A first of its kind reality TV series, Ms President, will premiere on Kenyan televisions on January 30, 2019.
The show will involve a series of community engagements with a focus on the roles of women in society.
It will be primarily founded on the ideology of a competition known as Ms President, where women (contestants) from all backgrounds in the country will be competing to make Kenya’s first female president.
The women will not be discriminated on bases of religion, ethnicity, marital status, or employment among others.
The series also aims to showcase to the national audience the capacity and ability of women to lead effectively.
Contestants selected to participate will hence be charged with tasks, duties, and responsibilities that require them to exhibit their leadership skills and capabilities.
The program will also establish a platform for articulate and intelligent women in the country, with willingness and capabilities of leadership to establish meaningful foundations of “presidential candidates.”
The show also involves offers of leadership training and mentoring to the candidates over and above being a peace-building initiative for the prevention of violent extremism.
The determination of the level of performance of the candidates will be reached by the function of viewers’ votes as well as a jury decision.
At the end of the show, one contestant will emerge as the winner and be declared as “Ms President.”
The show aims to empower Kenyan women on leadership since they are undeniably underrepresented.
Harrison Manga, the Programmes Manager of Media Focus on Africa (the producer firm) indicated, “Despite the constitutional principle for two-thirds gender rule, women are still under-represented in public service, political leadership, and corporate leadership. The legal framework alone will not suffice in the achievement of the gender parity in leadership.”
He added, “Concerted efforts especially those targeting to alter attitudes, perceptions and stereotypes regarding women and leadership are a necessity. Ms President is one such effort.”
