Tsholotsho Local Board has 22 male councillors, zero female councillors

Thandeka Matebesi 

The 22 wards under Tsholotsho Local Board are male-led, a situation that flies in the face of gender equality and gender balance in governance.

Section 17 of the Constitution says the State must promote full gender balance and in particular must promote the full participation of women in all spheres of Zimbabwean society on the basis of equality with men.  Both genders should be equally represented in all institutions and agencies of government at every level.

In addition Section 56(2), part of the Declaration of Rights, stipulates that women and men have the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.

Sibongile Mpala, a resident from Tsholotsho lamented the lack of female councillors saying it affected representation of women and girls issues in council.

“Kumele kube lokulingana kwamathuba phakathi kwabobaba labomama ngoba omama basalela emuva kakhulu, kunje ikhansili ayila ngitsho umama oyedwa, indaba zethu ziyafikiswa ngubani ekhansilini?

“Zinengi indaba eziphathelane labomama esifisa ukuthi ngabe ziyafinyelela ekhansilini okumele ziqhutshwe ngumuntu ongumama kodwa akwenzakali lokho”, she said.

Tsholotsho Local Board Chairperson Councillor Esau Siwela, blames the exclusion of women on lack of a set of guidelines on how the women’s quota system in local authorities works which  is derailing its implementation.

A women’s quota is a tool used by countries and parties to increase women’s representation in legislature. Women are largely underrepresented in parliaments and account for a 25.8% average in parliaments globally.

In Zimbabwe, the women’s quota system was first introduced in the 2013 Constitution and was only meant for the Senate and National House of Assembly. 

The Constitutional Amendment Bill no.2 Act of 2021 extended the women’s quota to local government with at least thirty per centum of the total members of the local council elected on ward basis as women.

In an interview with Community Podium, Siwela said the local authority was keen on implementing the women’s quota system but without set guidelines they have had to shelve the discussion. 

“I am not sure what criteria we are going to use because we do not have a set of guidelines yet that we can follow in terms of the women’s quota system in council. 

We have not discussed how we will navigate the issue of the local government women’s quota system but it’s something on the cards. We are yet to receive guidelines so that we can implement from an informed position,” said Siwela. 

He added: “The only thing we are certain of is that the list will come from parties just like the parliamentary quota.”

The Constitution of Zimbabwe is clear on how the Proportional Representation for the National Assembly works, however it is not clear on how the women’s quota should work in local authorities. 

Section 157 (d) of the Constitution  provides for “a system of proportional representation for the election of persons to the seats in the Senate referred to in section 120(1)(a) and the seats reserved for women in the National Assembly referred to in section 124(1)(b).”

In addition to the 210 National Assembly seats, 60 seats are set aside for women with six women chosen from each province through a party list. 

The Constitution, has received its fair share of criticism for not setting any punishment for non-compliance by political parties and also for providing a single entry point into the women’s quota. 

According to ACCORD, a Pan African civil society organisation working to bring creative solutions to the challenges posed by conflict on the continent, “The 2013 Constitution does not provide for any sanction with regard to parties found to be in non-compliance with the section of the Constitution requiring gender parity in candidate lists for the Senate and provincial councils. It remains to be seen if the Election Commission of Zimbabwe will disqualify such lists from the contest. 

“The decision to implement quotas in many African countries came as a result of, albeit grudgingly, enacting international instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) signed in 1979 at the Beijing World Conference (1995) and United Nations Security Resolution 1325 (2000) combined with other progressive regional and national legislation on equal opportunities between sexes”, said ACCORD.

Cllr Siwela said the extension of the women’s quota to local authorities was a timely and welcome development expected to improve women’s participation in governance.

“The number of women in council has been decreasing at worrying levels. We do not have female councillors.  This is despite having female candidates contesting in both primary and harmonised elections. We had a number of female candidates in the recently held primaries but only one was successful. We are really hopeful that the quota will improve the situation,” he said.

In the recently held ZANU PF primary elections out of a total of 54 candidates who were running for the National House of Assembly seats in Matabeleland North Province only 15 were women. Of the 15, 12 were competing for National Assembly seats while 3 were for the Senate.