Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Kenyan Women Leading Protests for Change.
0 Plays2 seconds ago
This episode of the Spark It Podcast honors the power and voices of Kenyan women in protests—from freedom fighter Mekatilili wa Menza and Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai to today’s Gen Z leaders. It shows how women have shaped history and are still on the frontlines fighting femicide, injustice, and bad governance. Their voices matter. Their actions inspire. Their courage brings hope. Whether offline or online, Kenyan women are pushing for a better future, and the world should be listening.
#KenyaProtests #WomenInActivism #KenyanWomenVoices #WangariMaathai #Mekatilili #EndFemicide #GenZProtests #WomenForChange #SparkItPodcast #ProtestPower #ActivistWomen #GreenBeltMovement
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Spark It Podcast
00:00:01
Patrick Abure
Welcome to the Spark It podcast, where we bring inspiring conversations that spark your interest to do more or keep the conversation going. And...
History of Kenyan Women's Activism
00:00:09
Patrick Abure
Today we will delve into a powerful history of resilience and activism as we explore the pivotal role of Kenyan women in protests.
00:00:18
Patrick Abure
From the courageous spirit of Mekachilili Wamenza to the modern day voices that are shaping change, join us as we uncover the stories of strength and determination in shaping Kenya's history through protest.
00:00:31
Patrick Abure
I am your host, Helen Kimaru. And today we are going to be looking at the role of women in Kenya's protest. So ah the first person are going to be highlighting is Mekatilili Uamenza. I really want us to focus on way back.
00:00:46
Patrick Abure
Mekatilili was born in the and she became involved in the struggle for independence for her people around 1912. nineteen but i don' nineteen twelve and Mekatilili is often referred as a freedom fighter of the Giriamah people. She was an only daughter ah in a family of five kids, and one of her brothers was captured by Arab slave traders.
Mekachilili Wamenza's Resistance
00:01:15
Patrick Abure
The British at some point imposed a heart attack on the Giriamah people, and this definitely did not sit well with Mekatilili wa Menza,
00:01:26
Patrick Abure
So ah when she started fighting for her people or protesting against the British government, she was, i think in her 70s, and she started leading the people against the British, and she would use ah sacred songs.
00:01:46
Patrick Abure
ah They call them Kifudu Giriyama funeral dance, and these she would use to rally people to take odds to resist the British. And at one point, ah from what I have gathered online, Mekatililiwamenza went to um an event where a British colonialist was invited and she went with a chicken and chicks.
00:02:11
Patrick Abure
And she asked the person to pick one of the chicks and the chicken decided to bite the guy. And what happens is she, Mekatilili Wamenza tells this person, you see, this is exactly what will happen to you. You cannot take any more of our sons.
00:02:30
Patrick Abure
And from this very incident, Mekatilili Wamenza was imprisoned in Kisi. And later she was released and she and according to history, she walked all the way, as I can, and if you know,
00:02:44
Patrick Abure
All the way from Kisi to the Kenyan coast, that's a very, very big distance, honestly. and some people say it's around 700 kilometers or so. But you can imagine somebody making such a trip at such a time.
Role of Women in the Mau Mau Rebellion
00:02:58
Patrick Abure
ah I don't know, right now we can't even walk five kilometers without feeling like we're exhausted. I can imagine how far she went for this to happen. Mekatilili women's sort of, would say, set pace for resistance ah for women here in Kenya.
00:03:15
Patrick Abure
And over the years, a lot of women have shown resistance and you know They have ah played a big role as activists here in Kenya. and looking back, women have sort of been part of the process and are back bone fighting for their communities, for their families, for you know for their villages and and stuff like that.
00:03:37
Patrick Abure
And the other people I wanted us to highlight is the Mau Mau. My grandmother my grandmother was born my but grandmother was born nineteen 1916 and my brother my grandmother died in 2096 my grandmother growing up, she used to give us stories of the Maumau and how the Maumau was fighting for Kenyans, for Kenya's independence. And I remember this one particular story she told us.
