By Kelvin Kasiwulaya
Women in Gweru have dismissed the Women’s quota system as mere tokenism, and are demanding that the government make a constitutional amendment that gives women the right to exclusively contest each other in half of the country’s 210 constituencies.
The women’s quota was introduced in 2013 under the proportional representation system in which 60 females are elected into the National Assembly, six from each of the country’s 10 provinces.
In an interview with this publication, Zimbabwe Election Support Network, (ZESN) Midlands Coordinator Mrs Mejury Makunike said if the government of Zimbabwe wants to effect real gender equality they should allow women from different political parties to exclusively battle it out for 105 constituencies in the country.
For real gender equality and parity women in Zimbabwe should be given an opportunity to battle it out for 50 percent of the country’s constituencies.
“When we started this movement of the quota system and having women in Parliament started, it was a good move because we didn’t have a lot of women in Parliament. We didn’t have representation in Parliament and when it started everyone was like, yeah this is it.”
She was quick to say that the fact that those women went into Parliament without constituencies of their own, weakened their presence in the august House.
“Who are you representing? She queried.
“Yes, we understand that you are a citizen of Zimbabwe, we understand that you are a woman and we constitute the majority of people in Zimbabwe but when you debate, who are you representing? So this is where we started lacking.
She said the parliamentary whipping system is to blame for the silence of some of the PR MPs in Parliament.
“So for me, it’s (PR system) tokenism and it’s dangerous to our society,” she said.
Gweru city’s only female Councilor, Catherine Mhondiwa said the quoter system was a sham, she said there was a need to give women constituencies.
“We realized, ok, women have been given seats, but when they want to debate they can be interjected and told, ‘sit down because you don’t have a constituency meaning that you do not add value.
It’s very difficult to lead without a constituency. People will ask, who Elected You? Women who went to parliament through proportional representation were taunted as “Mabaccosii”( slang for cheap things) . It is my belief that women from different political parties are given an opportunity to exclusively contest for a constituency, we need to have our own constituencies.
Journalist and Women’s advocacy Champion Locadia Mavhudzi said giving women 50 percent of the constituency seats in parliament was a noble initiative that would enable women to meaningfully participate in the governance of the nation.
“It’s actually a noble idea that should be put into consideration, women should be given equal opportunities in the democratic processes of the country.
“If women are given 50 percent of the 210 constituencies surely most of challenges being faced by 52 percent of our population will be addressed,” she said
Commenting on the women’s quoter system that will soon be introduced at the Municipal Level Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe WCOZ Midlands Chairperson Nozipho Rutsate said the system will give women a chance to fight for service delivery in their cities and towns residents.
“After this year’s elections, a new quota system shall be established within local authorities and this shall pave way for improved service delivery. Women bear the brunt of poor service delivery, thereby it being a noble affirmative action being implemented by the Government of Zimbabwe.
‘Women have been fighting for seats at the round table and that door will soon open up greater opportunities for us. This action will also put women at the forefront of politics so as to fight for their space and not succumb to intimidation from their male counterparts, she said.
Rutsate also encouraged women to join politics despite its challenges.
Women know politics to be a “dirty game” but every game requires players and women should have an equal chance to be part of politics. We hope that the local quotas will birth an era of women who bury their fears of politics to stand up and fight for their rights including the development of their communities and service provision, she said.
The women’s quota system which was supposed to expire this year was extended by a further 10 years in 2022.
Women’s representation in Parliament more than doubled from 17 percent following the 2008 general elections, to 35 percent in the elections on 31 July 2013.
Zimbabwe now joins the ranks of the more than 30 countries worldwide that have used a special electoral quota system to increase women’s representation in Parliament to at least 30 percent, which is considered the minimum for collective action.
The quota is included in Zimbabwe’s new Constitution, which was approved by referendum in March and signed into law on 22 May 2013. It was widely celebrated after a decade-long struggle, which UN Women and UNDP supported through a constitutional lobby group.
The special measure reserves 60 seats for women to be elected through a system of Proportional Representation, based on the votes cast for political party candidates in the lower house (National Assembly). For the 60 elected Senate seats, women and men candidates are listed alternately, with every list headed by a woman candidate.
As a result, women now comprise 124 of the 350 MPs in Zimbabwe’s new Parliament, including 86 women in the National Assembly – 60 in the reserved seats and 26 elected directly to the 210 constituency seats. #The Sun
