Throughout the 21st century, women have been pivotal in changing society by taking up leadership positions and advocating for peace as peacebuilders, roles that were initially reserved for their male counterparts since a woman’s space is inclined towards household chores like raising children, cleaning, and cooking among others.
Mary Njoki,a peacebuilder from Uasin Gishu County is an example of the eminent women who have excelled in championing for peace in the region and bringing change to the community.
She started the campaign for peacebuilding in 2009 and is still at it to date with the aim of ensuring that nobody else experiences the challenge of losing a loved one as a result of conflict.
“I take this job as my work out of the passion that I have for it. As a victim of the 2008 post-election violence in which I lost my parents and brother because of tribal clashes, I made a vow to champion for peace and ensure that no one else goes through the same tragedy because they speak a different language from mine,” added Njoki.
She affirmed that at the beginning of her work, she experienced challenges from the public since people could not fathom how a woman would preach peace but as time went by more women came on board preaching peace in their respective communities gradually changing the narrative.
Njoki added that as more women joined the cause she created a group of one hundred women who championed peace and issues that affected women in society.
She argued that women are more likely to bring about peace in society as they are updated on events that take place in homes and in villages.
The peace warrior observed that most people wrongly assume that preaching peace should only be practiced during the electioneering period.
She indicated that the best time to preach peace is when the country is calm and everybody is at peace so that when conflict arises they will have been effectively taught its importance.
“It is difficult to preach peace when there is an ongoing conflict between warring groups as people may be reacting out of anger and they may not be persuaded easily; the best period to champion peace is when people are peaceful in their communities.
In the 2022 general election, the majority of people that were elected won their seats because they advocated for peace during the campaign period,” affirmed Njoki.
The peace advocate commended the daring effort by women to take up leadership positions in the country calling it a big step towards creating a platform for their voices to be heard.
She added that initially the majority of the women, especially those her age, did not acquire basic education that is required to qualify for some positions.
“Many women lack resources like wealth because it is known that wealth is created and owned by men, but it is a positive step that most women have started vying for leadership positions letting go of patriarchal practices and if we continue bringing more women on board, women will create positions for themselves unlike before,” Njoki alluded.
In an effort to advocate for peace in society, she noted that challenges are inevitable when working as a peacebuilder. She said that lack of funding hindered effectiveness of peacebuilding as one had to provide the resources individually which was sometimes strenuous.
“The work of a peacebuilder is entirely voluntary; nobody gets paid to preach peace. We therefore volunteer so that we can live peacefully in our homesteads.
Sometimes, you find that conflict has risen in a certain area far from your region, but due to lack of resources it becomes hard to get to the ground and bring peace to the warring parties,” she said.
Njoki hence called on the government and non-governmental agencies to support the peacebuilders in terms of resources so that when conflict arises, they can get to the hotspot area at ease, bringing peace among the conflicted groups.
She called on media practitioners to provide extensive coverage of the success stories and activities carried out by peace warriors so that the general public can be educated about peacebuilding.
During the 2022 Mashujaa Day celebrations, Mary Njoki was honoured by President Dr. William Ruto for the exemplary work that she and other eminent women had done in contributing to a better society by promoting peace and unity.
“I am happy that some organisations have seen my work and appreciated me for the efforts that I have made. In 2022, I received an honorary award, Shujaa as a peace champion in Uasin Gishu. I was happy that we were recognised and our efforts appreciated even by the government,” explained Njoki.
Her efforts in peacebuilding to create change in society were also acknowledged by the United Nations Women at the Security Council as an example of the many women in society who are celebrated for positively impacting society.
By Angela Silayo
