by Bayano Valy – SANF 05 no 30
The posters plastered throughout Zimbabwe’s 120 constituencies to advertise candidates contesting the 31 March parliamentary elections show fewer female faces than the expected targets and only slightly more than the previous elections five years ago.
In 2000, 55 women contested the elections and only 13 were elected – this was just over 10 percent, and a dent on the previous election’s 14 percent in 1999.
The number of women contesting seats in parliament this week is just 58; thus only 21 percent of the total 270 candidates are women.
The numbers suggest that Zimbabwe will not reach the target set in the 1997 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Declaration on Gender and Development which proposes that by 2005 at least 30 percent of positions in political and decision-making structures in the public and private sector should be held by women.
In the SADC region, Zimbabwe’s percentage of women representation in parliament currently only surpasses that of Mauritius which has 8.6 per cent.
There is a slight improvement in cabinet where the 14.3 percent mark places it ahead of Angola and Mauritius in the region. The other country that lags behind is Botswana, which again elected few women to parliament in late 2004. However, President Festus Mogae made this good in cabinet by apointing four women, which raised the figure to 28 percent.
So far only Mozambique and South Africa among SADC countries have managed to elect over 30 percent women in parliament, with Namibia close behind at 28 percent. For the ruling Frelimo party in Mozambique, 41 percent of its seats are held by women. In South Africa, 43 percent of cabinet members are women.
In Zimbabwe, Zanu PF is contesting these parliamentary elections with 30 women candidates, and the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is fielding 18, while the remainder are either contesting as independents (2) or on the ticket of small parties (8).
Even if fewer women are elected, their numbers could still rise in parliament as President Robert Mugabe is likely to appoint some women among the 10 members of parliament that his prerogative allows him to, as President Mogae did in Botswana in a similar situation.
Zimbabwe may have fewer women in the executive, six, but it holds the distinction of having the most senior woman in the region’s politics – Vice-President, Joyce Mujuru.
Mujuru is described as a dynamic woman who will “inspire women to move forward and take a leadership role.”
She played an active and senior role in the war of liberation against white colonial rule, and she has been a cabinet minister since indpendence in 1980. So her rise to one of the two vice-presidency seats is a recognition of her merit as a shrewd politician.
In its manifesto, Zanu PF says that it regards the empowerment and advancemnt of women as a central feature of the work of the party and government, and “wants to see the Mujuru example emulated everywhere in the next five years.”
Mujuru has not disappointed, she has been very busy criss-crossing the country in support of Zanu PF candidates. She has been addressing massive rallies, telling rural voters about their access to electricity and cellphone networks, and urging them to vote for Zanu PF because it would enhance the role of women.
“The new nation could not be built without the strong participation of the women in the political life, in the building of a self-reliant economy, and in nurturing the children,” the party manifesto reads.
This is buttressed by the introduction of a quota system for candidates, something Zanu PF women had been fighting for since 1999, but which has been quite controviersial in its implementation with some constituency seats being declared seats for women only.
For its part, the MDC promises to guarantee the inclusion of women’s social, economic and political rights in the country’s constitution; introduce measures aimed at ending the disciminatory practices against women in all areas of society; commit to achieving a minimum of 50 percent of all public sector positions being occupied by women; and establish a gender commission which is adequately staffed to perform core functions for the promotion of gender issues, among others.
While the current constitution prohibits discrimination, and sex is listed among the areas of non-discrimination, this applies largely to “public office” and “public authority”, excluding individuals unless they are public officials, and customary laws in the area of personal law.
Notwithstanding, women would like to see more than just what the parties pledge to be done. Paulina Mpariwa, a member of parliament for the MDC, told SANF that progress towards the 30 percent threshold has been slow, and the change to this scenario necessitated “policies that enable women to participate in politics.”
Mpariwa said that Zimbabwe’s political structures are still male-dominated and unless “we deal with this problem, we’ll not see women increasing their numbers in political office.”
She blamed the parties for not ensuring that women did not contest in areas where the seats were unsafe for either party – women will oppose each other in five constituencies, and Zanu PF is fielding 10 women in urban areas, while MDC’s women candidates will contest in nine rural constituencies.
The results from the last elections showed that Zanu PF enjoys greater popularity in the rural areas, while the MDC is mostly implanted in the urban ones.
More women took part in Zanu PF rallies than did in MDC’s. Mpariwa blamed this on political imperfections that existed in the 2000 parliamentary poll, saying that “the 2000 history is still fresh on the minds of most women, and this drives them away from politics.”
Meanwhile, women in politics will continue persuading the party structures to be more gender-sensitive. Zimbabwe’s women will hope that the female candidates are not just faces on the posters but become members of parliament who will push the gender agenda forward. (SARDC) (SARDC)
