Time has come that I must specifically talk about this burning issue in my heart. My dear sister, mothers, and aunts from Bungoma county.
It is rightly said that “there is no greater pillar of stability than a strong, free, and educated woman.” Our community has invested in empowering women. But if that is true, why then is poverty still tightening its grip on our generation?
We must ask ourselves some hard questions:
1.What concrete strategies have we put in place to fight this alarming poverty?
2.What real challenges are we facing that drag us back into darkness, instead of pulling us forward?
3.Or have some of us abandoned the real fight busy parading in cities, chasing vanity, and showing of while our homes remain in struggle and our children inherit poverty?
This round, I will not sugarcoat. Empowerment without responsibility is an empty shell. Education without impact is wasted energy. Freedom without discipline is self-destruction.It is time we stopped hiding behind excuses. It is time we rose as true pillars of this community. Bungoma, and the entire Mulembe nation, is watching and history will judge us.
1.To our mothers:
You are the backbone of households. If you misuse resources meant for children’s education and well-being, you silently prepare them for a lifetime of struggle. Let your sacrifices count. Raise disciplined, focused families not homes that collapse in poverty and excuses.
2.To our young women:
You are the energy and future of this community. But how are you using that freedom? Are you chasing fleeting pleasures, parading in cities, showing off bodies on social media, while ignoring the real fight for skills, business opportunities, and self-reliance? If so, you are betraying the very empowerment our mothers fought for.
3.To our professionals and educated sisters:
You hold degrees, influence, and platforms. Yet if you use them only for self-promotion, comfort, and competing in fashion shows, while your community sinks, then your education is nothing more than a decorated certificate. Where is the mentorship? Where are the projects? Where is the leadership?
4.To our women leaders:
You carry the mantle of public trust. But leadership is not about titles, allowances, or being seen on posters. It is about fighting poverty with policies, opening opportunities, mentoring girls, and shielding them from exploitation. If you fail, you fail not just yourself but the entire community.
REMEMBER,
1.Empowerment without responsibility is betrayal.
2.Education without impact is wasted effort.
3.Freedom without discipline is destruction.
Sisters, let us stop chasing shadows and start building foundations. Bungoma and the entire Mulembe nation is watching. And history will record not what we claimed, but what we actually did. This shall set up the future generational baseline of gender politics.
Solutions
1.Enough talk. It is time for action. Let us rise as one voice, one movement, one generation of women who refuse to be remembered for laziness and vanity.
2.Form Local Women’s Economic Circles ,Let every village have women’s groups pooling resources to invest in agribusiness, trade, and technology.
3.Mentorship for Young Girls , Each professional woman should mentor at least five young girls, teaching them discipline, entrepreneurship, and resilience.
4.Accountability Forums – Quarterly community barazas led by women, where leaders must report what projects they have initiated and how many lives they have impacted.
5.Skill Before Show – Let us value learning tailoring, coding, farming, financial literacy—over empty appearances. Show your skill, not just your body.
6.Collective Voice – When policies ignore women, we must stand united and speak louder than ever before.
Sisters, this is not just a warning it is a call to arms. If we fail to act, our daughters will inherit poverty. But if we rise today, they will inherit strength, dignity, and prosperity.
Bungoma is watching. The Mulembe nation is watching. History is waiting. Let us be the generation of women who turned the tide.
The time is now. The choice is ours. The future is in our hands.
Accountability We Cannot Escape
1.Mothers: If you misuse resources meant for the future, you are planting poverty for your children.
2.Young women: If you trade discipline for vanity—parading in cities, showing off instead of building skills—you are betraying your future.
3.Educated sisters: If your degrees don’t translate into mentorship, innovation, and business growth, then they are just expensive decorations.
4.Women leaders: If your leadership is only for allowance and attention, instead of policies and programs that uplift households, then you are failing all of us.
Compare and Reflect with other counties
1.Look at Nairobi women: they are dominating in business hubs, building tech startups, owning spaces in politics and real estate.
2.Look at Mombasa women: they have organized around tourism, trade, and culture—turning opportunities into wealth.
3.Look at Kisumu women: they are running markets, SMEs, and cooperatives that support hundreds of families.
