How negotiated democracy cost me my political seat
Jamila Farah who unsuccessfully vied for Jarajara Ward seat in Balambala Constituency in Garissa County during the 2022 General Election. She blames negotiated democracy for her political woos.
What you need to know:
- Jamila Farah's political ambitions to vie for the Jarajara Ward seat were shattered when community elders refused to endorse her candidacy citing her divorced status.
- Despite facing opposition and the deep-rooted patriarchal norms that undermined her campaign, she persevered, using her experience to advocate for the inclusion of women in the negotiated democracy process .
- Her journey has inspired the formation of a professional women's group aimed at ensuring equal treatment for female candidates in the 2027 elections.
Jamila Farah did not know what awaited her when she offered to vie for the Jarajara Ward seat in Balambala Constituency, Garissa County during the 2022 General Election. She had prepared well for the gruelling electioneering period and had even won a political party ticket for contesting the seat, when the worst happened.
“I had already acquired Ford-Kenya ticket and was rearing to go to the ballot when I approached the elders for their blessing.”
The elders delivered the most unexpected and the hurting news to her: They had already endorsed another candidate, and that was final.
Her political ambitions were complicated by a system of endorsing political candidates that the community uses. According to Farah, there are three major clans namely Abdalla, Abduwaq, Auwalayan that endorse those vying for political seats for any given election.
“I began by approaching my sub-clan, which did not have any problem with my candidature. However, I still needed the approval of Abduwaq clan. Here, my dreams were shattered after the elders told me they already had a candidate and that I was wasting my time.”
They went ahead and said she was unfit to hold any leadership position because she was divorced.
“I was told I was a bad example to girls in the community because I was divorced.”
Farah, who is renowned for her advocacy work at the community level, decided to soldier on and not give up her political ambitions based on the elders’ advice.
“I refused to allow the elders’ verdict to stop my desire to alleviate poverty and empower women and youth economically. I wanted to see their fortunes change for the better.”
This did not go down well with elders, who felt her actions were a major challenge to their supremacy, and would incite other people to defy them. To counter her, the elders started organising people to heckle her whenever she addressed public gatherings.
“It was disappointing to see people hurl insults and stones at me while on my campaign trail. I had to drop out of the race two months to the elections.”
Her decision was not in vain. She had made a mark and benefited from capacity building initiatives that are, and will inform her future engagements in politics.
During the campaigns, for instance, her capacity on political engagements was built by the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (Kewopa) who helped her craft some of the strategies she used during the election.
What also worked to her advantage was her work in the community. Long before getting into politics, Farah, who works as a program officer at Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem), Garissa County, had initiated projects in the community that sold her as a viable leader. One such initiative was a mentorship programme for the youth and women.
Through her organisation Ushindi for Women, a community-based organisation in Ijara Sub-county, Farah had traversed all sub counties in Garissa County, distributing dignity kits with support from the Kenya Red Cross Society.
She was also on the forefront pushing for justice for children who had been defiled and survivors of rape.
“I pushed for the jailing of a chief from Wajir County who had defiled a ten-year-old girl. He was jailed for 35 years. A school director who had defiled a Form Two student has also been jailed.”
This push for justice for sexual violence survivors endeared her to many people. At the county level, she participated in the development of the gender policy that seeks to actualise gender equity and implementation of the two-thirds gender rule in the county.
Meanwhile, within Supkem, she proved that she was a viable leader, explaining why its officials conducted door-to-door campaigns to popularise her candidature and urged the electorate to give her chance to serve them.
She also worked closely with the elders, who are influential in determining who wins a political seat.
“Although this did not work in 2022, I plan to approach them early for the 2027 poll. I want to approach them as early as now, to get an early endorsement. During the 2022 General Election, they said I did not involve them early enough.”
Although the elders failed to endorse her, she got the endorsement of young people. Using her Facebook page, she reached out to many of them who urged to continue with the race.
Farah believes negotiated democracy remains a big challenge for women seeking elective positions in the Northern region.
“In Garissa County, for instance, women do not participate in forums that negotiate who is to be endorsed for elective seats. Until this is challenged, women will remain sidelined in the political arena.”
Double stigma
The situation is worse for young women who do not have resources and are single.
“Those who are divorced face double stigmatisation. I remember the elders asking me ‘if you were not able to manage your husband, how will you manage the community’.”
Negotiated democracy remains a stumbling block.
Farah laments: “Men who seat in the forums do not want women to contest for political positions. To them, women should sit at home, wash dishes and cook for their families but not at the decision making table.”
It is this patriarchal thinking and the definitions of the roles of women in society that saw some people encourage her to “vie for woman representative position arguing that the MCA seat is a preserve for men.
Despite these painful encounters, Farah learnt lessons that will inform her future political engagements.
She has learnt that to win an election, one must have the necessary resources and engage in early campaigning. “The culture of handouts is deeply entrenched with our people and majority of those who attend campaign rallies expect to receive money.
But one important lesson she has learnt is that women from marginalised communities must be at the negotiating table.
“We need women to be part of the negotiated democracy, where they will be able to say we have this number of women vying for different seats and we want you (the elders) to support their candidature.”
Farah believes that if women are included in negotiated democracy, they can influence elders’ decisions and push for the implementation of the two-thirds gender rule within such structures.
Already, the women in the county have started a process to ensure their inclusion is a reality. They have formed Garissa professional women group with representation from the three major clans - Abdalla, Abduwaq, Auwalayan.
“We want to ensure women who contest for different seats in the 2027 General Election are treated the same as their male counterparts.”
Women leadership
Farah also proposes the introduction of an exchange programme to help women from her region to learn from other regions and countries where women are well represented in politics.
“We want to learn different approaches by other regions including Tanzania and Uganda that have worked to guarantee women’s representation.”
She also feels organisations that support women leadership should doing so early enough to enable women prepare well for elections.
“You need to start engaging those who want to vie as early as now. Building their capacities at the last minute will not help because majority have a busy schedule looking for votes and funds to support their campaigns.”
This story is published in partnership with African Woman and Child (AWC)
