Kenyan Women in Androcentric Political Culture: From Julia Auma Ojiambo to Affirmative Action

This paper presents the oral history of Julia Auma Ojiambo as representative of the struggles of Kenyan women in androcentric politics and a reflection of their subordinate position in the state and post-colonial society. The oral history is derived from a series of interviews conducted with Ojiambo by the author in 2012. It also traces the development of formal and informal women-centred initiatives like women's self-help groups and the National Gender Machinery as coping mechanisms adopted by women to subvert gender discrimination in politics from the colonial era to date. Further, it evaluates how provisions in the Constitution of Kenya like the one-third gender principle and Affirmative Action have impacted on political practices regarding women. The paper postulates that women display strong leadership in women's movements that is not reflected in national politics. Their presence in national politics is low compared to men, mainly due to the destabilisation of the women's movement in the post-colonial era, through co-optation and gender discrimination that prevents women from forming a strong force to combat androcentric politics. Therefore, women's political participation is hampered by the androcentric nature of Kenyan politics and culture, but also patriarchy and gender and class inequalities in the social sphere.