by Bayano Valy in Zanzibar – SANF 05 no 95
The Zanzibar Election Commission (ZEC) has received praise for observing gender equity in the just-ended elections in the archipelago of Zanzibar, a part of the United Republic of Tanzania.
Indeed women were a constant presence throughout most polling stations, mostly as managers. Most polling stations visited by SANF bore witness to this. Political parties also delegated women as party agents in most of the polls.
Clearly the Moslem holy month of Ramadhan where more is demanded of women to prepare the early evening light meals and to feed the family before sunrise was not a deterring factor and did not work against their participation.
Most observers found this a positive development. Speaking of Shemsa Mabadi, a woman presiding over operations in the Urban West region on the Unguja island, a leading international elections expert, Prof Reginald Austin, said that she seemed to be trusted by all her stuff and party officials, and by all the concerned stakeholders, he said.
The main regional election observation team, from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), said that there was a “commendable gender equity” in the electoral management and electorate.
The SADC Electoral Observer Mission (SEOM) approved Sunday’s poll in Zanzibar as “credible and legitimate”.
Women participation in political and decision-making roles is one of the goals of the region set by the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development of 1997 which envisaged a target of 30 percent women representation in politics and decision-making by 2005.
SEOM findings on gender balance were also echoed by the Commonwealth Observer Group. The group’s team leader, former Malta president and current chairman of the Commonwealth Foundation, Guido de Marco, said that “we’re pleased to see large numbers of women amongst the voters and the polling station staff.”
Slightly over half of Zanzibar’s 509,906 registered voters were women, and there was one out of six presidential candidates; 23 out of 219 candidates to the House of Representatives were women); and 28 out of 340 vied for a seat in the local government elections.
