Women in Leadership and Matters Foreign Policy in Kenya from the Year 1963 to 2017

Abstract

This study explored how participative and representative role of women influenced the foreign policy. The study sought to assess the influence women in executive and legislative positions had on Kenya’s foreign policy drafting, formulation and implementation between the year 1963 to 2017.The objectives were: to examine the role of women in the National government in Kenya from 1963 to 2017: to establish the contribution of women leaders in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Legislative Assembly in matters foreign policy : to identify the obstacles and challenges women face in matters foreign policy in Kenya and to find out the possible remedies and mechanisms of empowering women to take up leadership position and effectively take part in matters foreign policy. Literature was reviewed on the role of women in foreign policy formulations and participation of women in leadership and political processes. Feminist International Relations (IR) theory was used to help unravel the means by which hegemonic masculinity was embedded in the field of international relations to examine the nature of women discrimination in the political and diplomatic appointments in Kenya. Descriptive research design was used with the aid of self-administered open-ended questionnaire from women leaders and interview-guided questionnaires from target informants. The study was carried out in the county government of Nairobi while a pilot study to establish reliability of instruments was conducted in Ruiru Sub-County of Kiambu County. The validity of the questionnaires was determined through previous studies and guidance from experts including the supervisor. The study used purposive sampling hence 64 influential women were randomly picked from the list of registered both serving and retired legislatures and diplomats from relevant offices as target population from which 50 were taken as a sample size. The study was a qualitative research hence content analysis was used for analyzing data. The study found out that after independence until after the 2010 referendum, there were very few women in leadership positions and similarly the women did not take part in foreign policy matters. After the 2013 as well as 2017 general elections, the women population in power increased and their efforts towards foreign policies begun to materialize. Some of their efforts were: their participation in unilateral and multilaterals, in diplomatic missions of the state, in security and negotiations and in advocation for women and children’s rights. The study concluded that ,women in executive and legislative leadership positions had not effectively taken part in foreign policy matters because of the harsh environment they still operated in, but if well trained and given a fair opportunity with less opposition from the society and their male colleagues, they had great potentials to contribute more in matters foreign policy and in return would lead to a peaceful state and peaceful co-existence, with recommendations of offering adequate training to women leaders on foreign policy matters as well as inclusion of more women in Defense and Foreign Relations Committee.