Effect of Social- Cultural Values on Women Leadership in Murang’a County Government

Abstract

Women globally persist to encounter obstacles related to leadership. The challenges arise from societies and traditions where the family unit of socialization is the central organization of patriarchy which is a vital notion in displaying gender disparity. This research study is based on the thinking that appropriate and structured women empowerment in a genuine manner can alter the way the county government is run especially in Kenya. The main objective of the study was to determine how social-cultural values affect women leadership in Murang’a County Government. The study is well-versed by social conflict analysis by Karl Marx. The study also adopted descriptive research design. The population under study comprises of 159 senior government officers as well as political elite in Murang’a County Government and the legislative assemble of Murang’a. The study used purposive sampling in identifying persons with requisite knowledge of the concept of the study. The primary data was collected using the questionnaire and the secondary data was obtained from the government policy documents, gender policies annual reports, strategic plans as well as periodic reports both published and unpublished. The study findings were analyzed by use of Microsoft Excel Software and presented by use of tables and percentage for ease of data interpretation and consumption by the readers. The study established that there is a historical conviction that, women are accountable to take care of kids and do household chores than involving themselves in outside home activities like career advancement or furthering in higher education. Women are over tasked with diverse domestic roles which include but not limited to cooking, take care of kids, washing among other endless roles which have neither pay nor compensation. All these actions make women fully engaged in the family unit tasks and hamper their participation in the politics and leadership of the nation. Owing to the findings, the County governments should adopt the best practices in the field of recruitment of any government vacancy which is based on fairness and gender equity. Keywords: Social-cultural values, Social conflict, Women leadership Structured women empowerment, Murang’a County Government