Why gender data matters in Kiambu County’s schools, hospitals and markets

What you need to know:

• County projects should show how women, men, girls and boys benefit from public investments.
• Gender-disaggregated data can reveal gaps in access to education, healthcare, infrastructure and jobs.

Good morning Your Excellency.

Congratulations for the 24-page feature on the Daily Nation of September 1, 2026, to showcase your performance in Kiambu County. I guess it has left a huge hole in the county’s coffers, but this must have been budgeted for.

For now, I am writing about the fact that gender mainstreaming is an official government policy. Even your own administration has a docket dedicated to gender. But this does not seem to come out strongly in your feature, yet I thought it should. What do I mean?

There is this little thing called gender disaggregation of data—that whenever you present information, you break it down by gender. For instance, what is the proportion of girls relative to boys enrolled in the 512 early childhood development and education centres you have built, against their demographic strength? If there is a disparity, we then have reason to ask about the causes as the first step towards getting a solution.

You have well indicated that these centres have separate toilets for girls, boys and their teachers. Excellent. But what is the per capita allocation and its effect? Assigning one toilet for girls and another for boys of the same number may appear to be fine, but it is not.

A boy’s toilet comes with a latrine. So boys only going for a short call relieve themselves concurrently. But girls must queue since they do not have an equivalent of a latrine. Therefore, for one toilet allocated to boys, you perhaps need four for girls of a similar number.

I am sure you have heard of quantitative and qualitative aspects of development. Politicians in this country have this tendency of equating structures with development. Your own peer, Dr Irungu Kangata of Murang’a, has referred to this mistake in his column.

A physical structure is only a small part of development. That is why the United Nations Development Programme came up with the phrase “human development”, popularised by economist Mahbub Ul Haq, who championed the view that gross domestic product is not an accurate measure of development as was assumed in the 1960s and before. This led to reconceptualisation of development as an endeavour in expanding the richness of human life, not simply that of the economy in which people live.

You can have a building called a hospital. But if it does not have medication, equipment and staff, it is just an ornament. We must know how it has improved the health of men, women, boys and girls. How many of each category has sought and received attention in the hospital?

For what services and to what effect? What facilities are there to address gender-specific medical conditions? How many of the staff are male or female? At what levels and in what specialisations?

Take the roads you have built. Did you consult men and women on the design? Have you fitted them with features such walkways, big and comfortable waiting bays, designated rest stops, pedestrian crossings and roadside kiosks? And are the markets fitted with ramps, separate washrooms, disposal bins and children’s play areas?

Have you located the toilets in places that assure privacy for each group or lumped them in one corner? Are the ones for women wide enough to cater for those with infants? Do they have running water, soap, lights and lockable doors? Did you consider gender when allocating stalls and guard against sexual exploitation in the exercise?

You upgraded and equipped 19 technical and vocational training centres. But what is the female-male enrolment ratio by course? For instance, how many female students are enrolled in motor mechanics and how many male ones in beauty therapy and nutrition?

What factors explain the pattern? What is the county government doing to encourage female students to take up “masculine” courses, and vice versa? How many of the staff are female and how many are male? Which courses do they teach? How are they role modelling their gender category among students?

You also forgot to tell us about the institutional gender aspects of your administration. What have you done to create gender balance in the staffing? How have you implemented the constitutional two thirds principle? If so, at what levels and with what result?

Do you have Kiambu-specific gender policies? Have you and your staff been trained on gender mainstreaming? Are resources allocated to implement it? Congratulations for the various awards you have received. I hope the next one will be for excellence in gender mainstreaming.

I believe that other governors will also be showcasing their work given the season we are in. Please, share this letter with them. Have a good day.

The writer is a lecturer in Gender and Development Studies at South Eastern Kenya University ([email protected]).