The extension of the women’s quota by another 10 years has been met with mixed feelings by women’s groups and other stakeholders. There have been calls for clarity on the added provision on clause 11 where the quota system will now cascade to local government seats.
Government recently passed constitutional amendment number two which touches on the issue of the running mate, extension of terms for judges, delimitation and the women’s quota. The quota system was introduced in the Constitution of 2013 as a way to increase representation and participation of women in politics. It was supposed to end in 2023 but has since been extended after Constitutional Amendment number two sailed through Parliament. The Constitution provides a system where 60 women are elected to the National Assembly through proportional representation. Through the amendment, 30 percent of seats in local authorities will now be reserved for women. In addition, political parties must ensure that 10 women elected by proportional representation are under 35. Women with disabilities are represented by their party’s lists in terms of an Act of Parliament and 10 proportional seats in the National Assembly will be reserved for youths.
Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) Chairperson Margaret Mukahanana Sangarwe said the interpretation of the section of the amendment which introduces the quota system is vague on how local government quota seats will be administered. She said there is need for clarity so that people are clear on whether the third will be within the local government seats or they are outside like the House of Assembly. She added that the quota system was not the best way to achieve gender equality. “The 60 seats have not improved the effectiveness of women in Parliament because a lot of the women who are in Parliament through the quota system are regarded as inferior to those who are elected. We should change our electoral system from First Past the Post which is being used for local government and House of Assembly to total Proportional Representation. This is the system that is being used in the Senate that is why there is almost a 50-50 gender representation. This is the only system that can bring gender equality,” she said.
Since the implementation of the quota system the percentage of women in Parliament and Senate have increased because of the 60 seats reserved for women in the national assembly. However, women elected through this system have no real political power as they have no constituency or access to Constituency Development Funds (CDF).
The Constitution of Zimbabwe provides for equal representation in politics. Sections 56 and 80 focuses on the rights of women and highlights the provision for equal opportunities, in political, social and economic activities. Therefore, the extension of the quota system appears to counter the call for aligning gender parity laws with the constitution.
Ellen Dingani, the Program Coordinator for Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) said for the country to achieve gender balance there is need for political will in ensuring that reforms are taken seriously. “The environment has to be conducive for free and fair participation by women. Political parties have a major role to play in ensuring that gender balance and representation of women in politics is improved as they are the political players who are the primary stakeholder in political participation,” she said. She went on to say that increased knowledge and awareness by women on their civil and political rights and the need to avail platforms for women to engage with key electoral processes is another way that can increase women’s representation.
According to the Gender Audit produced by the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) out of the 47 political parties that fielded candidates in the National Assembly, only 27 fielded at least one woman candidate. Approximately 243 of 1652 candidates contesting in the National Assembly were female and 146 women out of 290 candidates contested for senate seats. For local authority positions, 40 political parties fielded candidates, 12 of which fielded men only. Seventeen per cent were women and 83% were men out of the total 6796 candidates. Additionally, Gender Links (GL) reports that representation of women at local government has been declining since the 2008 elections when the representation of women at the local level stood at 18%. In 2013 it had declined to 16% and by a further 2 percentage points to 14% in the last election in 2018.
Women in Politics Support Unit (WIPSU) Director Sakhile Ngoma confirmed these reports by saying that despite implementing the quota system numbers of women represented in politics have been dropping. “Quota systems are okay but what we are proposing as women’s organisations is to build a tenure system where there will be seat rotation for the local government seats. That way we are ensured of more women in politics and proper representation because over representation of men violates our social standards,” she said.
Zimbabwe is signatory to various conventions that call for equal representation of women across all sectors. These include the United Nations (UN), Africa Union (AU) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Conventions and Protocols. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) upholds women’s right to participate in public life and the (1995) Beijing Platform for Action is an appeal for women’s empowerment. While Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5 provides for gender equality in governance and all spheres of life. Zimbabwe is still a long way from achieving gender equality despite efforts of implementing the quota system.
