Nairobi News

Bae wa Naii. Manzi wa Naii. Msupa na works.

As if our politics was not pathetic enough, Nairobi is now witnessing a new crop of Woman Representative aspirants who think that the race for that seat is a beauty contest.

With taglines like Bae wa Naii and Msupa na works, it is very clear that these politicians do not take themselves seriously.

LOOKING FOR HUSBANDS

From the way they look and feel, it would seem that the current crop of Nairobi Woman Rep aspirants are not only looking for your votes, but also for husbands.

With their goldilocks weaves, fake nails, heavily made-up faces, crimson red lipstick, vertiginous high heels and full length photos that show us all their curves and bulges, what we have are not politicians but socialites contesting in a ‘city bum’ beauty pageant.

The only difference between the curvaceous, Dubai-visiting socialites and the Woman Rep aspirants is that the politicians can afford billboards to showcase what they have to offer.

This is why nobody in this country will ever take the Woman representatives or even the office of the Woman Rep seriously.

If your selling point is beauty and youth (Bae is a corruption of the word ‘babe’), how do you expect we, the electorate to respect you, let alone consider your ideas?

WEIGHTY ISSUES

If you are peddling your beauty and asking us to judge you on the basis of your skin tone, make up and sheath dresses that outline your body, how do you expect us to entrust you with the weighty issues affecting the city?

If you are more interested in showing us your curves on your social media pages and on billboards than your ideas, how on earth do you expect a typical Kenyan not to think of you in a way that is not sexual? What are you trying to arouse here exactly?

You would think that with all their university degrees that maybe, just maybe, something would have stuck after years of law school, but I am massively disappointed that when it comes to Nairobi Woman Rep, the use of brains has been replaced with beauty and legs.

Why aren’t male MP or MCA aspirants not selling themselves as ‘Chali wa Naii’ or ‘Mjamaa na works’? Could it be that these Woman representative aspirants think that the only thing they have to offer to Nairobians is beauty and curves and not ideas that will change our stinking city?

LOSE RESPECT OF LEADERS

This is possibly why female politicians have lost the respect of Kenyans. They have packaged themselves as delicate models on the catwalks and Kenyans no longer view them through the prism of change agents or leaders.

To the average Kenyan, the only female politician worth the leadership title is Martha Karua, who has on many occasions been referred to as a man only because she comes across as a strong, no-nonsense politician, not a pretty girl with red lipstick and a tight skirt.

You cannot expect Kenyans to respect you if you package yourself as supuu. That is all they will see in you; your beauty — real or imagined. Not even your male colleagues in Parliament will accord you the respect you deserve as a leader because you come across as a flower girl with a blonde-dyed weave and fake eyelashes.

Such misguided thinking is to blame for the regrettable behaviour we have seen from some Woman Reps who have earned the dubious reputation for filming erotica while occupying high leadership offices.

I mean, when a woman markets herself as Manzi wa Naii, do you expect male leaders to look at her and think business?

LETHAL COMBINATION

There is obviously nothing wrong with female politicians wearing makeup or looking good. I am all for the lethal combination that is beauty and brains.

But when it comes to packaging yourself as a female politician, please think beyond the legs and hips. Make an effort to come across as a serious woman and a respected politician who is not afraid to tackle serious issues of public interest.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has the nicest pair of legs around but she also has a fierce leadership spirit.

Be a woman of substance. Be issue-based. Excite your electorate not with your curves, but with your ideas on how you will transform their city. Kenya has enough socialites to last us a lifetime.

Keep the tight skirts and sheath dresses in your wardrobe for dates with campaign sponsors. Cover up, ladies, and please put some respect in that Woman Representative office? Sawa Bae? Thanks, Msupa. Have a blessed Easter, Manzi wa Naii.