody would quarrel with that. The problem is, while those who drafted the Constitution
meant well, initial efforts at boosting the numbers of women legislators are yet to yield any fruit as far as improving the quality of leadership is concerned. Sections within the current crop of Kenya’s women leadership have hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, if the incredible stories associated with them are to be believed. They have also been lax in confronting issues that clearly demand their leadership. For instance, it took journalist Njeri Rugene’s mettle to expose the plight of the teenager nicknamed ‘Liz’, who was gang-raped and left for dead, to jump-start the quest for ther girl’s justice, which the women’s leadership in Busia should have spearheaded. The equality debate should shift from obsession with numbers so that those already in high positions are the yeast that transforms an inherently corrupt society. We should celebrate the difference between sexes by promoting values that enhance the dignity of both genders. Let HBF — and other women’s lobbies — invest more in training for quality leadership and less in debates that add little value. Ms Kweyu is Revise Editor, Daily Nation. (dkweyu@ke.nationme dia.com)
HIGHER EDUCATION | Fredrick Ogenga
More PhDs needed in Kenyan universities T
hough the government took a bold step in expanding access to higher education by commissioning more institutions of higher learning or universities in recent years, little has been done to attract highly-qualified lecturers. Without naming and shaming some of these universities, new or old ones, a quick audit of their academic programmes reveals a very disturbing trend. Most of their faculties and departments are overburdened, with close to none of their staff members boasting PhDs. The question is: How can these universities compete with the local demand for a highly-skilled and educated workforce that is direly needed to drive Kenya towards realising Vision 2030 targets? Is Kenya performing that bad in terms of research and innovation due to an endemic intellectual curse; a translation of the commonsensical approach to the philosophy about the history of Africans popular in the West that invented the position that there can never be anything good that comes out of Africa and that Africans are savages? How can we begin reclaiming ourselves from ourselves and the self-inflicted burden of self-defeat when it comes to knowledge and rationalising about who we are, and where we are heading? A number of young, talented and innovative Kenyans that I personally
A recent audit done by the Commission for Higher Education revealed that most teaching staff are Masters degree holders and tutorial fellows”
know have struggled their way up the academic ladder, often abroad where they have struggled and earned their doctorates in useful disciplines and published interesting ideas in world-class academic journals. Sadly, their hopes of coming back home and making good their ideas by contributing fully in our knowledge economy are dashed when they find themselves trapped in the jaws of conservative academic “old guard” who see them as a threat to their careers. Consequently, most of these young scholars are literally locked out of the university system, making it difficult for them to research, innovate and generate knowledge for posterity. University faculties and departments should stop operating like market-place cartels driven by camaraderie anchored on empty loyalties to “the powers-that-be” at the expense of academia.
It seems the big man syndrome might be dying a natural death in the public political platform but re-inventing itself in the administration corridors of universities. Since doctorate holders are highly trained researchers, we need more of them in our universities. It is high time we accepted the urgency of innovating more and at the same time producing more highly qualified and better skilled graduates, who would make Kenya’s strategic Vision 2030 a reality. More PhDs in our society would also help demystify what it means to be called “Daktari” or professor to ordinary Kenyans. A recent audit done by the Commission for Higher Education revealed that most university teaching staff are Masters degree holders and tutorial fellows. In such a situation, it is not very difficult to find Masters students being lectured by Masters graduates. Little wonder employers are complaining about the poor quality of graduates who cannot do the job. The commission must take serious action against universities that deliberately refuse to produce and employ more PhDs.
Dr Ogenga teaches at the School of Information, Communication and Media Studies, Rongo University College.
BY THE WATCHMAN SACCOS OUR SAVIOUR. The unsung heroes of Kenya are not only human beings, says Paul Okwemba, impressed by the role of savings and credit co-operative societies in the development of communities and improving people’s welfare. The saccos, Paul adds, have been instrumental in financing education and remain the backbone of the transport sector. They are also instrumental in real estate development. He credits Kakamega Teachers Sacco with enabling its members to pay for their children’s education. WHERE’S MY REFUND? For its pretty quick responses to emergencies, the Kenya Red Cross deserves all the plaudits, says Fredrick Mate. However, he is unhappy with what he describes as some of its internal administrative shortcomings. He has a genuine case against the KRC Training School. He paid for training on August 12 (Receipt No. 25403), which was later cancelled, and, to date, he has not received a refund, despite several promises. His contact is fremam@gmail.com. BANKING HALL FRIENDLY. With the introduction of e-billing and mobile money payment services, Andrew Kenda says he had totally forgotten about the frustrating queues in the Kenya Power’s banking hall at Electricity House, Nairobi. In fact, he simply never ventured there again. However, on Thursday, he had a reason to go there and could only marvel at the almost empty hall, with only a few customers being quickly served. Quite efficient are the receptionists, he adds, singling out Isabel Ingwe at Counter 15. WORK TOO SHODDY. Residents of Mayor Road at Ongata Rongai township are not amused that a contractor has dug trenches and tunnels and left them uncovered, putting the lives of motorists and passengers at grave risk from robbers, as they slow down on that stretch of road, and pedestrians in danger of falling in and breaking their legs, moans M.D. Kithinji. Protests to the foreman have not yielded fruit, and the local assistant chief’s intervention failed. The locals expect the contractor to fill in the trenches and make the road safer. QUESTIONS ON MWAKIGWENA. As far as legends go, the Mwakigwena Choir has had many stories told about it, recalls Patrick Ndege, who had heard before its performance during the Mashujaa Day celebrations in Nairobi that its young members perished in a road accident in the early 1970s. It was, therefore, gratifying, Patrick adds, to see its now aged members, including choir leader Enock Ondego, alive and well. But he wonders whether all those at the fete were among the young choir members in the 1970s who earned fame with the song, Kenya Yetu.
Form Four candidates sit for their all-important exam ADVICE FOR CANDIDATES. University don X.N. Iraki is relishing this opportunity to wish all the KCSE exam candidates the best. Says he: “Whatever the outcome, take life in your stride as the best is yet to come. For those who will not make it to university, life has lots of other opportunities. With globalisation, you have the future in your hands. Avoid the crowd and herd mentality, chart your own path as you strive to make a difference.” His contact is xniraki@gmail.com. Have a successful day, won’t you!
E-mail: watchman@ke.nationmedia.co.ke or write to Watchman, POB 49010, Nairobi 00100. Fax 2213946.