 Why 254, imagine? How many of you have commented on social media platforms on Y254 channel. You can also reach me at Patricia Muriukiwa on Twitter. Let me introduce to you my panel. We have Mary Ojoa who is a women's student welfare association patron. We have Yvonne Yamala who is a Vice Chairperson of Karatina University. We have Emma Akini who is the women's student welfare association secretary. Thank you very much ladies. These are the future female leaders of this country. I believe the journey does not just end with you serving in the university level. Absolutely. Okay, so let's first start with looking at how do you think our country, let us deal with Kenya which is an easy place for us to do our evaluations. What how would you say Kenya is doing in terms of having female leaders in different capacities in this nation, Mary? My name is Mary Ojoa, I am the patron for Woswa. To start with I want to say that Kenya is doing better but we are still hoping for the best because in the past getting women leaders in the positions of governors it was something we could not even dream of and today is actually a reality. Having women a woman leader on the top at the university level we have the University of Nairobi and various students president that's an achievement we can count on women breaking the glass ceiling and in the past in my syndrome leader we had also a female president so I think women are coming up slowly and we are reclaiming our spaces that were passed taken by men which is a good thing. I really like what you've said. So this is Mary I said leadership has been a space that have been mostly dominated by men but we can now see women coming up and taking positions that people never thought women could take in this country or even in this world. For you Yvonne you're a vice chairperson of Karatina University. Yes. What inspired you to go for leadership and there are other things you would have done. Alright thank you so much. My name is Yvonne Yamala and I'm the vice chair. I'm a proud vice chair of Karatina University and I think leadership has always been my passion like I've always had a passion for leadership and when I see Kenya like leaders women leaders going to buy and contest and I think I feel proud and I always tell myself that you know when I was I've been in campus and I realized that this is the platform that is going to make me grow so I decided that this if I've been a leader all throughout since primary school high school why is it that I can't also go in campus politics so I engaged in campus politics and what really motivated me is the passion that I have for leadership and I think it has really pushed me miles and that I'm really interacting with people and I think it's a great thing and based on the fact that you see there are 47 women representatives it really gives me insights, more insights to continue being a female student leader. So for you Emma why waswa? Why did you choose to be the secretary for the Women's Student Welfare Association? Okay, first my name is Emma Kingi the waswa secretary general that is women's student welfare association so I'm passionate for women that's why I decided to take up the position so that I can help fight the rights for women in the university. So let's talk a little bit about waswa what is it all about? What is your aim, what is your vision, what is your mission do you hope to achieve at the end of it all? Waswa was formed back in 1986 by women students at the University of Nairobi who came together six of them and they realized that women students had pressing and challenging issues and they were marginalized bottom line they were marginalized and they needed special attention then they approached the management of the University of Nairobi who received them and guided them and that's how they came together and formed the association the mission of the association is aligned to the three sustainable development goals SDG number five which is that they come on gender equality which covers culture empowerment and women empowerment then SDG number four which is education for all and SDG number three which is quality health. So covering those, those are our co-mission aligned to the sustainable development goals when we talk about empowering women and girls it calls for empowering them through leadership empowering them spiritually and also empowering them economically and our vision is to bring out the best in every female student in this country and to give them opportunities that will assure them brighter future outside campus making them better leaders in the society and also making them better people outside world. Most of the times people speak of women having to make the responsibilities that you take up and the sacrifices that you have to make so Yvonne, what sacrifices did you have to make for you to be at the position that you are at the vice chairperson of Karatina University? I had to make a lot of sacrifices starting from sleepless nights, managing phone calls like managing bullying like I was bullied, I was embarrassed I was almost beaten but then by the grace of God the journey wasn't smooth I can't say it was smooth because it was a real struggle and you know I had also other other aspirants who were also my competitors so I had to be a niche higher above them and you know in fact I've been in leadership for two consecutive times and my very first time was really challenging because during this first time that I was coming out and telling people this is what I'm going to do for you and you know I'm a passionate leader like this is what I'm going to give you and you know you have to promise them you can promise heaven but then you know even that heaven you will not reach but then you have to show them that this is what you're going to do for them and then my second term it wasn't that hard because during my first term like I made sure that I achieved 90% of what I had promised was very amazing because I went on a