Why Does Botswana Not Want Accountability For Ensuring Women's Participation At High Level Politics?

Botswana is a member to the African Union (AU), which is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was established with a Pan-African view to essentially rid the continent of colonialism, encourage international principles of State sovereignty and equality of States, and Africa’s political participation in international and more particularly regional affairs.

The idea behind pan-Africanism is that people of African descent, no matter where they might be in the world (meaning even those not in the continent), have common concerns and interests, and there is a need to, with unified efforts, ensure the preservation of the liberation of the continent. It’s the idea that Africa should be for Africans. It is also the acknowledgment of the complexities of blackness, be it considered from a political perspective, intellectual ideology, or her social anxieties. The AU, having introspected and perhaps feeling the pressure of the people of the continent, decided that there is indeed an inherent need to enact a mechanism or an agreement which would specifically ensure the rights of the people of Africa.

The agreement is also intended to hold each State accountable for the protection and enforcement of the rights of the people in it. This agreement is called the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). The agreement is more often referred to as the Charter, but will be kept as an agreement for purposes of this article. Botswana is one of the States that has agreed to be bound by the Charter, which was adopted in 1981. In the Charter, Article 18 provides that each State shall ensure the elimination of discrimination against women. It doesn’t really expound on this right though, and in fact the rest of the article speaks more to the rights of family. In 2003, the African Commission, applying other provisions in the Charter, made the decision to finalise a protocol that expounds more elaborately on the rights of women.

Editor's Comment
Congratulations Anicia Gaothuse!

The contest had 10 beautiful young girls as finalists and unfortunately only one could wear the crown.The judges picked Anicia Gaothuse. To all those who feel their contestant should have won ahead of Anicia for whatever reason, hardly; the judges found Anicia to be the best among the best, so desist from disrespecting our newly crowned queen on social media or anywhere else, for that matter! Each of the 10 beautiful young women had supporters...

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