Although some women did not win the primaries, the overall outcome shows notable progress in women competing for political positions. Specifically, 11 women participated in the parliamentary primary elections. Of these, five won, and another one ran unopposed. Among those who lost are Finance Minister, also allegedly eyed as President Mokgweetsi Masisi's likely heir and two Assistant Ministers from different ministries. Nevertheless, this progress comes despite President Masisi's appeals to party members to vote for women. In contrast, in the 2019 General Election, only five women contested the party primaries, and many failed to secure positions, prompting the President to appoint them as Specially Elected Members of Parliament. Of the five women who won the primaries, only three made it to Parliament, while some lost in the general elections.
Therefore, winning primary elections does not guarantee a victory in the general elections, which poses an additional challenge for the women. Similarly, in opposition parties, the number of women contesting is low. Consequently, they too will face the challenge of the general elections. Moreover, these women are competing in highly competitive constituencies, which further complicates their chances of securing an easy win. However, the BDP vice chairperson for the Women's Wing, Veronica Lesole, said the failure by some party members to vote for women in party democratic processes such as Bulela Ditswe, especially for Parliamentary positions, remains a concern. She emphasised that while women's representation in council seats is improving, it is still not satisfactory, though better than in parliamentary positions. "More education needs to be done for women to support others and for the community as well to change its mindset. Women are the only ones who can advocate better on issues affecting them. In SADC, our country has the lowest numbers. There is a need to change the way we do things," she said. Furthermore, she said the committee would conduct a lot of training to try to change people's mindsets on how they view things.
She also noted that more women are voting and registering for elections. The representation of women in the Botswana Parliament remains the lowest in SADC with 11% after it only increased by just one percent, from 10% in 2014 to 11% in 2019. Botswana has seen a drop in women’s representation since it peaked in 1999 at 18% for national and 23% for local government. “More women in politics lead to more inclusive decisions and can change people’s image of what a leader looks like, but women are still faced with barriers like unfavourable electoral systems, lack of finance and resources, culture to mention but a few,” Gender links report revealed recently.
Some of the challenges still include, lack of a legislated quota, which is a major stumbling block for increasing women’s representation, in the absence of a legislated quota, voluntary quotas are necessary for women to have access to political office; not all political parties have quotas, limited presence of women in decision making structures, such as central committees in political parties, and no clear strategy nationally and within political parties to increase awareness of the role of women in decision making and limited voter education to mobilise the population to vote for women. However, few resources availability, lack of support and negative attitudes are presented as barriers for women candidates in the campaign process, the report further reveals.