post Okay so Mary would you say that being the patron of the Women Student Welfare Association first of all is there an election to have you as a patron or are you appointed? Okay the journey came long ago at first year that is in 2014-15 I was first elected as the Compass Representative for Warsaw that is after I was elected as the host representative in Sonu the vibrant and well done Sonu it was not also an easy thing and as a first year and in the position of Congress I was able to speak on women issues and articulate them very well that so female students having confidence in me then the Warsaw leadership approximate told me you have a potential to lead women and please take up this challenge I took the challenge I learnt the skills on leadership I've been taken through a number of leadership training by a key leader in Tika and that increased my platform on leadership so by third year I was elected as the president fourth year I retained my position as president and as I was tapping out I already knew the entire structure how everything works how everything runs the networks that is appropriate for female students and it's actually last year that we started launching our programs in other universities and we actually covering almost all universities in Kenya the university that has given us a good reception that means that being a patron is something that the student leaders just appointed me to guide them because I understand the channel one I'm also their age mate it's easy for them to relate with me and I understand their capacity and potentials very well so I am able to see who is working well and who is sleeping in their task and even challenge them I call myself as a mentor to these girls who look up to me and most of them will tell me whenever they need some help in any way so for me this is a position I think it's just a calling because my career background I study Bachelor of Economics and here I am passionate about women issues something that started growing in first year so you see at this point in fact I'm doing my masters soon in gender studies that shows that this is something that is building me and I'm actually looking up to be in a better position to advocate for all women rights in this country okay wow so Emma for you how would you say how have you dealt with challenges that women have to face especially young women in the university want to take up leadership positions for young lady watching you tonight and they feel like they have their passion they have the drive they can do it they don't have that confidence to stand up and go against those young men what would be your advice for today first it's about developing a positive mindset once you develop a positive mindset towards something you can achieve it very easily so develop a positive mindset avoid the inhibitions in our minds okay so during the 2017 general election we saw three female governors elected we also saw of course we have the 47 women representative from every county and we also we saw that during the elections in the US we saw 46 women out of 50 women in different states took positions in the house of representatives what now do you think can be done better for us to increase this number from maybe 3 to 10 because I feel it's a progress Yvonne I think from what we've seen that there are female leaders that decided to go for the governor seat I think it is just a matter of empowerment let them come out and tell us that this thing is manageable this thing is not only to be left for men and I think personally I'm already motivated by this because I'm passionate about leadership so let's say who an example of a female governor is we have Anwai Guru Anwai Guru exactly if I come to a table with Anwai Guru now we start discussing over the same you see I have a lot of questions to ask her and within the conversation I'll gain a lot of empowerment I'll gain empowerment because she'll tell me the challenges she went through how she managed to tackle the challenges those are the ways that in which we can also empower other female leaders to go for the government seat for the governor seat just to add on what Yvonne is saying in 2017 at 23 years I was able to challenge the women reposition I was a third year student at the University of Nairobi so that means women are serving as role model to young women leaders and I also believe that it's not something that is unachievable we can even get the 47 women governors this would be possible if women women are making up the majority of voters in this country and we also have the youth youth and women are leading if women who want to take up this challenge can combine the women and the youth votes I think we will attain that and it's high time that women start voting in women because if we can count the success of Anwai Guru we can count the success of Mehasore Stimpis, Joyce Laboso if we can count the success of Charity Ngilu I tend to believe that it's time for us women to support this because me as a woman leader in our position when an opportunity comes whom do I look around for how to empower a fellow woman and I think by this it's time for women to stop overseeing other fellow women potential into just certain responsibility but rather voting in women it's a time for women I challenge women to vote in women leaders then we will attain the 47 women govern as we are looking up to so I was actually to ask do you feel that the issue are women supporting each other because you've seen issues with campaigns whereby a woman goes and is going to say horrible things about the other women and this is something that we are trying to say let us come together as women so that we are able to take up these positions as women and be leaders and prove a point so for you Emma how do women have better relationships among themselves and be mentors to each other be good role models to each other for us to have a better space whereby women can lead I feel it's a matter of time because long