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Ruth Chinhema
African Agenda
The Republic of Zambia held its general elections on 12 August 2021, a plebiscite that ushered in a new political dispensation in the form of United Party for National Development (UPND), led by Hakainde Hichilema.
What could have been a golden opportunity for women to flourish in the political arena failed to materialise, after it emerged that only a negligible percentage of women took part in the highly-contested election.
What is clear from the results is that Africa lost yet another opportunity to promote women in leadership through democratic elections.
According to Iknowpolitics.org, political parties fielded less women than those that contested in the Zambian 2011 elections, narrowing the chances of women to land any meaningful posts in the new government.
“Only 16 percent of parliamentary candidates were women, with equally disappointing numbers for ward councillors (9 percent) and mayors (13 percent).
“In the previous Zambian parliament, 14 percent parliamentarians were women, a figure that is likely to dismally go down,” the organisation said.
In the election, there was one female candidate (out of 16) for presidency, and five female running mates, a far cry for democracy.
According to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), Zambia has no reserved seats for women in the National Assembly; although Article 69 of the Constitutional Amendment Act of 2016 allows the president to nominate up to eight persons to enhance gender representation in the National Assembly.
With the numbers of women fielded to participate in the August 12 elections, there was no way women in Zambia could have pulled a feat.
Gender equality in political leadership in Zambia and several African countries remain low despite calls for political parties to include more women, and commitments to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) goal of women to hold 50 percent decision-making positions.
While many gender equality advocates were hoping that the Zambian election would renew hope of balanced political leadership, which still remains a mirage for several African countries — save for a few — among them Rwanda and South Africa, it was yet another futile attempt to recognise women as equal beings.
The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic did not make it any better, as most aspiring female candidates in the Zambian election found it difficult to maintain an equilibrium between the resources needed for campaigning and managing the pandemic at both household and community level.
The Zambian case becomes more of the same sad African story, as gender equality in political leadership continues to elude many African countries, despite promises by state leaders to ensure equal participation for women in political governance.
Last year, more than 20 African countries held elections — 12 of them presidential — in a show of democracy despite the financial and social strain of having to deal with Covid-19.
Suffice to say, the elections did not in any way change the gender trajectory as political parties fielded less female candidates, most who failed to be elected in the highly-contested elections across the continent.
A cursory glance at the presidential candidates in more than 10 African countries showed that of the nearly 100 presidential aspirants who submitted their names for consideration, not more than 10 were women and none of them won.
Malawi, which at one time had a female president, Joyce Banda, did not even have any female candidates in its elections, which were won by President Lazarus Chakwera.
While women make up more than half of Africa’s population, their representation in politics in the past decade has been insignificant.
Suffice to say no attempts are being made to dismantle the mismatch in the population and the political involvement of women.
Even the reasons of women’s failure to climb the political echelons of power are historical.
According to UN Women, two main obstacles prevent women from participating fully in political life. These are structural barriers, where discriminatory laws and institutions still limit women’s ability to run for office, and capacity gaps, which occur when women are less likely than men to have the education, contacts and resources needed to become effective leaders.
Systematic gender bias against female leadership, entrenched in socio-cultural and religious values that strongly assert that a woman’s position is in the kitchen still persists in Africa.
Other sections of society choose to parrot the usual sentiments that women do not support each other without looking at systematic diversionary tactics that make it practically impossible for women to be elected despite their levels of ingenuity.
However, history has also shown that the dynamics between women’s capabilities and ambitions on one hand, and the political will and political power of the “gatekeepers” of the parties on the other, determine the extent to which women can participate in local politics.
It is a result of these institutional and physical barriers that have stalled the effective implementation of gender equality policies such as quota systems that are often implemented on ad hoc basis and to suit the situation.
Probably the biggest fraud has been failure by some African leaders to utilise a coterie of protocols and legislative pieces that call and encourage equal participation of women in politics and governance.
The African Union Gender Policy and the Maputo Protocol on the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa are some of the progressive legal instruments that African leaders need to use to elevate the political status of women in the continent.
Same aspirations are also clearly enunciated in regional charters such as the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development that promotes gender equality.
On country level, more than 90 percent of nations have government bodies that deal with gender issues.
However, some critics say such units, departments or ministries “have become weak and are unable to be responsive” to the challenges presented by the struggle for gender justice, hence the decline in female representation.
Surely, women cannot continue to gyrate and sing during political rallies, without anything falling into their plates from the political and governance pots.
The idea of holding elections has often been touted as show of democracy, yet the same elections do not create democratic spaces for women to flourish and achieve their political aspirations.
However, some observers feel that all hope has not been lost as many gender equality advocates continue to push for gender equality in political governance.
While the world is literally captured by the effects of the Covid-19, the pandemic has also revealed many opportunities to identify women who are at the forefront of building resilience in their communities and whose entry to formal leadership positions could be encouraged and fostered.
Covid-19 has brought the need to embrace diverse leadership, looking at community leaders who are able to move the agenda forward despite of their gender, and women have proved to be resilient leaders and hard working in difficult circumstances.
Writing for Devex at UNGA 76, the former president of Liberia, Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, noted that “women leaders are better placed to draw on informal networks to mobilise rapid responses and community support.
“They are used to finding alternative resources and building ingenious partnerships to solve problems,” she said.
With the greater numbers of women at the forefront of policy decisions in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, these skills are coming to the fore, and will remain relevant and useful in political governance.
Online Reporter