Kenya is celebrating having one arm of government led by a woman. Chief Justice Martha Koome is the first female head of the Judiciary. This has seen the country burst with pride. Neither the Executive nor the Legislature—the other arms of Kenya’s government—has been led by a woman.
But Barbados has proved that having an all-female leadership is possible and has put itself on the global gender map. Even though its parliament and judicature are led by men, women lead the state and its executive.
Mia Amor Mottley is the prime minister and head of government; Dame Sandra Mason is the president and head of state; and Santia Bradshaw is the deputy prime Minister.
Detaches from Britain
Last November, the Caribbean island nation became the newest republic in the world when it elected its first president, Ms Mason, to replace Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state, divorcing itself from the British hegemony.
Ms Mottley, the leader of the Barbados Labour Party, was first elected as prime minister in 2018 and then re-elected last month.
Barbados is a country with a population of 287,711, which is close to the total number of men in Nyamira County, according to the 2019 Census.
Ms Mottley is responsible for constituting the cabinet, which includes herself. Presently, she is the minister for Finance and Economic Affairs. She is also in charge of Culture, Security, Public Service, Caribbean Community and Common Market, and Development Commissions.
When she announced her 20-member cabinet on January 24, introducing the post of deputy prime minister, she said she was determined to make Barbados one of the world’s top countries.
“It is our intention that Barbadians should continue to hone and draw on the finest of our values and our traditions as a people so that in every place and in every regard, they would be viewed as exceptional, as people who stand on principle and hold within our bosoms an empathy for the human person and human condition and the passion to improve that condition,” she said.
She assigned her Deputy Prime Minister Bradshaw the role of Minister for Transport, Works and Water Resources, and leader of government business. She is also responsible for infrastructure.
Cabinet
Of the 20 cabinet members are seven women, including herself and Ms Bradshaw.
Others are Senator Lisa Cummins (Minister for Tourism and International Transport, and leader of government business in the Senate), Kay McConney (minister for Education, Technological and Vocational Training) and Dr Shantal Munro-Knight (Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister).
She also appointed Dr Sonia Browne to the post of Minister of State for Health and Wellness with responsibility for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Non-Communicable Diseases. And Sandra Husbands to serve as Minister of State for Foreign Trade and Business Development.
Kenya and Barbados have in the past three years strengthened their bilateral relations. Last October, the two countries signed three bilateral agreements for cooperation in aviation, environmental conservation, trade and investment.
Her visit to Kenya in 2019 also yielded the signing of two agreements on health and avoidance of double taxation, a treaty relieving citizens of the two countries from paying double taxes on the same income.
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