Zambia cabinet falls short of Sadc gender threshold

participation in positions of authority.
Only two women have been appointed ministers in the trimmed 19-member Cabinet, representing just 10,5 percent of the Cabinet. These are Nkandu Luo, who is the Minister of Local Government, Housing, Early Education and Environmental Protection, and Inonge Wina, who is the Minister for Chiefs and Traditional Affairs.
There are also only four women who have been appointed deputy ministers. These are Esther Banda and Belinda Kawandami, who are deputies to Luo and Wina, respectively. The other deputies are Jean Kapata (Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health) and Alfreda Kansembe (Ministry of Finance). Of the nine appointed provincial ministers, only one is a woman – Josephine Limata (North Western Province). In the last cabinet announced after the presidential by-election held in 2008 following the death of President Levy Mwanawasa, Zambia had three women ministers in a 22-member Cabinet, representing about 13,6 percent.
In the 2006 election, Zambia had a total of five women in a 21-member Cabinet, representing about 28,8 percent. The latest figure falls short of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) target of 50 percent women in decision-making positions in the public and private sector by 2015 set by the Sadc Summit in line with the decision of the African Union (AU), and the previous target of 30 percent by 2005. Zambia is a signatory to the Sadc Protocol on Gender and Development. Mauritius and Botswana are the only two Sadc Member States that are yet to append signatures to the Protocol. The objectives of the Protocol are to provide for the empowerment of women, eliminate discrimination, and achieve gender quality and equity through gender-responsive legislation, policies, programmes and projects.
The Zambian parliament is made up of 160 seats, including the 150 members who are elected plus eight nominated by the President. The other two members are the President and the Speaker of the National Assembly. A total of 148 seats were contested in the 20 September election, meaning that two more by-elections are scheduled anytime this year. – sardc.net