Interrogating Impediments to Women Participation in Political Leadership among the Abagusii in Post-Colonial Kenya

The trend on elective political positions in the Gusii region shows that, women have not been getting equal opportunities as their male counterparts in elective seats of members of parliament, the seats of the governor, senator and members of county assembly in the counties in Gusii region. The objective of the study was to establish challenges to women participation in political leadership among the Abagusii Community from 1963 up to 2015. The study was guided by the feminist theory. According to this theory, the discrepancies in the decision-making in societies emerge from a social framework that espouses inequality. This study was based on qualitative approach and phenomenological design. The target population was made up of 682,481 women participants from the 8 Sub-Counties and 29 wards in Kisii County from where a sample size of 422 respondents was sampled purposively. The research instruments were interviews and focused group discussions from key informants. Archival sources were used as well as secondary data from books, articles published in journals and periodicals, unpublished articles and newspapers. Piloting was carried out in Kisii County on 10% of the sample size to test dependability and credibility. The data was analyzed thematically and presented qualitatively in the narrative form. The findings of this study are that cultural factors, stereotyping of women, economic factors, political barriers, lack of husband support, stigmatization, and gender-based violence are among the factors that have contributed to low participation of women in political leadership among the Abagusii community. The recommendations of the study were change in cultural perception towards women, gender equality awareness, emphasis on women empowerment and amendment of political party policies this will bring gender equality in leadership among the Abagusii