In the last election, 26 women vied for a member of the county assembly election position for 20 wards within the Wundanyi, Mwatate, Voi, and Taveta constituencies that make up Taita Taveta county. Among the 26 women, only  Dorcas Mlughu was elected as a Member of the County Assembly for the Rong’e ward. Though there are other nominated women MCA, she is the only one elected against 19 male MCAs. The topic of 1 female elected MCA in the entire Taita Taveta,  has raised a debate on whether there is enough support for women vying for various political seats in the county. 

Christine Wakio a small-scale trader at Wundanyi market said women played a huge role during the campaign however they lacked numbers to support their own “ To my understanding we played a big role in supporting the women leaders but the problem is they did not campaign widely as their male counterparts, I think women were limited financially, they could not campaign in remote areas and so not many people knew them” According to Christine, there Taita Taveta terrain is remote and there are places that are impassable during the rainy season that limited some of the female contestants. 

The issue of financial masculine has been sighted as a major huddle for female contestants not only in Taita Taveta but among women leaders also countrywide. One of the requirements for an MCA elective post for women is to pay  Ksh.100,000, without factoring funds to be used during the election period to cater for transportation, communication fee, etc. “I contested for MCA seat Wundanyi-Mbale ward, and it was so tough because I was not financially stable, I had to seek support from my friends and family, again the political environment is very tough you have to endure being insulted on social media day and night something that can take a toll on you. Another thing, the media does not give us priority as they do to the male contestants, we can’t hold press conferences and pay for the media spaces because of financial constraints” said Pheobe Mwamburi an MCA seat contestant during the 2022 general election.  

“I would say that the political landscape in Taita Taveta has been male-dominated for a long time and to see we had 26 women to contest for MCA is a plus by itself. However, we need more empowerment projects to prepare more women for political seats” stated  Moses Mwaliko, a boda boda rider in the Wundanyi area. Mwaliko is not the only one who felt more support is needed, Grace Wakesho a village elder at Wasinyi Village said, ” It’s very true when it comes to politics in Taita its male affairs, though compared to some years back, we are way better. What we need right now is an organization or institution to empower women in leadership skills and also support them to be financially independent. By that, women in Taita will be in a better position to take up various political positions come the next election”. 

Goodwill to support female contestants has been cited as key with women urging county leadership to be more intentional about that.” We have a Ministry of  Gender in our county, if they support us we will be very far away. We are not threats, actually we are assets to this government and we are not second class citizens either. When we take leadership positions in this county we will contribute to building the economy of our county” said politician Phoebe Mwamburi.