Public Service, Youth and Gender Cabinet Secretary Margaret Kobia says that Kenya fears the leadership of strong women hence not ready to have its first female president.
Speaking at the 6th annual Women in Leadership Conference held at Sarova Whitesands in Mombasa on Wednesday, the CS cited the Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi's forceful ejection from her post as a reason why Kenya might not be ready for a female Head of State yet.
The CS indicated that it was "disturbing the way the Nairobi Speaker was removed" and that due process was not followed.
"The agenda of the day was not to deal with the Speaker. She allowed the meeting to take place but they decided to remove her,” stated the Cabinet secretary.
CS Kobia further added that Kenyans feel that women are vulnerable and always look for opportunities to impeach the strong ones from high offices just because their leadership is not readily accepted.
103 Members of Nairobi County Assembly, two weeks ago, voted in favour of impeaching the Nairobi Assembly speaker on the grounds of abuse of office, interfering with procurement process and undermining the authority of the public service board.
Speaker Elachi's lawyer rushed to the Labour court and had her reinstated as the county speaker.
CS Kobia, however, noted that strong women leadership is generally necessary for the country while observing that Mrs Elachi was not given ample opportunity to defend herself against the accusation labelled at her.
Several women have previously vied for the top Kenyan job but weren't quite successful with the notable ones being Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu and activist Nazlin Umar.
In 2017, Umar expressed interest for the post but was locked out of the race by IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati because apparently, her name was missing from the voters registers.
Ms Karua, flying the Narc Kenya flag unsuccessfully vied for the post in 2013 and finished sixth with 43,881 votes ahead of James Ole Kiyiapi who got 40,998 and Paul Muite with 12,580.
In 2007, Ms Umar entered the competition for the top seat challenging the then President Mwai Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga.
During the polls she vied for on a Workers Congress Party ticket, she emerged fifth.
The 1997 polls also saw Governor Ngilu emerge as a challenge to former President Daniel Arap Moi for the top job through the Social Democratic Party and finished fifth.