00:04:07
Patrick Abure
about how when the mo the British government said ah set route here in Kenya, how ah they were actually displaced and sent to different places. Being from the Kikuyu community, my grandmother, they were sent to the Rift Valley and this was because their land uh which is in central kenya part of their land was occupied by the british colonialist and that is how some of them ended up being uh sent to different places either to become squatters and if you look at the history of kenya there is uh you would find for example different communities maybe from specific regions you'd find them like sort of displaced whether they became squatters or something like that because they are
00:04:52
Patrick Abure
their land ah was grabbed. So another group of people that actually um did lots of activism according to Kenya's history books.
00:05:02
Patrick Abure
And honestly, as even as as I talk about these, would like you guys to engage us in the in our comment sections, whether on YouTube, on TikTok, wherever you, or even on all the podcasting platforms that you listen,
00:05:16
Patrick Abure
ah from Please let us know about women in your community who maybe we might have not have highlighted in this episode who have actually been the face of activism or protests in your communities and that has made a big change.
00:05:32
Patrick Abure
So ah during the Maumau uprising, the Kikuyu women ah played a huge role in the Maumau uprising. The British government, after they occupied Kenya, they distributed land to the white settlers and especially in the highlands.
00:05:46
Patrick Abure
And this is information I've gotten from Gender Security Project. ah The largest number of the colonized peasantry in Kikuyu land were women. And these women were particularly instrumental in implementing the Hariduku disturbances, a phenomenon that also carried for the Maumau rebellion So this particular source says that most Momao freedom fighters operated from the forest and mountaineers region. And when the colonial government began to crack down on them, access to their villages became difficult.
00:06:18
Patrick Abure
And as a result, supplies and provisions to sustain themselves became challenging. Each locality had women leaders covering several villages, and they worked alongside the men who served as commanders in their areas Their homes were the base from which Maumau operations in the reserves were organized.
00:06:36
Patrick Abure
So these Kikuyu women featured prominently in the organizational network between the fighters in the forest and the reserves. and they formed a core part of the Maumau, particularly ah in holding and maintaining supply lines.
00:06:50
Patrick Abure
Their identities as women helped them avoid suspicion and they moved about through colonial spaces between the Mau Mau hideouts and the strongholds and delivered vital supplies such as ah services to guerrilla fighters including food, ammunition, medical care and of course information.
Field Marshal Muthoni Kirima's Contribution
00:07:09
Patrick Abure
So women actually during the Mau Mau rebellion or uprising women served such a big role because ah um The colonial government would not suspect women in the in this case, according to the the history that I have actually read about the Mau Mau fight.
00:07:27
Patrick Abure
So women became very instrumental in ensuring that these people are fed these people have a ammunition. I don't remember, there was a documentary I was watching, i have forgotten, ah but there was this particular woman I saw they had highlighted that she would get work in different settlers' homes and she would steal their guns.
00:07:50
Patrick Abure
She would steal their guns and load them up somewhere and then supply these guns to the Mau Mau fighters and that kept the you know the kept them like sort of armed.
00:08:01
Patrick Abure
Yeah, so ah one of the very prominent women in this particular fight was Field Marshal Mudoni Kirima and for her, according to sources, She actually ah avoided the capture for 11 years and she was hiding in the forest of central Kenya and was the only woman who was able to reach the status of Field Marshal in there.
00:08:25
Patrick Abure
mao mao This is a quote by Kenya, Kenya Times. Yes. So, Phil Masha Mudhoni, I think a few years ago, ah I saw her on TV getting her locks.
00:08:37
Patrick Abure
um Her locks are being shaved. The locks that she had during the Mau Mau fight. Sorry.
00:08:47
Patrick Abure
Yeah, so um um momo the momo there women who fought in the Maumau fight, like I would say they did an amazing job. And this also goes back to ah when it comes to Kenya's independence, I believe it was not only fought by the
Wangari Maathai's Activism
00:09:05
Patrick Abure
Maumau. All communities fought for Kenya's independence in their own way.
