To our esteemed women, you have a great opportunity to emancipate yourselves and move a step forward to an equitable society on the August the 4th 2010. Kenya has been, and still is a society where women are discriminated and even learned men argue bitterly against empowerment of women, emancipating our women to rise up beyond housewives,babysitters, shamba tenderers and toilers of all the menial work around the homestead.

It is a male dominated society where sadly, elements of culture, tradition and religion are used in a skewed way to keep women down, close competitive doors for them in realms of societal decision making, opportunities and governance.

We all know that the girl child is born badly disadvantaged in many of our communities, they are the domestic servants at home from very tender ages, are more often than not denied an education where a choice has to be made between a son and daughter going to school, are married off to twisted old men before they barely get to teenage, suffer the humiliation of FGM, are disinherited right at birth for being born girls especially on land issues, often face rape and abuse even within the family and a myriad of other challenges. It is amazing that the girl child has not been declared an endangered species!!!

The draft KATIBA mitigates some of these flaws of society but moreso, begins to give women a voice in society. The greatest achievement for women if this draft passes is the mindset change for some of our bigoted men still living in the stone age. We shall welcome them into the 22nd century.

The draft carters for free basic education for all, ensures girls, as they grow into women, will inherit property from their parents especially land, ensures women will be entitled to at least a 1/3 of all elective positions and other government appointments from county to national government which men have been rotating amongst themselves as women are reduced to voting machines for them.

You must have heard men argue shamelessly about your lives, how the life of a foetus may be more important than your own in case of an endangering pregnancy. You have heard them, the ones who have never and will never bear a pregnancy claim you, in a matter of choice between your life and a week old foetus, they will chose the foetus because “it is the will of God” that you are left to die!! Some have no stake in childbirth because they are not married an by virtue of their professions never will. But they have a “right to determine” how you give birth (even in death) and you have no say. They use the Bible to justify your death while they have never used the Bible so vehemently, with such zeal and zest to fight the death penalty which has been in our statutes for ages. Well, they claim those are criminals being killed and it is alright!!!

Now I ask, a pregnant woman whose childbirth has turned into a death trap, is that a criminal too? You see, it is time to see things in the right perspective and ask these questions even to the “holy men”.

This is a moment of truth for women, a moment to make a break with some of these dastardly ideals. These laws are your protection in a male dominated society and if you imagine men will give you much of these things on a silver platter, you are mistaken.You must yank some of them by force. You must ensure stiffer penalties for rapists, equitable consideration in jobs and appointments, inheritance for yourselves, right to education for the girl, criminalize early marriages and above all, change the minds of men. You must convince men during this vote that you deserve better.

What a better moment than the constitutional moment????? Get out the vote on August 4th and be part of the historic moment to uplift women.!!!!!!!

Otieno Sungu