Face Your Fears

OPEN LETTER TO H.E. HON JAMES ORENGO, SC, GOVERNOR, SIAYA COUNTY Dear Governor Orengo (My Father), RE: REFLECTION, DIGNITY, AND THE PLACE OF WOMEN IN OUR PUBLIC LIFE I write this letter in my personal capacity, not as Governor of Homa Bay County, nor as Chairperson of the ODM Party, but simply as Gladys: daughter, mother, wife, and a woman who, like many others, continues to navigate leadership in spaces that often demand strength while offering little grace. For many years, these spaces were occupied by men, and only courageous women dared to break through. I have reflected deeply on the remarks you recently made concerning me. I chose silence at first, because I have always believed that not every disagreement demands public contest, and not every hurt should invite a public response. Yet some moments require reflection, not because of the individuals involved, but because of what they represent. I have always held you in immense respect. To many of us who entered public life after your generation, you have represented courage, conviction, and the possibility of principled leadership. Many young politicians look up to you for motivation and inspiration. You have been around for a long time, and I have personally regarded you with the esteem one reserves for an elder and, in many ways, with the affection and deference one would extend to a father figure. Indeed, listening to your remarks and the manner in which they were received left me wondering how I would have felt hearing the same words from my own late father - whom I saw for only a few years - and from respected men of his generation like you, to whom I had looked for guidance and direction. That is perhaps why they hurt. Not because political criticism is unfamiliar to me, nor because public office exempts one from scrutiny, but because certain expressions carry weight beyond politics. They say politics is a dirty game, but I did not expect it to become dirtier through your utterances. Words spoken by respected leaders shape culture, reinforce attitudes, and determine what society permits. When remarks directed at a woman carry undertones that diminish, ridicule, or reduce her because of her gender, age, or place in public life, they travel far beyond their immediate target. They become an echo familiar to millions of women and girls who have endured various forms of gender-based violence, exclusion, intimidation, and dismissal in workplaces, homes, and public spaces. They run through the vertebrae like lightning striking a tree. Many women are told to speak more softly, lead smaller, occupy less space, or defer - not because they are wrong, but because they are women. Many endure insults that men in equivalent positions would never face. It is this reality that made your remarks painful - not merely as an affront to me, but because they inadvertently validated a burden many women continue to carry quietly. I do not write this to seek an apology through public pressure, nor to invite sympathy for myself. I write in the hope that moments such as these can remind us all - especially those of us privileged to be in leadership, and particularly in spaces where, traditionally, women were only supposed to be seen and not heard- that strength and dignity are never diminished by kindness, and that authority need not come at the expense of another’s humanity. Governor, despite the distress and untold discomfort this episode has caused me and those close to me, I do not wish to engage you in prolonged exchanges over this matter. I consider you my senior, a respected elder, and someone whose contributions to public life deserve honour and respect. I therefore choose forgiveness. I was humbled just as I was humiliated. More importantly, I choose to leave the door open for engagement, dialogue, and collaboration on matters that uplift our people and propel our community forward. After all, God gave us the responsibility to make our community better & more respectable.

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