# Ruth Habwe

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'''Ruth Habwe''' (died 1996) was a Kenyan activist and politician.

== Early life and career ==
Habwe was a pioneer among those working to advance women's causes in Kenya. Trained as a teacher at the Kabete Teacher's Training College, she later attended the [Jeanes School](/source/Jeanes_School) alongside [Margaret Koinange](/source/Margaret_Koinange) and [Muthoni Likmani](/source/Muthoni_Likmani).<ref name="Jr.Akyeampong2012">{{cite book|author1=Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.|author2=Professor Emmanuel Akyeampong|author3=Mr. Steven J. Niven|title=Dictionary of African Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39JMAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA525|date=2 February 2012|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=978-0-19-538207-5|pages=1–}}</ref> She was an early leader of [Maendeleo Ya Wanawake](/source/Maendeleo_Ya_Wanawake), which she chaired from 1968 until 1971. During her tenure the organization passed resolutions calling for such things as more women on the faculty of the [University of Nairobi](/source/University_of_Nairobi) and for equal employment conditions.<ref name="Sheldon2005">{{cite book|author=Kathleen E. Sheldon|title=Historical Dictionary of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=36BViNOAu3sC|year=2005|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5331-7}}</ref> Habwe ran for [parliament](/source/Parliament_of_Kenya) in 1964, one of few women to challenge the domination of men in that body.  The decision was not without controversy;<ref name="MurungaNasong'o2007">{{cite book|author1=Godwin R. Murunga|author2=Shadrack W. Nasong'o|title=Kenya: The Struggle for Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IIvKKlhWY80C&pg=PA180|date=15 March 2007|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=978-1-84277-857-9|pages=180–}}</ref> she failed to receive support from her political party, the [Kenyan African National Union](/source/Kenyan_African_National_Union), and so ran as an independent. This so incensed party leadership that she was expelled from its rolls. She was told, furthermore, by other MPs "to go back to the Kitchen and cook for Mr. Habwe's children".<ref name="Berger2016">{{cite book|author=Iris Berger|title=Women in Twentieth-Century Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=48DgCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA100|date=26 April 2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-51707-2|pages=100–}}</ref> Habwe was a member of the [Luhya](/source/Luhya_people) tribe.<ref name="Sandler1970">{{cite book|author=Bea Sandler|title=The African Cookbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SP_gRfciSkwC&pg=PR5|year=1970|publisher=Carol Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8065-1398-0|pages=5–}}</ref> She had five children.<ref name="Jr.Akyeampong2012"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Habwe, Ruth}}
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:1996 deaths
Category:Kenyan women's rights activists
Category:Luhya people
Category:20th-century Kenyan educators
Category:20th-century Kenyan women politicians
Category:20th-century Kenyan politicians
Category:Kenya African National Union politicians
Category:20th-century women educators
{{Kenya-bio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ruth Habwe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Habwe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Habwe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.