Radical policies needed to remedy gender imbalances: political analyst

Drastic approaches are necessary to redress gender inequality in leadership, a political analyst has said.

In the recently held elections  Bulawayo saw a decrease in  successful  female candidates for the  local authority. Only 7 women made it into the 29-seat council.  In 2018 9 women made it for council against 9.

  The status quo has been maintained in the Tsholotsho Local Board which, just as in 2018 ia  made up of 22 elected males and zero women.

Political analyst, Effie Ncube says this imbalance can be redressed through radical policies which he says might help to achieve the country’s 2030 agenda of an inclusive government.

In an exclusive  with Community Podium, Ncube said Zimbabwe’s situation is disheartening cause for concern.   

 “Gender imbalance in political parties  must be initiated at initial stages of voting where each contesting party must submit a gender balanced party list. There has to be harsh penalties for a party that fails to oblige to this guideline. Until we face gender imbalance heads on, we will continue to face not just imbalances but a decline in number of female politicians.

 According to Ncube, the situation is exacerbated by structural barriers that are associated with the political environment in the country.

” These  structural barriers are set up by male counterparts so that they remain dominant in these leadership spheres. When we look at the country’s  statistics of unemployment you realise that women make up the majority of unemployed citizens which then means we have more women who are bound to shun political positions because they cannot afford to pay the required amounts even for a local authority seats. Women are being preserved for less non effective positions  like the quota system. Surely as a country we can not rely on the quota system for  meaningful  participation  because  on its own, it is oppressive,” said Ncube.

 Gender activist Tariro Gurure is on record challenging  the quota system calling  it tokenism that will never empower any woman, a tool meant to silence and sabotage woman in political spaces. 

“Yes, we understand that you are a citizen of Zimbabwe, we understand that you are a woman and you constitute the majority of people in Zimbabwe but then when you then debate who are you representing? So this is where we started lacking. Women have been given seats, but when they want to debate they can be interjected and told, ‘sit down because you don’t have a constituency meaning that you do not add value.”

The women’s quota system in Parliament, which was meant to expire in 2023 was  extended by a further 10 years through Constitutional Amendment Number 2. The    women’s quota  came to life after the country  adopted   Constitution in 2013.

Zimbabwe is one of the many countries that are lagging behind in gender balance as far as leadership positions are concerned  especially in  political spheres.