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PAMBAZUKO LA WANAWAKE MAGHARIBI PROJECT
Name of Applicant: Pambazuko la Wanawake Magharibi
Registration number: OP.218/051/11-0425/7251
Country: Kenya
Year of registration: 2011
Legal status: Non-Governmental Organization
Postal address: 7422 – 40100 Kisumu
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 0714035713 or 0739027611
Name of contact person: Everlyne Khaemba
Position: Chief executive officer.
PROFILE OF PALAWAMA
Pambazuko La Wanawake Magharibi (PALAWAMA) is a legally recognized local NGO,
and though it has been in existence since 2006, it attained its legal status under Ministry of
State for National Heritage and Culture (MoSNHC) as a Non-Governmental Organization
(NGO) with registration number Op. 218/051/11-0425/7251 in 2011. PALAWAMA brings
together 15 Women Groups in Western and Nyanza regions of Kenya whose membership
comprises over 700 individuals, religious leaders, academicians, and key women and youth
involved in the fight for respect, protection and fulfilment of rights of Women and young
people in the afore mentioned regions.
The organization’s target is to work towards ensuring human rights and justice for women
and young people in Migori, Nyamira, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Siaya, Kakamega, Bungoma,
Vihiga and Busia Counties. PALAWAMA has been in existence for 8 years during which
period it has been able to acquire a degree of understanding of the social dynamics in the
rural communities of the two regions hence the design and implementation of programs to
address the challenges.
Given the increasing complexity and magnitude of human rights violations and poverty in the
country, and after a thorough analysis of the root causes, PALAWAMA is committed to its
interest of advocating for the rights of women and young people, and aims at ensuring that
many other like-minded organizations and actors in rural Nyanza and Western regions
emerge and are helped through capacity building to acquire the necessary skills,
competencies, attitudes and knowledge to enable them effectively support women and young
people in their respective communities and advocate for their rights to improve their
livelihoods.
SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT/PROGRAMME
Title: Enhancing democracy in Kakamega County.
Location: Malava Sub-County, Kakamega County
Overall objective: Enhance democracy in Kakamega County through an informed and
empowered society reaching at least 50,000 people.
Specific objective:
 To increase capacity of women, youth and Persons with Disabilities in participating in
decision making and governance processes through their engagement with the
elections bodies.
 To strengthen community monitoring institutions in ensuring credible elections that
are free and fair.
 To enhance citizens knowledge on the electoral process.
Outputs:
 Number of women, youth and persons with disabilities participating leadership and
governance processes in Kakamega County by at least 20%.
 Putting in place political leadership that is people-driven.
 At least 2 Political parties adhere to the 2/3 gender rule.
 Capacity of 200 electoral officials in Kakamega County to enhance public
participation and service delivery enhanced.
Activities:
 Conduct civic and voter education on constitutional commitments and responsibilities
of rights holders and duty bearers.
 Formation, strengthening and facilitating a network comprising of women, youth and
persons with disabilities to conduct monitoring of the electoral process.
 Capacity building for women, youth and persons with disabilities on leadership skills
and governance processes related to the elections.
 Capacity building of the community and government officials including security
agents in alleviating Elections Gender Based Violence.
 Lobbying of political parties to put in place rules and regulations for nominations that
adhere to the 2/3rd gender rule.
Duration:
24 months
RELEVANCE OF THE INTERVENTION
Despite constitutional provisions for affirmative action, women in Kenya remain severely
underrepresented in the political arena. Women participation and performance in 2013
elections was very low. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s global ranking of
women in national parliaments, Kenya is ranked number 71 out of 139, with 19.7% female
representation in the Lower House and 26.5% in the Senate. There are no elected women
Governors or Senators in the 47 counties in Kenya and only 5.52% of elected MPs were
women while out of the 47 county governments, only 82 women were elected as members of
Country Assemblies, out of a total of 1,450.
Studies have found that the political engagement of women in governance processes is low
due to cultural barriers including traditional views on the roles of women in society, lack of
financial resources, women themselves also either did not have confidence in participating or
did not know how to participate.
