By Jeff Kizzilah
Former nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba has lifted the lid on what she describes as the harsh and often ignored realities faced by pregnant and breastfeeding women in the Kenyan Parliament, arguing that the institution remains structurally and culturally hostile to women.
Orwoba said Parliament appears to have been designed for men, with little consideration for the needs of women legislators who are expectant or nursing mothers.
She revealed that parliamentary infrastructure makes it extremely difficult for breastfeeding mothers to balance legislative duties and childcare, noting that the designated breastfeeding room is located several buildings away, near toilet facilities, forcing mothers to dash across buildings while under pressure to attend parliamentary sessions.“You leave the building. You leave the second building, and you go to the third building. You cross the road. There is the breastfeeding, so you run there. You take your baby from the car, you run to whichever room, and the breastfeeding room is near a toilet,” Orwoba said.
She added that the situation becomes even more stressful when a legislator’s motion is listed on the Order Paper, leaving mothers torn between parliamentary obligations and caring for their infants.
“Your motion is queued on the Order Paper. It’s really—let me tell you something—some of these things, I really sit down and I’m like, truly, Parliament was made for men,” she remarked.Orwoba’s remarks come amid renewed public debate on gender inclusion, workplace dignity, and institutional reform within Kenya’s political spaces.
In a related incident, the former senator was recently seen protesting outside the Senate during the impeachment proceedings of Kericho Governor, after she was blocked from accessing the chamber, a move that further fueled discussions on exclusion and treatment of women in political leadership.Her revelations have sparked fresh calls for urgent reforms to parliamentary facilities and procedures, to ensure women leaders can serve without being forced to choose between motherhood and public duty.
