Baddies na Ballot: Kenyan Women Unite to Push for Political Power

In an auditorium that was nearly overflowing with people from all walks of life excited to be part of an engaging and lively discussion during the recording of tenth episode of Sauti Sessions Live, the immediate former president of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Faith Odhiambo, announced for the first time to an eager audience an initiative dubbed Baddies na Ballot. For the uninitiated, Baddies na Ballot traces its origin from the word baddies popularised by Kenyan GenZs to mean confident, stylish, and fine ladies. The phrase loosely translates to ladies with the power of the vote.

The initiative was, she explained, conceived with the goal of bringing Kenyan women together across the political spectrum to consolidate their voices and make their numbers count. She noted that the representation of women in governance structures did not reflect their numerical strength, and that the initiative is aimed at building momentum towards changing that reality. “We are calling ourselves to a meeting as women, ” Odhiambo said. “We cannot be saying that women make the highest percentage of voters and yet we are not at the centre of the decision-making nor are the policies surrounding women at the centre.’’

The Baddies na Ballot rally is scheduled to take place on 24th August, 2026 with the Ulinzi Sports Complex being looked at as a possible venue and attendees expected to wear pink and white attires. Melvine Thogo, who is the head of the initiative’s secretariat, shed more light on the agenda of the rally in an exclusive interview with Sauti Sessions, saying that the agenda would be driven by several issues affecting women in Kenya. “This is a movement that brings women from different organisations and political parties to champion for the cause of women with core pillars which include ending femicide, ending gender-based violence, economic inclusion for women, and pushing for the full implementation of the two-thirds gender rule, ” Melvine Thogo said.

In a country entering a heated political campaign season ahead of the 2027 general election with politicians already trading barbs and making divisive utterances, the 24th August rally will also seek to send out to the public a clear and unequivocal message of peace. “We just want women to remain together and assure the entire country that we, all the women, stand for peace no matter how things go and there's no one who is going to fight the other,” Thogo said.

Several notable women will take on the responsibility of spearheading and popularising the Baddies na Ballot agenda. They include the former LSK president Faith Odhiambo, Kirinyaga Woman Representative Jane Njeri Maina, Siasa Place executive director Nerima Wako, Badili Africa founder and executive director Bina Maseno, and feminist and human rights activist Zaha Indimuli.

Melvine Thogo revealed that the initiative would deploy a multi-pronged strategy to sustain its momentum and ensure that issues pertinent to women become part and parcel of public discourse. “We will have digital campaigns including holding Twitter spaces and Instagram lives to reach those who will not make it to the rally, interviewing women, partnering with women in leadership and different organisations whose activities are centred on advocacy for women, ” Melvine Thogo explained.

The Baddies na Ballot head of secretariat noted that after the 24th August rally sustained efforts would be mounted to remind Kenyans and party principals of its declarations and promises to ensure that they are not forgotten, that is, they are incorporated into the blueprints and platforms that political leaders seek to run on. There will also be active monitoring of political developments in the country and how women are being treated on the campaign trail. “If we say that femicide is a national issue then we expect that leaders will come up with plans on how to end this, ” Thogo said.

Can Women and Youth Break Barriers to Political Leadership?

This announcement of the initiative by Faith Odhiambo could not have been made in a more apt setting than the tenth edition of Sauti Sessions Live themed Can Women and Youth Break Barriers to Political Leadership, the edition sought to shine a spotlight on the challenges that women and the youth face in their quest for political office. An irony in a country that boasts of a constitution hailed as one of the most progressive on the African continent with provisions such as Article 27 and Article 55 which obligate the state to ensure that women and youth are not discriminated against in the political sphere.

That Kenyan women and youths continue to fight for their rightful share in the politics of their country speaks to a culture of infidelity to the dictates of the constitution. “There is no constructive aim to ensure compliance, ” Faith Odhiambo asserts. 

The fact that politics in Kenya is driven by other factors other than ideas puts youth and women at a disadvantage. “When you run for political office in this country as a young person, especially as a young woman, you quickly realise that politics in this country is just not about ideas. It's about power. It's about who is seen as legitimate to lead. You realise that you are not just running against other candidates but against assumptions that are held against you as a young woman, ” Bina Maseno observes.

Most of the challenges that youths and women have to grapple with in their political journey are systemic and deeply embedded. These issues have been there for quite some time that they have become normalised.  “Political parties are like any other organisation; they have to accumulate resources. People have to bring in their financial muscle and that is where young people are edged out. It's as if the system, the way it has been set for eons, edges out young people, ” the Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina observes. It is a view that political and governance expert Javas Bigambo agrees with. “The system is rigged against women and the youth, ” he says.

Yet amid all these hurdles, there's a need for women and youth not to despair and to sustain their push for a seat at the table. The hope lies in folding the sleeves and embracing the challenges with a positive attitude. “We must recognise our currency and also fight for those spaces… It is not impossible, ” Faith Odhiambo says.

Bina Maseno advice to the women and youth seeking political office is to build power way before the elections are held. This entails understanding the voting patterns of the places they intend to run and how they can turn that to their advantage. It's also about mobilising support for candidates that we want to win.

Javas Bigambo, a lawyer and governance expert, believes that change starts with a conscious rejection of the status quo that continues to disadvantage women and the youth. “It is important for us to reject the mediocrity in leadership, leadership without ideas, leadership that is mobilising around tribe and regionalism, ” he says. 

For the Kirinyaga Woman Rep, the youth should not allow the systemic challenges that are arrayed against them to stop them. They ought to give it a shot. “I want to ask the young people to offer themselves for positions of leadership. You want the change, be the candidate. Sell your ideology… Believe in your candidacy, ” Njeri Maina advises.