4.Even Busia and Kakamega sisters are forming strong SACCOs and cross-border trade networks that generate daily income.
And yet, Bungoma with all its fertile land, markets, and educated women still ranks high in poverty. Why? Because too many of us are caught up in distractions, living for show, while others are living for progress.
This must end. Enough is enough. We need:
1.Strong women groups and SACCOs that generate real income, not gossip tables.
2.Mentorship programs where educated sisters lift the younger ones.
3.Household discipline where mothers guide children away from cycles of waste.
4.Political accountability where women leaders deliver projects, not promises.
5.Let us stop being spectators while other communities rise. Bungoma women must stand up and 6.prove that empowerment was not wasted on us. This is the hour to unite, strategize, and 7.mobilize because history will not remember our excuses, only our actions.
Compare and Reflection Realities
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Look at Rwanda: after the genocide, women stepped forward. Today, Rwanda has one of the highest percentages of women in parliament in the world, shaping policies that have rebuilt a nation.
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Look at Ghana and Nigeria: women dominate trade, from bustling open-air markets to regional exports, feeding entire economies.
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Look at South Africa: women are leading in law, business, media, and government—driving transformation and fighting inequality.
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Look at India: village women formed powerful self-help groups, saving small coins until they built businesses worth billions.
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Look at China: women are central in factories, industries, and enterprises—turning their labor into national growth.
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Look at Europe and America: women are CEOs, innovators, political leaders, and activists setting global standards in science, technology, business, and governance.
And yet, Bungoma—blessed with fertile land, rich markets, educated women, and a strong culture of resilience—remains stuck in poverty. Why? Because too many of us are distracted, living for show, while others are living for legacy.
Mobilization Call
This must end.
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Form SACCOs and cooperatives that grow wealth, not gossip.
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Mentor the young so they rise with discipline and purpose.
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Turn education into innovation, not just certificates.
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Hold leaders accountable until they deliver tangible results. If there is any sleeping leader like Hon. Catherine Wambilianga - Bungoma County MP,Hon Grace sundukwa,Nancy Kibaba,Hon. Sophy Nekoye Waliaula,Hon Debra Mlongo Barasa,janet Nangabo, Nanjala or Nanyama sleeping on the mantle, Just dismantle her the mantle. Hope you are seeing how men dismantled lusaka, wangamati and they are now mentoring Didmas Didmus Barasa.
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Build cross-border trade networks that connect Bungoma women to East Africa and beyond.
Sisters, the world is not waiting for us. Other communities, nations, and continents are running fast. If we remain idle, we will be left behind, remembered not as empowered women, but as wasted potential.
This is our moment to rise, mobilize, and act. Not tomorrow, not someday—now.
Consequences of Poverty
1. Family Breakdown
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Children drop out of school because fees cannot be paid.
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Young girls are married off early or exploited, continuing cycles of oppression.
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Domestic violence rises when financial stress builds in households.
2. Loss of Dignity & Dependence
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Families depend on handouts, politicians’ promises, or relatives instead of standing strong on their own.
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Women lose bargaining power in society and even in their homes.
3. Generational Curse
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Poverty is inherited. A poor mother often raises a poor child, who becomes a poor adult.
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Lack of education, malnutrition, and limited exposure trap entire generations in the same cycle.
4. Health Crisis
5. Lost Opportunities
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Land lies idle because families lack resources or organization to farm profitably.
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Talented young people waste away without opportunities, becoming idle or vulnerable to crime.
6. Exploitation and Abuse
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Poverty makes women and children vulnerable to exploitation—cheap labor, sexual abuse, trafficking.
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Politicians exploit poor voters with small handouts every election, instead of real development.
7. Community Weakness
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Poverty breaks collective strength. A poor community cannot fund schools, hospitals, or infrastructure.
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It kills unity, because hunger and desperation breed jealousy, suspicion, and division.
8. Global Shame
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While women in other regions and continents are celebrated for leadership and enterprise, poverty paints Bungoma women as “always struggling.”
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It weakens the community’s bargaining power nationally and internationally.
In short:
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Poverty steals education.
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Poverty kills health.
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Poverty destroys dignity.
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Poverty passes suffering from mother to child.
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Poverty makes us slaves to others’ charity instead of masters of our own destiny.
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