Further, women candidates face structural barriers in that they are often locked out of the
party nomination processes and they do not have the same access to funding sources to their
male counterparts. They are poorly prepared for election campaigns, lacking in understanding
of the political process, and in skills/confidence in areas such as public speaking, ability to
debate political policy on different issues. They may be deterred by gender based violence
and intimidation before, during and after elections. The failure of the police and judiciary to
address instances of violence further discourages women from contesting for election.
On the other hand, patriarchal cultural practices tend to work against women as they are
actively discouraged by family and community from participating in leadership and
governance. This is worsened by the fact that the citizens are unaware of the two third gender
principle which calls for representation of women in leadership positions.
Kakamega is one of the counties in Western Kenya with rooted culture. Women leadership is
never taken serious by the community dominated by men. Women are considered to be
strangers, of weaker sex who should play subordinate role to men. Culturally women are
considered to have predefined roles such as food production and reproduction as in child
bearing/caring. Such believes denies women opportunity to participate in decision making
processes that affect them at all levels in the county by their families and the patriarchal
societies in which they live thus missing out their valuable input.
This project will enable PALAWAMA to mobilize and build capacities of women and youth
aspirants in Kakamega County so to actively participate in election processes. This is aimed
at increasing women and youth’s numbers in leadership position thus getting an opportunity
to influence key decisions affecting the masses. As a result the 2/3 gender rule will be
achieved in addition to responsive county budgets addressing the needs and aspirations of the
community at large.
Through this project PALAWAMA aims at providing civic education which will see an
increase in the number of women, youth and people with disabilities applying for identity
cards and subsequently registering as voters. The more the informed registered voters the
higher the chances of electing leaders of integrity leading to reduced cases of
misuse/misappropriation of public resources. Also women and youths will realize their civic
and political rights as enshrined in the constitution.
Further, the project will empower the youth and women to create avenues/mechanisms for
engaging duty bearers thus leading to downward accountability. This will inculcate
supervisory role in women and youths as they will keep vigilant watch on governance
processes for improved service delivery. Quality services build citizen confidence with their
leader as there is value for money. To actualise these leaders should come up with pro-poor
policies which call for development.
OBJECTIVES, EXPECTED RESULTS AND OVERALL DESIGN OF THE
INTERVENTION
Overall objective:
Enhance the participation of women and youth in decision making and governance
processes in the county: Women, youth and persons with disabilities in Malava Sub-county
are passive participants in governance processes. This is due to the culture that does not
ensure gender equity therefore subduing and rendering them voiceless. Over the years, there
has never been a woman Member of Parliament. The youth have also not been spared. The
political space has been dominated by men and only using the youth as political tools. This
has seen a community where women and youth have low capacity to participate in
governance process hence their extinct in leadership and a culture of poor delivery of basic
services. The action is therefore generally geared towards mobilizing and catalyzing women
and youth into actively contributing to decisions in the Sub-county so as to root out the social
problems as they are the majority in population.
Specific objectives:
To increase capacity of women, youth and persons with disabilities in participating in
decision making and governance processes through their engagement with the
Kakamega County government: The women and youth need to be trained and equipped
with skills on leadership, campaigning, resource mobilization and networking. This objective
is therefore intended to ensure that women and youth they realize their potential to be leaders
and they embrace it.
To strengthen community monitoring institutions in ensuring credible elections that are
free and fair: This means that the community based organizations are organized and have
their capacity built to conduct monitoring of the election process to ensure accountability
transparency and accountability elections.
To enhance citizens’ knowledge on the electoral process: The electorate at large, are
ignorant of their rights and obligations and those of duty bearers when participating in the
elections process. This objective therefore seeks to enhance their knowledge on the same.
Expected Outputs:
 Increased number of women, youth and persons with disabilities participating
leadership and governance processes in Kakamega County: At least 3 institutions
including the County Assembly have more women and youth as members. The
number of women and youth registering as voters in the 2017 election increases by
20%. Outcome: Enhanced gender responsive service delivery due to increased
number of women, youth and people with disabilities included at decision making
centers.
