I Like a Fighting Woman
- Category: Peering Eye
- Date 05-08-2007
- 419 views
When former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson pledged to return into the boxing ring last year, he savoured the idea of doing a World Tour where he would no longer fight men, except women. Analysts said no country would entertain such a craze, but Peering Eye would support it: if there were many female fighters around, this world would be a better place to live in.
Probably, there are cases of women who batter their husbands, but even then such incidents are rare. True, some woman fighter can beat a man, nevertheless many a woman never fight for nothing. When they fight, it is not so much a matter of aggression and suppression against men as their desire for individual or universal women’s justice.
See what has happened; the month of August has begun with a bang in East Africa. Last Wednesday a Kenyan woman walked up a police station, toppled all the men on guard and pulled a prisoner out of the cells. This fighter was none but the country’s Health Minister Ms. Charity Ngilu, renowned for her combative posture. Charity has wrestled to become Kenya’s President on previous occasion, failed miserably but she remains an inspiration to many a woman.
On 1st August, the gallant minister proved she was not amused that police had arrested her ilk, a women's rights activist, Anne Njogu, who heads the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness. The minister forced her way to the police station where the activist and three others were being held and freed her, despite resistance from policemen.
Honestly, any morally upright person would have been willing to go to prison for participating in the demonstration for which many activists were jailed. Kenya will be holding general elections this December and, realising that their term of office is ending; Members of Parliament (MPs) have hatched a plan to award themselves a bonus payment of twenty million dollars ($20m) before parliament is dissolved. They were set to vote on a government proposal to give them a 12.5% increase on their pay and allowances backdated to January 2003.
However, the Kenyan public and civil society would not take any of this. They demonstrated on streets and decided to pitch camp at the national parliament hopping to persuade the wabunge into rejecting the proposed offer, or deny themselves their own whish. The protesters reasoned that there are more deserving cases in the country, where a majority live on less than a dollar per day. Why should a woman not fight, in the circumstances?
In the eyes of the police, this was unlawful and they intervened: throwing teargas canisters into crowds, shooting bullets in the air and arresting the people they were able to lay hands on. The “ringleaders” were rounded up, thrown into coolers and awaited charges of “inciting violence” and participating in “unlawful assembly”.
Interestingly, the police rubbed Minister Charity Ngilu the wrong way as they detained demonstrators: they included women’s rights activists. Minister Ngilu delivered herself, ready for jail if they wanted; she proceeded to rescue the said Anne Njogu, threw her into a car and drove her out of custody. Charity shouted at the police, "I am a girl and am here to defend their rights. Leave her alone …”
You and I can see that the behaviour of government and police is blatant folly. What is the purpose of a government? Exploiting citizens and plundering national resources? Is this what it would become when the East African Federation finally takes off? Peering Eye considers this a matter of great concern and thinks that if men cannot lead the way, then women should take over –Charity has given a cue.
In all critical situations, there will always be a torchbearer like her. However, there is a chronic tendency for politicians in government to be supportive or fall silent when a regime turns against the interests of its people. Let all women politicians follow in Charity’s path.
By Venansio Ahabwe
Source: Peering Eye, Sunday Citizen