Low number of female candidates dents poll
Mabel Khumalo
Concerns of low participation of women in electoral processes remain as Zimbabweans go to the polls this week.
Speaking at a roundtable meeting hosted by Media Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe (MISA) in Bulawayo at Cilas Conference Center, to discuss the participation of women in electoral processes in Zimbabwe, Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) Programs Officer Thabiso Sibanda said the low political representation of women in Zimbabwe is of great concern and urgency.
“According to this year’s statistics, women consist of only 11% in the House of Assembly, that is 70 out of 637 women candidates nominated for the National Assembly direct election. Furthermore, there is only one female candidate contesting for presidency as compared to the last 2018 election period where we had a total of four female presidential candidates and 14.4% representation of female candidates for the National Assembly.”
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) gazetted the list of nominated candidates for the national assembly and presidential contestants this year in June.
Director for Girls Table Samukeliso Tshuma highlighted that, despite women making up the majority of registered voters as according to ZEC statistics released in March 54.5% of registered voters were female.
“More women than men attend rallies and campaigns, however there is low participation of women in the political arena. The number of women contesting in the elections has drastically dropped from 10 years since the adoption of the constitution, however female participation in politics is at its lowest this this year,” she said.
Policy analyst Effie Ncube blamed the unfair distribution of female candidates as the major factor that hinders women from holding political offices.
“Based on the political trends in this country, women contest for political seats that are difficult to win, for example CCC has a stronghold in most urban area setups and the majority of contesting candidates are male. The distribution of female candidates in the ZANU PF political party is in urban areas as the party is dominant in most rural area setups and these women are likely to lose.”
Ncube added that many female candidates who are contesting are coming from smaller political parties like United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA) which has fielded the highest number of female candidates as compared to the largest political parties in the country.
UZA is a political party led by female presidential candidate, businesswoman Elizabeth Valerio and it was officially launched in 2022.
During the meeting several other reasons that hindered women from political participation such as poverty, cultural and societal norms, limited access to education, structural barriers within the political parties, steep nomination fees and cyber bullying were discussed.
“Most women experience cyber bullying on social media platforms. Women are called names , body shamed and some are bashed for not bathing, and this makes women afraid of getting into the political space. This creates a toxic environment that hinders women from thriving,” said Tshuma.
Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) National Women Taskforce Committee Member Sithabile Mlilo, proposed that women aspiring to contest for political leadership should prepare themselves well ahead of time in order to stand a chance to win against their male counterparts.
“If you want to contest you do not say that you want to be a candidate when you are left with less than six months. If one wants to be a candidate in 2028, they have to start preparing for that now in 2023,” she said.
Tshuma called for the removal of exorbitant nomination fees that are out of reach for many local women aspiring to contest.
“Most women are not able to afford the 20,000 (USD) Presidential nomination fee, or 1,000 (USD) to contest for Member of Parliament seats. Most local women are unemployed and do not have the economic power. Nomination fees should not be prohibitive but must be reasonable enough to allow women with political aspirations to run for office. The payment processes should not have barriers,” she said.
According to Sibanda, lack of equal gender representation in the political arena poses a threat to the country’s democracy as it leaves women in the margins of decision making.
“Most challenges that a society faces wear the face of a woman, for example issues around poverty, climate change, gender in equality, are problems that hit women the most. Hence it is important to ensure that women are accorded a chance to participate in politics so that they can shape agendas that are gender responsive and that are going to respond to the needs of all women.”
Sibanda added that, the under representation of women hampers the development of inclusive policies and inhibits the full realisation of women’s rights and interests.
