Ruth Habwe

Ruth Habwe (died 1996) was a Kenyan teacher, women’s rights activist and politician. She was one of the early leaders of the national women’s organisation Maendeleo Ya Wanawake and among the first Kenyan women to contest a parliamentary seat in the years immediately after independence.

Early life and education Habwe trained as a teacher at the Kabete Teacher’s Training College. She later attended the Jeanes School together with Margaret Koinange and Muthoni Likmani. She belonged to the Luhya community. She married and had five children. During her tenure the organisation adopted resolutions calling for the appointment of more women to the faculty of the University of Nairobi and for equal conditions of employment for women. She failed to obtain the support of the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) and therefore contested the election as an independent. The decision led to her expulsion from the party. Male members of parliament responded to her candidacy by telling her to “go back to the Kitchen and cook for Mr. Habwe’s children”.

Her independent campaign and the hostile reaction it provoked illustrated the limited space available to women in formal politics in the early independence period and the resistance they faced from both party structures and parliamentary colleagues.

Later life and death Habwe continued to be associated with women’s organisational work after her parliamentary attempt. She died in 1996.