FRANCISTOWN: Participation of women in politics for positions of power in Local Government and Parliament levels continues to be low in Botswana.
The low level of women’s participation in positions of authority cuts across the political divide. Analysts say challenges such as inequality and inadequate resources limit the participation of women in politics adding that the status quo is problematic. A study entitled, ‘Gender and Elections in Botswana’ by Dr Zitha Mokomane, lecturer in the Department of Population Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Botswana, posits that though women in Botswana have made steady progress in politics and decision-making positions, socio-economic and cultural processes and structures still place men at the pinnacle of political power.
“Gender is particularly important because it is generally accepted that ‘a government by men for men can’t claim to be a government for people by the people’ and that ‘the concept of democracy will only assume true and dynamic significance when political parties and national legislation are decided upon jointly by men and women with equitable regard for the interest and aptitudes of both halves of the population’,” Mokomane says.
“It is therefore expected that to give effect to free and fair elections a democratic political system should give all citizens – men and women – an equal opportunity to participate in elections and the electoral process as voters, candidates, and electoral administrators.” A 2019 report (disaggregation of voters by gender) by the elections management body, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), shows that females made larger number of registered voters in the 2019 General Election. Of the 925, 478 registered voters, 420, 435 were males while 505, 053 were females.
According to the IEC, 609 and 61 wards and constituencies respectively were up for grabs in the 2019 polls in Botswana. The 2022 Population and Housing Census of Statistics Botswana outcomes revealed that Botswana’s female population amounted to approximately 1.33 million, while the male population amounted to approximately 1.3 million inhabitants. Despite statistics showing that there are more females than males in Botswana, women are still less represented in councils and Parliament.
In January 2024 the newly appointed chairperson of the National Gender Commission, Joy Phumaphi, said during the 2019 General Election, out of the 210 candidates fielded by all the political parties at Parliament level only 12 were women. Phumaphi added that six out of the 12 candidates ended up being victorious. Phumaphi, a former Member of Parliament for Francistown East and Minister of Health, also stated that although the current Parliament has seven women, four entered the August House as specially elected legislators. “Unfortunately, the situation is not different even at the council level although it is a little bit better and much different,” she clarified. The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has an affirmative action policy, which seeks to empower women, youth, people living with disability, and those based in rural areas to contest for leadership positions in the party at the national level but it has not produced the desired results.
Last year, president of the BCP, Dumelang Saleshando, admitted that the affirmative action policy did not produce the desired results.
“I have to admit that the results of the affirmative action policy are far from satisfactory. It is, however, reflective of the national trend. “Women are less keen to take leadership positions. When it comes to parliamentary positions, it becomes apparent,” Saleshando said.
Equally, spokesperson of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Kagelelo Kentse, has previously said the ruling party has no affirmative action policy in place. Instead, he explained that in the BDP, all bona fide members of the party who want to compete for various positions at various levels are equally chosen by members who are also in good standing. The low level of women running for office became apparent last week following the BDP releasing its approved candidates for council and parliamentary seats. Those who are successful after the primary elections will represent the ruling party in the 2024 General Election.
The final vetting results, released by the Central Committee (CC) of the BDP last week, show that more males will partake in the primaries than their female counterparts.
The results show that 421 and 1, 415 women and men candidates will participate in the BDP primary elections at the council and Parliament levels respectively. The BDP primaries are anticipated to take place in May.
Out of these numbers, BDP women stand unopposed across 19 wards, waiting to compete with their counterparts in opposition at the 2024 General Election, barring unforeseen circumstances.
Comparatively, at Parliament level, 20 and 164 females and males respectively were given the green light to compete in the BDP primary elections. Of these figures, BDP’s female parliamentary candidate in the Palapye constituency runs unopposed. While the BDP has, somewhat, given the green light to its female candidates at the council level to compete in the primaries, this does not translate to wins during general elections. Some will lose to their colleagues in the primaries while others will lose against their opponents in the general elections.
It is difficult to collate the number of people’s participation across the gender divide in all political parties in Botswana because the parties themselves do not have those numbers. Vain Mamela, BCP’s elections director told Mmegi that the party will be represented by 49 male and six female candidates at the legislative level.