Gender and Election Outcomes: The Role of Campaign Financing in Determining the Performance of Women Parliamentary Candidates in Kenya

Parliamentary elections in Kenya require candidates to have adequate financial resources to run and successfully win elections. Previous studies have established challenges facing women in their campaigns, leading to poor outcomes as they lose. Previous studies concentrated on elections in general without specific attention to determinants of women contesting for parliamentary seats in the Kenyan context. The limited empirical investigation examining the role of campaign financing in determining electoral outcome in Kenya among women parliamentary candidates motivated the assessment under this objective. The specific objectives were to analyse sources of campaign financing for women candidates, compare male and female access to campaign financing, and determine whether campaign financing affects electoral outcomes for women candidates. Using a descriptive research design, the study targeted all the 513 Member of National Assembly (MNA) who vied for the 2017 elections in Kenya, out of which a sample of 157 respondents was selected using a simple stratified sampling method. A questionnaire was used to gather responses regarding the role of campaign financing in determining electoral outcomes among women parliamentary candidates in Kenya while interview schedule was used to capture information on campaign financing from women candidates who won the parliamentary election. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation as well as inferential statistics of multiple regressions were used to analyse quantitative data. Content analysis was used in analysing qualitative data. At 95 percent confidence level, the analysis found that sources of campaign financing (p-value = 0.001) and comparison of male and female candidates access to campaign financing (p-value = 0.002) were significant. The independent variable were found to be statistically and positively related to electoral outcome. The study concluded that winning a parliamentary election in Kenya is highly based on financial resources. The assessment recommended for equity in allocation and sharing of financial resources, including valuable assets. Political parties should also come up policy framework of funding potential women who intend to vie for parliamentary elections. Further, it was suggested that more nomination slots should be given to women candidates.