00:09:11
Patrick Abure
And I believe women played such a big role because the same same women were the ones who are being left at home to fend for their children and to do all these things like to take care of a home when their men were at war and stuff like that.
00:09:26
Patrick Abure
So over the years, women have played such a key role in protest, in activism. And sometimes I kind of feel like sometimes maybe their voices might, and maybe the books, history books might have overlooked them or their voices might not have been documented, especially in the past.
00:09:45
Patrick Abure
And right now that might be changing a little bit because we live in an era where people are documenting everything, whether on their smartphones, on camera, and you know and we have, of course, all these social media. So you can clearly see the digital footprint of any activism that or occurs because a woman has participated. Yeah.
00:10:06
Patrick Abure
so um And then the other key figure i would i would i want I would want us to focus on, and for this one, I was really interested because it's somebody that through my lifetime, I got to experience um i got to experience her work and her impact and this definitely is Wangari Mathai.
00:10:26
Patrick Abure
So I did a little bit more research into Wangari Mathai and Wangari Mathai was a social, environmental and political activist and she started the Green the green drag the green Belt Movement in 1977, which is a nonprofit that was focused or has been focused on planting trees, environmental conservation and women rights.
00:10:49
Patrick Abure
She also won a Nobel Peace Prize and became the first African woman to do so in 2004. So you can imagine for her to get to to be ah to be you know recognized in such a skill means like whatever her work was or whatever the footprint she she left, her legacy, it means she had already done amazing things.
00:11:12
Patrick Abure
And as I was looking at ah the work of Wangari Mathai, I was really amazed at how far or how much she did in terms of activism for the democracy of Kenya, in terms of activism for the activism for the environment, for women's rights.
00:11:29
Patrick Abure
I feel like she's an embodiment of what true activism looks like. And even for me, as I talk about this, I'm sort of inspired do more for my community in that context.
00:11:42
Patrick Abure
So Wangari Madai, she started her activism, according to ah Wikipedia, between the years of 1972 and 1976. And at this point, she was working at the University of Nairobi as a senior lecturer.
00:11:58
Patrick Abure
ah At this point, she was championing for women to get like equal benefits, just like the men in the in those careers. And another milestone for her was in 1986,
00:12:11
Patrick Abure
ah eighteen nine there was a plan to construct a story building called Kenya Times Media Trust Complex in Uhuru Park. For those people who don't know about Uhuru Park, Uhuru Park is a park that is actually located in the central business district here in Nairobi.
00:12:31
Patrick Abure
And this park is so is a recreational park for Kenyans. When I look at where it's kind of positioned, and if it didn't actually exist right now, I feel like Kenyans would be missing out on a lot because at this point, people go there to chill, to hang out, and do a lot of amazing things.
00:12:50
Patrick Abure
So in 1989, the government, Moe's government wanted to create or construct a 60-story building that would serve like different government offices and stuff like that so uh wangari madhai took it upon herself to write letters she wrote letters to the president she wrote letters to the minister of environment she wrote letters to kenya times she also wrote letters to sir john johnson who was the british high commissioner in nairoia at that time She wrote letters to UNESCO. All these letters were in protest of this construction of this particular building because she felt that this ah this was public land ah and it deserved to just continue being what it was.
00:13:36
Patrick Abure
Because the moment you build such a kind of building there, that means, as I said, we would not be having Uhuru Park as it is. So the government at that point termed her as a crazy woman.
00:13:49
Patrick Abure
And parliament claimed ah that they that some of the members, because Wangari Madhai was this woman who would recruit other women to help her in this movement. And at some point, the government and people in government claimed that the Green Belt Movement ah members were a bunch of divorcees.
00:14:09
Patrick Abure
Do you see how that looks like? You are here, you are trying to fight for the right of the the rights ah rights of the people, the good of the people, but the government itself is fighting you.
00:14:21
Patrick Abure
And I think in the to be termed as a divorcee must have felt like a failure. i I think like right now, even even right now in Kenya, I think divorce is one of those things that is not looked looked at um in good light.
