The appeals in women contestants’ campaign slogans during the 2017 general elections in Kenya

Abstract

Women have made notable political gains globally, evidenced by the number of elected women. In Kenya, though the current number of elected women in parliament, senate and governor position is the highest it has ever been, women contestants still face a number of challenges during their political campaigns. To strategically position themselves during campaigns, women have to use slogans that appeal to the Kenyan electorate in the different parts of the country. This qualitative study, anchored on the theory of gender issue ownership, focusses on the campaign slogans that women running for parliament, senate and governor positions used during the 2017 general elections in the country. Data was collected from online sources-contestants’ Facebook pages and groups, websites etc. and thematically analysed. Findings showed that the slogans appealed to motherhood qualities, a sense of community, credible leadership, and to musicality. The study helps to further understand women's political campaigns in Kenya and other related contexts.

Keywords

• Political slogans
• Election campaigns
• Kenya
• Women
• Appeals