Socio-economic Factors Affecting Women Participation in Elective Politics in Embu County, Kenya

Abstract

The issue of women's representation in elective politics is still a challenge in Kenya. Women have fought fiercely to ascend high political offices and represent the national and county assembly properly. The study investigated the socio-economic factors affecting participation of women in elective politics. Specific objectives guiding the study were: To investigate the extent to which women participate in elective politics in Embu County, examine the social-cultural factors impacting women involvement in elective politics in Embu County, and explore the economic factors influencing women’s role in elective politics in Embu County. Radical feminist theory by Andrea Working, Clare Chambers and Allan Hunter guided the study (Al Hibri, 1984). Descriptive survey design was used with a target population of 309,468 registered voters by the 2017 general elections in Embu County and 26 key informants in the same county. Purposive sampling and random sampling were used to get the sample size for registered voters which was determined using a formula proposed by Godden (2004). Sample size of registered voters was 385, while the sample size for critical informants was 26. Interview guides and questionnaires were used to collect data. The collected data underwent cleaning, coding, and was analyzed using SPSS version 22. The outcomes of the coded data were tallied, tabulated, analyzed, and summarized. Quantitative data collected from questionnaires went through analysis by descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages and means), while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. The study had the following findings; age, education level, and marital status affect involvement of women in politics. Majority of them participate in several activities related to elective politics, but very few vie for particular elective seats in general elections. Furthermore, social-cultural factors such as someone's religious beliefs, culture, women not married, women married outside the tribe or constituency, and voters' attitude towards women politicians affect women’s participation in elective politics. Finally, the study found that economic factors such as unemployment-employed women and women doing business impact participation of women in politics that is elective. Therefore, it is recommended that registrar of political parties should adhere to two-third rule during party elections, nomination, and general elections to encourage more women to vie for various elective seats, holistic political empowerment for community leaders to involve the communities in upholding socio-cultural factors which encourage women participation in elective politics and shun the ones which discourage women from participating in elective politics and finally the Kenyan parliament may amend the political parties act to waiver membership and nomination fees for women to encourage them more to participate in elective politics.