00:14:36
Patrick Abure
So I would see for people to think of you like a bunch of divorcees means it was supposed to be sort of like a derogatory sort ah so kind of thing. And Moi at the time said that those who are opposed to this construction had insects in their heads.
00:14:56
Patrick Abure
Oh my God. This is, I don't know. Wangari Madhai was tenacious. That's what I would say. She was tenacious. And in 1992, in January, she was arrested. She was arrested on allegation of spreading rumors about a coup.
00:15:11
Patrick Abure
And after her release, she took to she went to Huru Park in what now they regard as a freedom corner. And she went she took part on a hunger strike with other women, and they were demanding that the government releases political prisoners.
00:15:28
Patrick Abure
And during this struggle, they spent like four days there.
00:15:35
Patrick Abure
Excuse me. They spent four days at Huru Park on a hunger strike with other women.
00:15:44
Patrick Abure
And on therefore the fourth day, and the police showed up and they tried to actually, you know, disperse them. And... During this struggle, ah she became and unconscious. She was not unconscious.
00:15:57
Patrick Abure
And this became an international thing. Like it drew a lot of criticism from international, ah you know, people. And Wangari stood behind mothers of political prisoners and they stripped naked.
00:16:12
Patrick Abure
Atuhuru, Pakina, Irobi. They were protesting the detention without trial of their sons. And later, a year later, the sons of these, um the sons were actually released.
00:16:26
Patrick Abure
I don't know. this ah i For me, I feel it's um it's the sacrifices that Wangari Madai had to put up with. Sometimes, when i have I have been looking at the current ah protests that we have had in Kenya, and I feel like when you go for a protest, I feel like sometimes...
00:16:45
Patrick Abure
you you might feel like you would give up. But I have realized when I was reading the story of Wangari Mathai, I realized it was the constant, the constant protesting, the constant keeping up with what she believed in that sort of brought the change.
00:17:01
Patrick Abure
If at some point she had given up, we would not have Uhuru Park. if at some point she would have given up, maybe the sons of those, ah the sons of ah the police, them maybe those people who had, you know, arrested ah wrongfully would never have been released.
00:17:19
Patrick Abure
But for her, I think she knew just how much power she had and she used her voice in the right way, which I feel should be an inspiration for us as young women out here to do more in whatever capacity because change does not take a day that's what i am learning from this whole process and from wangari madhai so the demonstrations uh she initiated under her green belt movement marshalled women all over kenya to plant trees and you know and and um and wangari madhai and other the women they did pay
00:17:57
Patrick Abure
a very dear prize for the fight to conserve the environment. ah Yes, Wangari Madei wasn't just fighting for the environment, she was fighting for democracy. She wanted better, she was involved in the fight for multi-partism.
00:18:12
Patrick Abure
And in 1997, she actually ran for presidency and lost. In 1998, again, there was a plan to privatize large parts of Karura,
00:18:23
Patrick Abure
For those who do not know, Karuda Forest is a forest that is ah just right outside the city. um And as again, for her, I think at this point, protesting is was definitely different from the protesting that we are experiencing right now because she wrote letters. She wrote letters ah to different government ah entities.
00:18:47
Patrick Abure
And also she showed up to plant trees despite heavy security. And this protest against me this move, it continued for like a year up to 1999. Yeah, so Wangari Madhai has suffered imprisonment. She's has suffer suffered physical and mental anguish.
00:19:08
Patrick Abure
she's She's clashed with the government on several locations and business people. And that is how now we have Karura Forest. But I have been watching ah videos online.
00:19:21
Patrick Abure
Karura Forest, ah some part of it has been cleared. Some people say they are clearing those trees so that indigenous trees can be planted. i am not sure what exactly is happening in Karula Forest.
00:19:35
Patrick Abure
But what I can say, why it's not for the efforts that Wangari Mathai, the women in the Green Belt Movement, or the people who really cared in the ninety s Again, Karula Forest would have been a thing of the past.
00:19:49
Patrick Abure
So for me, the the reason why i I have talked about Wangari Mathai is sort of in ah in an in-depth manner is because of high resilience.
