A few days ago social media erupted in our neck of the woods when our former Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation was at the centre of another scandal, this time, an inappropriate image/video was allegedly circulated without her consent. Investigations are still underway so I don’t write this to air out those details,

I write this to share some thoughts because what I saw on my social media feed were different sides of the same coin, some shared concern that we didn’t respond well as a nation to be so quick to blame the woman, some shared that she is strong for going through this without retaliating online, others held the view that she was a Minister and needed to be more cautious about her private affairs. Whichever side of the argument you stand on, one thing cannot be ignored, a woman was abused.

And as a woman, I feel for her, I get it, the misuse of trust, the violation, the abuse for someone to trample my private and intimate moments and share it without my consent. I cannot even begin to fathom. With that said, as a woman, I also understand that when I step into public office (as someone who already has) I am held to different regard, there’s a caution to the way I move and run my affairs, publicly and privately, but that’s the price.

I don’t mean that she should expect it, that any woman in public office should expect to be violated in that way but I guess I’m old school in that, ranks of Ministers, positional leadership, the requirement is to lead your affairs with a level of caution that most who are not in your sphere would even be concerned with.

Anyway, I share that to say this, if you are a young woman, or know of any woman who is looking to take up a public office, do so with wisdom. In this digital age, email as if someone else will read it, post as if your children will one day read it, take photos/videos as if there’s someone else who’s going to see it. Above all, live your life for the audience of 1, God. The one who created you and formed you in your mother’s womb before she even knew she concieved knows you, knows all of you and He loves you so much.

So, the lesson, whether publicly or privately, conduct your affairs with wisdom.