According to a report by Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE) after two full cycles of harmonised elections and numerous By-elections, the net number of women in elected leadership positions has decreased. For example, the number of women MPs directly elected into constituencies dropped from 26 in the 8th Parliament to 25 in the 9th Parliament. The Gender Audit reports that in 2018, ZANU PF had a total number of 2178 candidates who contested for 2168 seats. Women represented 15% of the candidates and out of the 2178 total candidates for seats at the level of parliament and local council seats there were 325 contesting women only and 1853 contesting men. MDC-Alliance had a total of 2154 contesting candidates for both the National Assembly and Local Authority. There were 317 women 15% and 1837 men 85% of contesting candidates.
Catherine Mhondiwa MDC Councilor for Ward 13, Mkoba Gweru says although the quota system was created so that more women can be in top political positions, all they have are positions with no power. She said the women put into power through this system do not contribute much in Parliament as they have no constituency to speak on behalf of.
“These women are not elected, if you are given something you have no power to say no to the person who gave you that position. You will say ‘yes’ to whatever they want even if it’s something wrong because you will be afraid of being removed from that position,” she said. Councilor Mhondiwa went on to say that it was not fair for women to be appointed a quota when they represented the larger population. She called on 50-50 representation as the solution to under representation of women in politics. Councilor Mhondiwa believes that the best route for Zimbabwe is having a system where constituencies have women candidates contesting against each other. This would mean that women from different political parties will contest against each other. This approach and capacitating women, empowering them with knowledge, giving them confidence and leadership skills would then go a long way in enhancing the chances of having more women in political positions.
Perseverance Zhou ZANU PF Proportional Representative MP for Kwekwe said that since the political environment does not provide a level playing ground for women, the quota system allows women to be represented in decision making positions in both Parliament and local government. “Extending the quota system by another 10yrs is progressive as the extension provides a mechanism to increase women’s representation. This will be done while government works on creating a conducive, socio- economic, political and legal environment which will enable the women to participate equally with men,” she said.
National Association of Youth Organisations (NAYO) Programs Manager MacDonald Munyoro believes that there should be certain seats designated for female candidates only and they contest amongst themselves. As a result the women will be voted for by the electorate and represent actual constituencies. “Representative democracy is about the will of the people, it’s about connecting the needs in a community with the processes of Parliament .When we allow MPs to sit in Parliament without constituencies what are we saying and what are we doing? The strength of an election rests on the will of the people when we limit the will of the people to a certain political elite we are overshadowing democracy,” he said. Munyoro said that one of the challenges of the quota system is that it puts limitations on the exercise of democracy. He called on the government to set up measures that will create a pathway that creates 50-50 gender representation.
Mr. Munyoro further stated that the quota system which has been brought back is retrogressive and contravenes the constitution. He emphasised that structural issues that have to do with patriarchy have to be dealt with. “How can political parties with youth and women wings fail to field equal candidates from those wings? It’s an issue of political will and political party systems excluding and locking young people and women from public office,” he said.
Mrs. Mukahanana Sangarwe said that as the ZGC they believe the electoral system should be changed. “The electorate should vote for political parties and not for individuals and political parties should present their list of candidates before elections on a Zebra basis. Without this it will remain very difficult if not impossible to achieve gender equality. It will remain an aspiration yet the constitution has already said it should be 50-50.” The Zebra system increases the chances of equal representation through a system of rotation. It brings equality because for every man chosen a woman is chosen as well.
Rwanda, Nigeria and Uganda have managed to increase women’s representation in their Parliaments and other decision-making positions through the quota system and implementing other structural reforms. Organisations like ZESN and ZGC have called on government engender the Electoral Act to mandate ZEC to receive only nominations which have gender balance at the district, provincial and national levels. Political parties have also been called upon to register so that they are regulated on issues of inclusivity and adherence to the Constitution. There have also been calls to have support desks for women and for political parties to identify potential female candidates and groom and capacitate them ahead of elections to ensure their readiness to stand for elections.