00:20:01
Patrick Abure
It's because of the passion she had for her work, for what she believed in, and the fact that she knew that change doesn't take a day, and she kept going. She kept doing these things over and over again, whether it's writing to the government, whether it's writing, whether it's showing up physically,
00:20:19
Patrick Abure
to a protest, whether it's stripping naked somewhere because they needed people to be released from prison, whether it's actually getting arrested.
Gen Z and Recent Protests
00:20:28
Patrick Abure
She was not afraid.
00:20:30
Patrick Abure
she was not afraid And that is one lesson i am learning and i would love for all of us to take away from the experiences of ah Wangari Madhai.
00:20:41
Patrick Abure
And now to the business of the day. I would like us to talk about... um and The faces of the Gen gen Z protest, or the people I believe, in my opinion, are contributing in such a big way. ah The Gen Z protest has seen a lot of young people, young men and young women,
00:21:05
Patrick Abure
boldly show up to each and every person protest all the time, including the one that was recently ah held here in Kenya on the 25th of June. And it's sad that we talked about we did talk about that protest before it happened.
00:21:21
Patrick Abure
And it's sad to note that people died during this protest. They they did document that around 16 people died It's hard to know that after the after that protest, women were assaulted, others were raped, and bad things did happen to them.
00:21:39
Patrick Abure
And I feel like this, according, in my opinion, it kind of feels like an intimidation tactic. I watched a lot of videos online about that, people sharing their experiences, how they were groped or grabbed or, you know,
00:21:53
Patrick Abure
and others definitely getting assaulted and un gripped at the end of the day. And it kind of felt like, are we really making progress? Where are we headed? um at such a time, in 2025, you would think this is when the things would be better, but it has not gotten better.
00:22:14
Patrick Abure
And for women, it kind of feels like an intimidation tactic, as if people don't want us to show up. and speak up for what is right or demand for our rights or demand for action against the different vices.
00:22:27
Patrick Abure
And also this this also goes back to women have ah have been protesting a lot There have been protests around end femicide in Kenya, um in the especially in the last two years.
00:22:40
Patrick Abure
I feel like ah women have really showed up because of the femicide crisis in Kenya. And even before we we talk about femicide, I would like to just probably just, as I said, to highlight some of the women that to have really shown up.
00:22:57
Patrick Abure
And I'm really proud of this generation of women And the fact that we are also making our voices count the same way Wangari Madai, Mekatilili Wamenza, the women in the Maumau movement, our mothers, the way they have fought for everything that we have right now, the way they have showed up in their lives, even from ah the family unit, it it it e takes a lot from woman's angle.
00:23:26
Patrick Abure
for this to happen and for change to happen and for us to keep championing for what is right. So um last year I was invited to this event by Forum Siv and I met this girl, she's called Zaha.
00:23:41
Patrick Abure
Zaha Indumuli. Zaha Indumuli in 2024 during the Gen Z protest, she became very, very much involved this event protests and that when Zaha was given the microphone to share um to share her story and how she has been participating or been part of b being part of the movement, I listened and for the first time I realized just how much or how much it takes from somebody to actively participate whether it's from organizing to actively showing up and also ah you know the aftermath of a protest.
00:24:24
Patrick Abure
She shared all the dark stories about the people who died ah last year, how she showed up in funerals, her efforts in online activism and how many calls she was receiving or even the threats and stuff like that. it It wasn't easy and it was such an emotional story listening to her Zaha has been doing amazing with online activism also and educating people, civic education.
00:24:54
Patrick Abure
So I'll give you your flowers, Zaha. The next person I would like to talk about is Shakira Wafula. Shakira, you know, she became also almost the face of the movement last year during the the protests.
00:25:09
Patrick Abure
when she came face to face with a police officer. And there was this picture that was going viral. Shakira also has used her social platforms for civic education. and She has shown up in physical protests and done all these amazing things.
00:25:28
Patrick Abure
to keep the fire burning and to also advocate ah for change. And then there the other person that I find also very intriguing is Lynn Gugi. Lynn Gugi has this huge platform on on YouTube.
