Kenya: Proposed constitutional amendment sets back women's rights

Lillian Mutuku, a 34-year-old mother of three, describes her home in Katine area, in Kenya's Eastern province Tala, as a harsh place to live. The soil is poor, she says, the sun beats down mercilessly and vegetation is sparse. "People here face a daily struggle to make ends meet and to find water and food for their families. During the dry season it is worse, as the few crops we plant die, making food expensive," she complained. "Women have to walk many miles a day in search of that precious liquid–water." The fact that Kenya's political parties have been struggling to rewrite the country's Constitution since February 2008 in an effort to end post-election violence and improve justice means a lot to Mutuku, despite the fact that she fails to understand the document's legal jargon. She believes the new Constitution will oblige government to ensure her family's access to food, shelter, water and health care. "The issues that preoccupy my mind are the daily struggle to provide food for my family and for my children to go to school. While there is free primary education, there are not enough teachers in our area, and so parents are forced to pay 100 Kenyan Schilling ($1.3) per month for private teachers," Mutuku says.