Men urged to support women
Pini Bothoko | Monday July 11, 2022 06:00
Women in politics panellists made the call during a discussion of women’s political leadership and democratisation efforts in Africa at the international summit on constitutionalism and democratic consolidation in Africa.
The three-day summit, which started Wednesday, was co-hosted by the government of Botswana and National Democratic Institute (NDI).
Overall the panellists stated that women in politics continue to face overwhelming barriers to access the highest positions despite efforts at greater parity in the political sphere in Africa.
They also highlighted that engaging male champions to support women’s political participation remains vital. Furthermore, they indicated that proactive work by male leaders in partnership with women is necessary to establish an environment that empowers women’s political participation at all levels of decision- making.
It is believed that women continue to be under represented across every area of political life starting from party level something that is reflected in their representation at national level as it remains far too low as compared to their male counterparts.
Former president of Malawi, Joyce Banda said women are ready to take leadership position because studies have proven that they are capable and can be better leaders compared to their male counterparts. She stated that colonisation delayed women’s participation in politics despite having fought alongside their brothers for years.
“Women are capable but for years we have been struggling to take leadership positions hence the need to establish how we can make that much easier. Worldwide women hold the largest population, but they have been voting for men to hold leadership positions hence the need to encourage women to support each other,” she said.
Banda stated that Africa is still faced with serious democratic progress because some Presidents refuse to step down and respect term limits. She called on male leaders to respect the constitution and encourage women political participation because leadership is gender neutral.
Banda said women leaders are the most abused, most misunderstood but they continue to seek to do what is right although the treatment they get is different from their male counterparts.
For her part, Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Annah Mokgethi said women have been pushing for gender equality and gender mainstreaming but implementation of such issues remains a challenge.
She disclosed that to show that women are still struggling to hold position of power, during the 2019 general elections only three women won parliamentary seats despite the largest percent of voters being women.
“Action has to be taken to support and encourage women’s political participation. Women are multitask leaders, they are team leaders and are not driven by egos when holding positions of power. Some male leaders’ egos have got into their way of leadership and that is the reason why most African countries are faced with challenges today,” she said.
Mokgethi further challenged male leaders to respect term limits and step down when their time is up because doing so enriches democracy and creates room for new ideas.
She stated that when Presidents respect term limits it will encourage people who have been marginalised to contribute new ideas to developments once they occupy leadership positions.
“More women have been trained to hold leadership positions but their potential has not been put to test because some male leaders have been refusing to step down. I believe that more women could rise to the challenge, they could avail themselves for positions of leadership if given that chance,” Mokgethi said.
Sharing the similar sentiments, former Vice President of World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili said more men are in position of authority and they have been in the political environment for years hence the need to engage them to support women’s political participation.
Ezekwesili said it is evident that women are capable leaders because they respect the constitution and they are rarely involved in corruption issues hence the need to be encouraged to participate in politics and hold leadership positions.