00:25:43
Patrick Abure
And in the last two years, i have seen her speak against all these atrocity atrocities she has um She has a hosted guests on her platform.
00:25:56
Patrick Abure
They have talked about the government, the people in government, the the people in the in the protest, the loss of life. She has covered these particular protests in such a big way. and made sure that we have stayed informed. ah And i am proud of the fact that a woman like Lynn Gugi is not afraid to use her platform to actually advocate for change and to make sure that the voices of people
Media Platforms and Women's Activism
00:26:25
Patrick Abure
are hard and the other person that i find extremely intriguing is njeri njeri migui of usikime jerry migui started usikimi and also this this particular organization takes care of of ah
00:26:45
Patrick Abure
gender-based violence victims, and she's been doing it for a couple of years now. And she has been doing a great job in protecting the rights of women and their dignity.
00:26:56
Patrick Abure
And in the recent protests, women have been raped, assaulted, among other things, and her organization has been coming through for the victims. I remember watching one of her interviews, and she was talking about how people reached out to her And at that point even she didn't have like...
00:27:14
Patrick Abure
um her in-house therapist psychologist to talk to these people as first responders. So she talks about the fact that she was um she she was put in a position where she had to listen to ah some of the victims who underwent through these traumatic experiences.
00:27:35
Patrick Abure
And when I look at Njeri, I see a resilient woman. I see a woman who puts the needs of other women first I see a woman who is empathetic.
00:27:47
Patrick Abure
I see a woman who is showing up for women and taking care of women and giving them a platform and letting them know that the experiences do not define them.
00:28:01
Patrick Abure
She's giving them a voice in such a big way. And I'm really proud of Njeri Migwe. Yes. ah So another person i I would like to acknowledge is Njeri Mwangi, and that is Boniface Mwangi's wife.
00:28:18
Patrick Abure
Njeri Mwangi is an activist herself. And over the years, great even when I was growing up, I think even when we were in high school, I would see her and Boniface Mwangi show up at protests and all that.
00:28:30
Patrick Abure
She has always almost been at her husband's side. I can imagine being a mother... and showing up in this particular protest. And also even your husband isar is an activist and they're told that this can take on a person.
00:28:45
Patrick Abure
Banjeri has showed up and done whatever it takes which is very commendable because as i as I have come to realize, these protests can be very traumatizing.
00:28:59
Patrick Abure
And for somebody to go through these things over and over and over again, it means you do believe in the course you're fighting for. And other woman I would like to acknowledge, and I know there's a lot of women doing a lot of stuff online out here, and I'm really proud of them.
00:29:17
Patrick Abure
But I'm just mentioning the ones for me that have stood out The other woman i would like to acknowledge, ah she has um a TikTok, a TikTok page that is called Watch FWWJ.
00:29:33
Patrick Abure
Watch FWWJ, would say she's one of my favorite content creators. She dissects Kenyan news and issues in a very satirical way, and she gives her voice to the continuous social media, ah even protests, and I like watching had her content because she would ah she would dissect it in a very satirical way.
00:29:59
Patrick Abure
Like, Shia is not working. She would always say something very satirical. um So i would say she has made it she has made the bad news a bit palatable for me, and I give her flowers for what ah she does.
00:30:15
Patrick Abure
And then, being a poet myself, I have been in the space of... um I have been in the ah in the scene for a while and i have come across different poets who are also giving their voices to the movement in the protests or using their platforms and poetry to advocate advocate for a change. And one but some of them, some of the ones i know that I would like to give a shout out to include a spontaneous poet, there's car there is there is Wangoi Kimani,
00:30:50
Patrick Abure
Yeah, these ah ladies are doing amazing work out here and they're using their platforms and their poetry to advocate for social change.
Emotional Role of Mothers in Activism
00:30:59
Patrick Abure
So as you can see, women have been involved in such a big way And then the other people i would like to give out a a big shout out to are our mothers.
00:31:11
Patrick Abure
Our mothers who have to sit on the edges of their seats, knowing that you could go to a protest and bad things happen to you and you may not get back home.
