malvernmugadzikwa
Golden Maunganidze
Correspondent
AS the country draws closer to election day — August 23, 2023 — women in politics continue to demand a more balanced campaigning field.
All political parties competing in this year’s harmonised elections have failed to reach the 50/50 gender balance representation at all levels.
The number of female candidates, therefore, remains very worrying.
Their only hope now hinges on the 60 women’s quota seats, which are guaranteed.
The 60 seats notwithstanding, it is generally telling that women are having a torrid time during this campaign period and their chances of making it on August 23 are getting narrower every day.
Globally, women in parliaments constitute less than 27 percent.
The same trend is reflected here in Zimbabwe, where women are struggling to get powerful political positions.
Ongoing political engagements across the country, where candidates from all political parties are coming together to tell Zimbabwe what they are going to do once elected, have also exposed most candidates, who have no clear plan of helping women hold powerful positions in Parliament.
As if that is not enough, the media in Zimbabwe is also not actively amplifying women voices in this year’s election.
During the recently organised Tell Zimbabwe election dialogues, women candidates lamented that they were not getting positive media coverage.
If anything, they are generally considered a second option after their male counterparts fail to turn up.
While Zimbabwe, as a country, has very good policies and laws that seek to empower women, there should be a deliberate move to have both State and other stakeholders push for genuine women empowerment.
Ms Nyasha Mahwende, of Gweru, who represents persons with disabilities, said she was worried that all the campaign messages and political manifestos were not clear on how people with disabilities were going to be catered for by those from various parties.
In Masvingo, a gender equality champion, Ms Sungano Zvarebwanashe, said her wish is to have political candidates signing pledges on how they are going to work towards women empowerment.
The same issues on women empowerment dominated similar dialogues in Masvingo, Bulawayo, Gweru and Harare, yet candidates struggled to explain their plans on the matters.
Zimbabwe Coalition for Peace and Development vice president Lucia Matibenga said having laws that advocate women empowerment alone is not enough.
“We must be practical in advocating real women empowerment,” she said.
She also said women in Zimbabwe must at least be thankful for the women’s quota for female parliamentarians, as there was likely to be less women in leadership positions without it.
It is, therefore, against this background that the media in Zimbabwe, both private and public, must take a proactive role in profiling female candidates in this plebiscite.
The media must take a biased stance in tracking issues being raised by women, as well as people living with disabilities, and amplify their voices.
It is not too late to give women and people living with disabilities a voice.
The media coverage must focus on both what the candidates from the two constituencies are saying and what they also expect from those who are going to win the elections.
Globally, one out of four ministers is a woman. Here in Zimbabwe, we are likely to have very few women holding Cabinet positions if they fail to win in these polls.
The media in Zimbabwe can still do better in promoting women empowerment by giving them a voice, especially at this crucial moment, where positive coverage means a lot to those running for public office.
Golden Maunganidze is a media practitioner with over 15 years of experience working in Zimbabwe as a journalist, editor, publisher and journalism trainer at Great Zimbabwe University. He is the current Zimbabwe and Southern African Development Community board chairperson for the Media Institute of Southern Africa. He writes in his personal capacity.
Online Reporter