 Putting in place political leadership that is people-driven: This will be achieved
after the community being sensitized on essentials of good leadership and are able to
vet the aspirants against the same. Outcome: increased delivery of basic services in a
more accountable and transparent way.
 At least 2 Political parties adherence to the 2/3 gender rule: Political parties
ensure that the 2/3rd gender rule is observed during nominations at all levels to enable
women achieve their political leadership agenda. This should be observed both at the
aspirants’ and voters/delegates’ level. Outcome: More women gain political
leadership positions.
 Capacity of 200 electoral officials in Kakamega County to enhance public
participation and service delivery enhanced: This calls for more spaces of
engagements between the community and duty bearers including Independent
Elections and Boundaries’ Commission (IEBC) and political party officials to ensure
transparency and accountability in the elections process. Outcome: Delivery of
credible elections.
Activities:
 Conduct civic and voter education on constitutional commitments and
responsibilities of rights holders and duty bearers: This includes public forums,
workshops for selected women, youth and persons with disabilities who will be linked
to the aspirants as mobilizers, engagements between groups of women, youth and
persons with disabilities, opinion leaders and duty bearers from IEBC and political
parties. This also includes sensitization forums on the need for the citizens to register
as voters.
 Formation, strengthening and facilitating a network comprising of women, youth
and persons with disabilities to conduct monitoring of the electoral process: This
comprises of women groups, youth groups and those of people living with disabilities
who will be trained in monitoring of the elections process to ensure that these gender
groups’ rights are not violated. The network members shall also be trained on how to
engage with the duty bearers during the monitoring process and launching of their
findings. There shall also be public debates for aspirants to defend their manifestos
for vetting by the voters.
 Capacity building for women, youth and persons with disabilities on leadership
skills and governance processes related to the elections: This includes mapping of
the women, youth and people with disabilities as aspirants and training them on
campaigning, advocacy, public speaking, resource mobilization and mentoring of the
aspirants by former strong women and youth politicians. Also build their capacity on
how to engage with political parties as vehicles for elections. Their mobilizers shall
also be trained.

Capacity building of the community and government officials including security
agents in alleviating Elections Gender Based Violence (EGBV): Community
awareness forums on laws on EGBV, interface meetings between women, youth and
people with disabilities and duty bearers on the need to prevent EGBV. Setting up of
community led security mechanisms which include hotlines and help desks in
collaboration with duty bearers and opinion leaders to alleviate EGBV.
 Lobbying of political parties to put in place rules and regulations for
nominations that adhere to the 2/3rd gender rule: These are interface meetings with
political parties’ officials by women, youth and people with disabilities to lobby for
implementation of the rule.
Strategies:
Networking and linkages: PALAWAMA will seek to collaborate with other like-minded
organizations in the area.
Workshops: These will mostly be conducted during trainings facilitated by experts on the
topics for selected groups.
Campaigns: Activities to widely sensitize the community on the elections process, their
responsibilities and rights.
Dialogues: These are important during interface meetings with duty bearers and amongst the
citizens in advocating for rights as pertains the electoral process.
Empowerment: Building capacity of the community to ensure fair elections that are gender
sensitive.
Monitoring and evaluation: To ensure that the project is on track to achieve results, bring
out challenges and their solutions.
Role of stake holders:
Women, youth and persons with disabilities:
Community members who will take charge of ensuring an electoral process that is free, fair
and inclusive.
Duty bearers: Elections officials, party officials, security agents and other public officials
mandated with the responsibility of dispensation of the constitution to achieve free and fair
elections.
Non-state actors: They are members of civil societies who have the responsibility of
building capacity of the citizens. This is inclusive of PALAWAMA staff.
Beneficiaries:
Estimated number of direct beneficiaries is 180 women, 120 youth, 60 persons with
disabilities and 200 elections officials.
Estimated number of indirect beneficiaries is 600
Estimated number of final beneficiaries is 50,000