{"id":118492,"date":"2025-07-21T06:03:51","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T06:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/07\/21\/change-happens-when-women-unite-karua-on-her-struggles\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T06:03:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T06:03:51","slug":"change-happens-when-women-unite-karua-on-her-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/change-happens-when-women-unite-karua-on-her-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"Change happens when women unite: Karua on her struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 21 \u2013 People\u2019s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua has emphasized the need for women in Africa to unite in their struggles underscoring the power of solidarity.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the Botswana Congress Party Women\u2019s League National Elective Conference in Lobatse, Karua stated that \u201cChange happens when women unite,\u201d urging transnational alliances for advocacy, electoral reform, and mutual support.<\/p>\n<p>The conference brought together women leaders under the theme: \u201cWomen\u2019s Political Leadership for a Just and Equitable Society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sexism, Courage &amp; Leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Karua spoke about the sexism she endured in her political career including being mocked as cucu (granny) during her 2022 presidential campaign and dismissed as \u201cunfit\u201d for leadership because of her status as a single mother.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t run despite the sexism, I ran because of it,\u201d Karua said. \u201cTo show young women that your voice is your power and no one has the right to silence it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She challenged patriarchal systems that exclude women from decision-making, urging women\u2019s movements to demand more than symbolic representation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Breaking Barriers in Botswana and Beyond<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Citing Botswana\u2019s 4.92% female representation in parliament, Karua called it \u201cinexcusable\u201d and pushed for 50% gender quotas across Africa. She reminded attendees of women\u2019s critical roles in liberation struggles from Nairobi to Soweto, yet noted their continued marginalization post-independence.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Call to Action: A Pan-African Women\u2019s Alliance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Karua closed with a rallying cry for women across Africa to run for office, fund each other\u2019s campaigns, and form a Pan-African Women\u2019s Alliance. She underscored the importance of political education, sisterhood, and resilience:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElections aren\u2019t just events. They\u2019re moments to test democracy and redefine women\u2019s place in power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The conference concluded with the election of new BCP Women\u2019s League leadership and a strategy resolution for the next term.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 21 \u2013 People\u2019s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua has emphasized the need for women in Africa to unite in their struggles underscoring the power of solidarity. Speaking at the Botswana Congress Party Women\u2019s League National Elective Conference in Lobatse, Karua stated that \u201cChange happens when women unite,\u201d urging transnational alliances for advocacy, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}