time ago women never used to support other women but as time goes by things are changing so in the near future we are expecting more changes just to add on what she's saying let's say let's say separate politics and leadership politics is a game of interest so if women want to get into politics they should know that there is a lot that comes with them getting into politics it's not a walk in the path that I'm a woman I should be treated differently they should be lenient with me there is PR propaganda in politics that they should be prepared to deal with and other women they govern as have confirmed that they can manage propaganda and they can walk through propaganda and lead so let's not assume that women should just sit and expect other women to work for them they should also set their record straight they should come out and campaign and even stand strong and to be confirmed no one would want to work in a leader who is weak so it's high time also for women leaders to stop riding on the path that I'm a woman so I deserve this position we do away with 47 women representative seats that are there we should not do away with them it's a very important position that has given women platform to come up and even take leadership positions like members of parliament and even the governor you check the track record of the current women members of parliament we have, they were once women look at Wanga, she was a member of parliament so this women position is just a platform for women who want to get into leadership to get through an easy position that will open them to challenging experiences Yvonne what would you say makes you a better leader I think it's the confidence and the courage that I have and also I don't promise heaven when I know I can't reach heaven I tell you what exactly I can do for you if I tell you like for example in my school I'm the one in charge of the student welfare so matabs concerning when funerals happen let's say matas of transport in case of sickness so usually tell them whenever you feel sick even if it is in the middle of the night just give me a call and respond to it and I've had several instances of which I don't sleep at night a student calls me in the middle of the night and tells me yamala I'm sick like I don't have otherwise I have to find my way out even if I'm here in Nairobi and my student is sick I'll have to find a way out even if it is calling the doctor make sure the student goes to the hospital and that is how I build my name ok so for you Emma what has been what would you say is the biggest challenge that you've had to go through being the worst secretary general how have you dealt with it? the biggest challenge was most people see me as someone who is polite and cannot take a leadership position so that is the the challenge I've gone through and now how did you now deal with that how did you come out and tell people you can trust me and I can do this for them to put you in the position that you are at right now despite the these are differences between being a politician and being a leader so for me I am a leader and not a politician ok ok that's a tough one I'd also like to add a politician because I've been into campus politics for some time my entire campus life has been into politics and leadership and some of the challenges I faced then was cyberbullying even up to date it's still there but it's for you as a woman leader to know exactly what you're getting yourself into to develop a thick skin people will abuse you people will use your sexuality against you people want to know who you are dating so that they use it against you people will even bring your family into it for me I've been told I'm ugly and it's upon me to challenge myself and bring them to a lighter note that I'm not ugly I tell them I'm handsome so that neutralizes everything she's her handsomeness that's her title her handsomeness it neutralizes the assholes and whenever you want to approach me you know you're not that beautiful I'm like it's ok I know that come with something else so there are challenges I usually listen to what people say about our president in the University of Flirubian people would say you know she's in that position because she's sleeping around she slept around with men to attain that position most things are saying that about women and sometimes I feel disappointed when this comes from a fellow woman and I first stop and ask myself what is she even thinking about sometime I'll take you head on I'll tell you stop did you yourself try to sleep with us men to get the position you are in what's really wrong with people that whenever a woman leader is in a position people just tend to think she didn't work for it but she got it by maybe compromising which is not true for example the lady in the University of Flirubian she campaigned she had upper stakes in winning with the electoral college gave her already at least 12 women who were voters automatically all these women had interest in supporting them because they've been through water leadership and we've trained them on the need of women supporting women so automatically we were sure with 12 votes then we had the other aspect we had to put in place for example the type aspect of course she's a kikuyu so we expected the kikuyu to support their own so we had upper stands in winning and then after she wins people were up like you know she's slept around she's been compromised to get this position and I'm like this is bullshit and she's serving actually she's not like sleeping there or sitting doing nothing she's up supporting and working out for students and it's also a challenge for her because when a woman leader is elected people set double standards people expect you to live a different kind of lifestyle to be perfect and like a man if a man makes mistakes in leadership nobody cares which is failing and all that and the type time we support women and stop stereotyping women in top position is not all of them in fact