ROUGH CUT. NO REPORTER NARRATION.
Kenya has East Africa's lowest female representation in parliament - at 19 percent - and women have struggled to make gains in the face of violence, intimidation and sexism.
Parliamentary candidate Peris Tobiko says this is what motivated her to get into politics: "Women don't have a say and I thought I could become a voice, and encourage others to come out and speak".
In East Africa, nearly two-thirds of Rwandan lawmakers are women, and in neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania women make up more than a third of legislators.
Women make up only 16 percent of the 10,910 candidates competing in Tuesday's elections (August 8), the electoral board said, with none of the presidential candidate being female.