Ms. Emmaculate Mbengwa Musya
Women County Representative
Nairobi County, Kenya
Orange Democratic Party (ODM)
Home is what one makes of it, and home to Emmaculate Musya
is the hillsides of the Kibera informal settlement. As an entrepreneur and community leader, home
is not just the small one-room space that serves as her family’s bedroom,
kitchen, and a community meeting space for local women, but also the many small
hotels, restaurants, beauty salons, and other businesses of Kibera that weave
themselves throughout the community and along the railroad tracks that define
it.
Through her own hard struggles in early life, Emmaculate
learned much about how to multiply the little resources one may have into
bountiful dividends. Unlike some leaders who only “talk the talk”, Emmaculate “walks
the walk” and has results to show for her creative entrepreneurial empowerment
efforts. With the original objective of
paying school fees for her children, she started a Chalma for women to
collectively pool their resources together.
Although a few shillings a day from a handful of individuals may not
seem like much, when 1600 slum women scrimped and saved their spare change,
they fundraised through hamrambee (the Kenyan version of putting money in a
basket or hat) three million shillings.
When divided up among each other, the money was used not only to pay for
school fees, but also to help cover start up costs for small
businesses----creating a sustainable legacy.
As the elected chair of the Slum Women’s Voice----a constituency
of over 10,000 women from various clusters in the slums of Kibera and across
Nairobi, Emmaculate has been a formidable figure in mobilizing poor grassroots
women to make their voices heard and listened to. Emmaculate’s organizing skills are impressive,
and on the day of our interview she was making phone calls and texting her
network of women leaders asking them to engage other activists for an impromptu
action of media inundation via mobile phone call-ins on the day that the
viability of women’s representation as stated in the new Constitution was to be
questioned on parliament floor; the success of her mobilization was visible
less than 24-hours later through the tremendous coverage that the topic
received on morning radio and tv shows.
Emmaculate believes that one doesn’t just become a great
leader, but must taught to be a good leader and given the opportunity to
lead. She has encouraged leadership by establishing
organizations such as the Forum for Women that convenes small groups of about
20 women to practice leadership and plan out strategies for civic
engagement. These small gatherings have
not only allowed women the chance to “be present” in decision making, but have
also created economic opportunities. The
group that was hosting the meeting I attended during Emmaculate’s community
visit had bought a piece of land, created a community space and have generated
a consistent source of income generation by renting the space to leaders and
groups that need a venue for meetings and other gatherings. Finding secure and safe locations for people
to meet in the informal settlements is challenging, but by creating a much-needed
commodity, the women are profiting.
As 54% of the Kibera population, women are the largest
demographic and a powerful voice in politics when they run for office and vote
for candidates. Emmaculate and organizations including Slum Women’s Voice have
provided organizing trainings for women, who now nominate other women to run
for office and coordinate election outreach in over eight slum communities in
Nairobi. In fact, in 2007, with the
encouragement of her peers, Emmaculate ran for a Council leadership
position. Despite a very strong
door-to-door campaign, Emmaculate faced unforeseen roadblocks as she challenged
the corrupt Kenyan elections culture of vote buying and seat appointments to
friends. Male politicians felt particularly
threatened by the powerful influence she was building in the community and
showed resentment that a women could potentially “steal” away their powerful
seats in office. In one attempt to deter Emmaculate from completing her
campaign, she was lured into the tight confines of a local salon, where she
faced interrogation from men who were armed with machetes and knifes. Not only did they steal all of the money she
had, but the men also stripped her naked and threatened to rape her. Her resolve and fearlessness scared the men
from perpetrating her or any others with her, but the experience left an indelible
mark on Emmaculate. It is quite
unfortunate that Emmaulate’s campaign challenges in 2007 were not unique; many women
candidates from across Kenya faced resistance to their campaigns and even
violence during their candidacies.
In the years that followed the 2007 elections Emmaculate and
other women activists have benefited from the opportunities set forth in the
new constitution and have been teaching other women to refuse a candidate at
their door if they are not open to supporting issues that impact women and
families. In 2012, Emmaculate is running
for Women County Representative in Nairobi County, and is confident in her
opportunity for success. Actively
involved in the leadership of the ODM party, and organized financially, she is equipped
to win her race this year. Her passion
for bringing positive change to her community is evident in the strength of her
voice as she commands a room of women leaders with great respect. If she continues to educate her legions of
on-the-ground grassroots women with the message that “ your vote is your
right. Your vote is your life, “ 2012 could be an exciting year for not only
Emmaculate, but also all of the women of Kibera who can take pride in having
genuine voice and representation in the national Kenyan Parliament.
ADVICE TO OTHER YOUNG WOMEN LEADERS
1.) Take advantage of opportunities for education
2.) You can be anyone
3.) Our Position is where we are…..come out with other women
and let your voice be heard.