none of them because you don't have evidence to say that she's slept did she sleep within the first place okay let me bring in Yvonne on this and ask you now how now you've gotten the you've campaigned and you've gotten the position how can women command authority how can women bring in even people who don't believe in women leadership and believe in their visions and believe in whatever strategies that they have for them it's all about empowerment and mentorship when you are a leader you have to find yourself platforms and to also mentor someone you see you can't be a leader and lead yourself you have to have followers who are those followers you have to catch someone's hand and tell them let's journey together and that is what we do with waswa waswa goes around talking and mentoring people mentoring the young generation young people let's say those in high schools they are not yet in campus they don't know what to expect in campus you have to tell them now as a leader I have to reach out to them I tell them this is what you should expect and also in campus they are those people they are the vulnerable people and as we all know that the female students are the most vulnerable in campus and that is the reason that you find some other female students they end up having sponsors of which they think that when they have help them of which that is not right because you can make it as a young female of which in my school I usually tell the young female female students that you can do something out of yourself myself personally I used to sell to sell tops I used to go in the streets I buy the tops at 20 shillings then I go to sell them in the hostel no to do at 80 shillings I used to to make profit then I used to challenge them and tell them you can also do something for yourself it's not a matter of sponsors then you have to live within your limits don't see that there is competition in campus there is somebody putting on like those dresses from the shop then you also want to compete you should always live within your means make sure you're living within your means if you know you can buy a cloth of 50 shillings and be comfortable buy it just get dressed live within your means males don't go in big restaurants like you're going to order because that one will give you self esteem there is that person there is that student even if they are not doing sponsors but they are from good families but you yourself ask yourself where have you come from and where do you want to go then you live within your means so as you wind up I want to give each one of you like 30 seconds starting with you Emma what are your aspirations does leadership for you end when you graduate do you see yourself taking up future let's say political or other leadership positions in the future no it won't end after graduation maybe in the future I'll take other leadership positions maybe like what sector politics ok Mary what are your aspirations after your time to serve as a what the works for patron is done where else do we expect to see Mary or John ok in fact stop expecting and start living to the reality that I will lead women maybe till I die god women and my aspiration in politics I already started but in 2020 to God knows where I'll be placed but I want to encourage other women leaders because my journey was just to show young women that this top position like women rep is not left for older people people had stereotyped some age they had set an age for people to join national politics and I came in to break that limit and tell them at 20 you can still buy for any position as long as you qualify constitutionally and still win and maybe in the future if Kenyans decided to vote me in who am I to refuse I will win and I will serve the most important part is to serve and deliver and show a difference with women leadership Ivan what is your what are your aspirations does your leadership end as serving as a vice chairperson my journey already just started in leadership and I'm looking forward towards being a great leader in the future and not only leading women but I also want to show the men that I can lead them it's not just a matter of leadership although I'll also work hand in hand with the women because I have passion for the culture but then I want to also show the men that I can lead them so I'm looking forward towards political leadership in case I get an opportunity I want to refuse I'll also take the leadership position and also in mentorship and these staffs like I just want to impact lives positively okay so as you wind up media I would like you to share something if maybe you do have any activities that wasa is planning for women out there young women out there watching and they would like to come and be mentored and hollered share your social media platforms currently running a national campaign of zero teen pregnancy but I'd wish any interested partner to come and join us and even stakeholders you can contribute in one way or the other kindly follow our Facebook page at women's students welfare association and you'll find our contacts there if you want my personal number we can link up it's 0712112732 I repeat 0712112732 please join us and let's empower the female student STG number 5 women and girls empowerment gender equality is the bottom line thank you very much ladies for really sharing this I am sure that the young women watching us tonight and if you want them to take up a leadership position don't wait until you're 30 don't wait until you're 40 you can do it at 20 years old you've seen we have Mary, we have Emma and we have Yvonne they are very outspoken young ladies they are people you can see can really lead a team people who can serve you so that is how we hand for you tonight on Y254 and how we say for you tonight women can also lead it's about women and men coming together to achieve every goal that people have thank you very much for joining us tonight my name is Patricia Moriuki, have yourselves a very good night