00:31:24
Patrick Abure
um Like today, I was actually watching the news today and Diangui, the guy who allegedly had disappeared,
00:31:35
Patrick Abure
and today he showed up in court. I saw his mother and the way she hugged him and his family and the way they hugged him. The mothers who have to worry. I saw Alberto Juang's mother, ah I think at the funeral and the speech she gave and how heartbroken she was.
00:31:54
Patrick Abure
All the women who... I saw Rex's mother and, you know, during the protest the day they wanted to lay flowers at parliament buildings.
00:32:05
Patrick Abure
I have seen all these women, the way they are advocating for change in their small way wherever they are. And kind of gives me hope and reminds me that As women, we need to add our voices um to let you know we need to add our voices to the movement. We need to be heard because whatever it is that we are going through, its it affects us.
00:32:30
Patrick Abure
if our If our children die in a protest, it affects us. ah ah mother losing a child, it affects you. So you we all we all have a role to play. you know Even as as our mothers wait back at home wondering whether whether we are going to get back All of all the women in Kenya, they play such a big role and their voices actually matter.
00:32:54
Patrick Abure
And as I actually, ah you know, as I actually also look back at the last um protest that we had, i am kind of saddened.
00:33:07
Patrick Abure
am saddened by what happened to the women. there were women who were assaulted and stuff like that. Because i had heard in the news somebody mentioned that there was a plan to take advantage of women during a protest.
00:33:23
Patrick Abure
If this is a way to intimidate women so that they do not add their voices ah into these protests, I feel like it's such a backward way to do things.
00:33:36
Patrick Abure
I feel like it's time that the government sat with the people and listened. It's time the government thought about the people's needs and also started prioritizing the people.
00:33:48
Patrick Abure
It's time the government sat and thought about the women. Because now, even when I go back to the particular protest of end femicide in Kenya, femicide cases have been on the rise, especially in the last two years.
00:34:04
Patrick Abure
Women die and action is not taken. um Women die in their
Government's Role in Addressing Femicide
00:34:09
Patrick Abure
homes. People ask why, sometimes people ask her where was she, was she in an Airbnb?
00:34:15
Patrick Abure
was What was she wearing maybe when she underwent something like rape and stuff like that? and people keep deflecting from the real issues. Women are dying. Women are going through all these things, and that is why women have to show up on the streets to protest ah the end femicide thing.
00:34:34
Patrick Abure
What is the government really doing to protect its own women? What is the government doing to protect the future? Because the women are the future. we Without the women, there is actually no future.
00:34:47
Patrick Abure
we hold the power to... bring generations. So i um as I reflect on all the things that have been happening to Kenya, ah in Kenya I mean, I feel like the government needs to do more.
00:35:03
Patrick Abure
And also I am so encouraged by the fact that women are actually giving their voices into these discussions, whether online. When I go to different social media platforms, and especially somewhere like TikTok, where I see a lot of discussions, women talk about these issues on a daily basis in their small or big way.
00:35:25
Patrick Abure
And they're using social media to advocate for social change, regardless of whether it's an employment it's ending femicide, it's bad governance, it's poor roads and stuff like that.
Encouragement for Listener Engagement
00:35:38
Patrick Abure
So I am really proud of the voices of the women and where we are headed. So this for me, I would say is my take on the role of women in um in the protests.
00:35:53
Patrick Abure
And I feel like they are very, very vital. Their voices need to be heard and we need to listen. So ah if you have someone you think that they play they have played such a big role or even in a small role in one way or the other and you want to give them a shout out just let us know maybe you can comment their names tag them somewhere on our social media platforms but i'm really proud of the work of the women and everything they are doing uh to make their voices heard because their voices matter
00:36:32
Patrick Abure
Thank you for listening. It's been the Spark It Podcast. If this episode inspired you in some way or the other, please share it with somebody in your network and let's keep the conversation going. Thank you so much for contributing to all the discussions on our social media platforms and also following us on the different social media platforms.
00:36:57
Patrick Abure
um Yes, until the next one. Bye.