By Dr Aribino Nicholas

Leaders in Africa tend to take their people for granted by not consulting with the people in the entire process of public policy formulation. People should be approached with a sense of respect and dignity because they are not subjects but citizens. Citizenship is not just defined in terms of status but also in terms of duty. Citizenship in terms of status implies that everyone should have documents that speak to being a constituent part of the country in which he or she is domiciled and citizenship in the light of duty implies that citizens have political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights. These rights are indeed lucidly covered in both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966 and the international Covenant on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 1966. It is the object of this opinion piece to look at what is happening in Kenya with both an open mind and an open mouth.
When one examines a phenomenon with an open mind and an open mouth, one adopts the attitude of a judge who is under obligation to look through the window to appreciate surrounding political, material, social, cultural and environmental circumstances before handing down a judgement. To that effect, one adopts a mind with a window and not a mind with a mirror. What is happening in Kenya has been accelerated by the intention of the government of Kenya to introduce a Finance Bill 2024. This Finance Bill 2024, among other things intended to introduce new levies on basic commodities like bread, vegetable oil, sugar and also an eco-levy on manufactured goods, including sanitary towels and diapers and an increase in existing taxes on financial transactions. The proposed tax measures did trigger the demonstrations, and these demonstrations were led largely by youths. In terms of demographics, 80% of the Kenyan population speaks to a youth bulge (aged 35 years and below) and 70% of Kenyans are wallowing in a deep dyed sea of poverty.
The proposed Finance Bill 2024 is coming against a background of internal resource mobilization in order to have 2.7 billion additional taxes to reduce the budget deficit and state borrowing. At the time of writing this opinion piece Kenya’s public debt is pegged at 68% higher than the 55% of GDP which is recommended by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) (IMF and WB). Arguably, the Finance Bill 2024 can be seen as a move to align fiscal and monetary policies to the dictates of the IFIs so that Kenya can access credit lines for economic growth. This is where most African States have to engage in critical self-talk in terms of their direction of accountability. The direction of accountability by African leaders is upwards, that is towards the IFIs as compared to being downwards (grassroots). Quantitative growth or economic growth without growth with development is a faulty-line for most African countries. The quantitative growth that is often associated with an economic face without a qualitative aspect that improves the happiness index of citizens will always motivate citizens to grumble and protest in the long run. When African countries go for economic growth, they tick the IMF and WB boxes for good governance, because for them it means gaining more economic stamina for their institutions that rely on ancient wealth. Historically, ancient wealth constitutes economic resources that were looted from Africa during the era of colonialism and slavery and that are now being loaned out to Africa. African countries get embedded in a roundabout of debt through their continued association with the IFIs. The whole idea behind the IFIs is to strengthen the global North through dependency thinking by African leaders. When the youths in Kenya protested, they shouted, “Willian Ruto-US puppet.” The youths in Africa constitute 65%, Africa is therefore a youthful continent. The youths have collective power and can use that power to unseat any government. The majority of these youths in Africa are out of employment, they have all the time in the world to pool their knowledge and physical energies to either move or remove any government from power.
African governments should consult with their citizens first before they make decisions that have adverse ramifications on the well-being of their citizens. For example, the idea of the eco-levy would imply that the menstrual hygiene of Kenyan women would be compromised as that move could witness a hike in the cost of sanitary wear. Period poverty would continue to characterize the lives of girls and women. In-toto the Finance Bill 2024 is not coming as an elixir to the every day people of Kenya, as it will be there for international economic relations between Kenya and the IFIs. Economic diplomacy should not come at the cost of citizens’ livelihoods. African governments have an opportunity to pool their economic resources through the African Development Bank for the purpose of financing their development plans. To deny citizens space for demonstrations is only inviting more problems for African countries as the youths may resort to risky copying strategies of living like joining terrorist groups for survival purposes. When one door is closed to the youths, many more will open, for example a door to the underground space will be opened where youths can be involved in planning to use and abuse substances, spending time on sites of pornography and joining terrorist movements. It is important for African governments to involve youths in decision making in matters that affect their lives. Before tear-gassing youths, the Kenyan government should introspect and ask itself, “What are the structural determinants of the youths’ protestations.” What is happening in Kenya today should be an early warning sign for all African leaders.

By Nicholas Aribino (Gender and Policy Studies Student-GZU), Mavis Mbiriri (Gender and Policy Studies Student-GZU) and Mrs Jenneth Musiyiwa (Early Childhood Education Coordinator-Women’s University in Africa (WUA)) writing in their own capacities.

