Nairobi, March 20 -- Shortly before the 2013 General Election, was set to be unveiled as the running mate of Kenneth Lusaka, a frontrunner in the Bungoma County gubernatorial race. She was elated, as this opportunity aligned with her burning political ambitions.

However, her joy was short-lived.

Just as she was about to be unveiled, the Bukusu elders protested her impending naming as Lusaka's running mate.

"The elders told our candidate that he would not name a woman as running mate because in the Bukusu culture, 'a woman was not allowed to occupy a new house' (in relation to the new county)," Janepher recounts.

As a firm gender activist, she was devastated when the elders insisted that Lusaka's running mate should be a man for them t...