Nairobi Mayor George Aladwa has told women aspiring for political office to put up with the nomination fee or ship out of the election race.

Speaking to reporters in Kakamega at the end of the week long Kenya Inter-Municipality Sports and Cultural Association (Kimsica) games, Aladwa said women should mature if they want to be respected.

“You should ask for favours when you have agitated for gender equity. You cannot pay less and still expect to be treated the same way us men who have paid more,”  Aldwa said of proposals by the Independent Electoral and boundaries Commission (IEBC) that women candidates will have their fee reduced compared to that of men.

Women aspirants have protested at the proposed fees set by the electoral body arguing it would bar many seeking to contest the election. But on Sunday, Aladwa rebuked the stand taken by the women league and urged them to accept the challenge if they intend to be treated equally with men.

The fee set by the commission was pocket change when compared to the kind of funds to be spent on campaigns. He also said it would be indoctrination against men as per the constitution for the IEBC to set a lower threshold for women.