Mao Tse-tung once remarked, “The Chinese men are under the burden of three mountains- imperialism, feudalism and backwardness and the Chinese women are under the burden of four mountains -imperialism, feudalism, backwardness and Chinese men.” According to Mao Tse-tung, the factors that accounted for women’s oppression in China during his time seemed to be parallel and yet coterminous when it came to the welfare, well-being and independence of women. Mao Tse-tung did not tell the entire story in his analysis about the tribulations of women, how come he elided nature as another variable working in intimate cahoots with the above variables to complexify the biological grammar of women? Women bleed (menstruate) every month due to physiological processes. This natural biological process comes with limited individual liberties for women due to hormonal changes. For example, some women may become horny towards their menstruation and cannot take the initiative to reach out to men for sex (lula lula) because of gendered socialization, others experience severe cramps and modal changes. During their menstruation women need sanitary towels and sanitary pads to feel comfortable and to go about their daily businesses with a sense of confidence. It is the intention of this opinion piece to highlight that when women bleed it is the duty of the State to respect, protect and fulfil their diverse needs and rights during this ephemeral period of carrying the mountainous burden of nature.
Women bleed as a result of nature, they do not bleed out of choice. It is indeed worrisome that sexual intercourse that is done out of choice has its concerns for protection covered through the provision of free condoms in both public and private spaces like colleges, toilets, hospitals, food courts, hotels and beerhalls. Women and girls experience menstruation at different times of the month, and this natural process comes with varied changes in behavioral and biological patterns. For example, a young girl experiencing menstruation would need to attend classes, go about every chore that needs to be done in the private arena and participate in sporting activities with all the confidence she can muster. The capacity for a woman to go about her sex and gender roles during menstruation is highly depended on a sense of security regarding the extent to which the bleeding is being managed. Most women and girls experience period poverty, that is they have no money to buy sanitary wear or pads, even those ones with the capacity to buy pads, they may not buy enough pads to follow the rigorous regime of changing the pads, that is at least three times a day. For school going girls, the absence or inadequacy of sanitary wear may lead to loss of confidence and absenteeism from school and this may disrupt enrolment, retention and completion of studies. The bleeding of women and girls does not define and rule women and girls as a homogeneous group with shared interests, as it comes with differential impacts and to that effect those with the responsibility to look after the welfare of women should understand and appreciate that women’s practical and strategic needs as a result of this biological process may differ but one point of convergence for all of them is the need to manage the bleeding through sanitary wear. Women and girls that cannot afford sanitary wear in most cases end up resorting to unhygienic means of managing the menstrual flow like using pieces of cloth (rags) that may cause infections, cow dung that may even cause further discomfort and irritations and leaves that may irritate and take away their sense of womanhood. Needles should just be put in their right places, why would rags, leaves, cow-dung be used instead of sanitary pads?
It is important for the readership to understand that when women bleed, the bleeding needs management so that their other daily activities are not compromised. A woman who is bleeding needs the support of his brother, husband, uncle and the State. A girl who is bleeding needs the social and economic support of his brother, siblings, father, class mates, peers, teachers and State. The bottom line here is that women and girls should not feel out of place because nature has called on them. It is the collective thinking of the writers of this opinion piece that the State, above all as guided by the directional and living document of the land, the Constitution of 2013 under Section 3g which talks about Gender Equality should ensure that sanitary ware is made available for all women and girls. Gender equality which is the ultimate goal of gender mainstreaming cannot be fully realized if women and girls’ practical and strategic needs are not considered in terms of programming. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to appreciate that sanitary ware for women and girls is as necessary as water is to fish, and that water also is as necessary to women and girls at all times just as sovereignty is to any country under the sun. Women and girls need their confidence during this natural cyclone of menstruation, and the State should ensure that nothing takes away their sense of womanhood during this period by even fencing off votes from the fiscus for free sanitary wear for our mothers, wives, daughters and sisters. The individuality of women per se cannot be complete when they know that they are bleeding yet no one is giving attention to that bleeding.
Women are already under the burden of the mountain of toxic masculinity, and this toxic masculinity has defined and ruled them according to essentialism if not vaginalism, something that already has further eroded their active participation in matters that affect them. To that effect, the State is under obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the natural right of women and girls to bleeding by providing free sanitary wear for them.