Over the years, there have been calls and advocacy for gender equality, with many organizations formed and laws enacted to make this a reality.
There has been a growing clarion call for increased women participation in politics and leadership positions.
However, the calls and affirmative action do not seem to be matched by what is prevailing on the ground, as few women are taking part in political leadership.
This is despite Government initiatives to promote gender parity in politics.
As the country gears for the August 2023 harmonized elections, there has been a notable decline in the number of women contesting in the polls, with no single one of them running for a presidential post.
This is in contrast to the 2018 plebiscite, where 4 women ran for the highest office in the land.
A report by The Election Resource Centre (ERC) an organization which advocates for electoral and democracy issues in Zimbabwe shows that only a fraction of women are going to participate in this year’s harmonized elections.
According to the report, 10.9% females are going to participate in this year’s parliamentary elections, with 0% participating as presidential candidates and approximately 14.3% participating in the local governance.
This is a decline in women’s participation as compared to the 2018 harmonised elections where 14% contested for parliamentary seats and 17% for a presidential post.
Section 17 of the Zimbabwean constitution states that the State must promote full gender balance and in particular must promote the full participation of women in all spheres of Zimbabwean society, on the basis of equality with men.
This has been supported by the proportional representation law, which states that 60 seats of parliament are reserved for women.
Zimbabwe is divided into ten provinces and each province is allocated 10 proportional representation seats with six reserved for women in each province.
There seems however, to be a lack of political will amongst the major political parties as women took a back seat in participation in this year’s polls.
Politics is a dog eat dog affair and not for the fainthearted. With the volatile nature of the Zimbabwean political space where violence and harassment are a common occurrence, women naturally found it hard to participate.
Some commentators have bemoaned the exorbitant prices gazetted by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for both Presidential and Parliamentary candidates as stumbling blocks for women as most could not afford the high fees.
The Presidential candidates were required to pay a princely US$20 000 while parliamentary candidates paid a handsome US$1000.
These fees however seem to pale into insignificance as a stumbling block for women participation when compared to political violence, which several women’s organizations bemoaned.
According to the Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE), there are various reasons prompting women not to participate in politics.
“Many women are not eager to participate in politics because of the violence associated with it,” said WALPE spokesperson Helen Kadirire.
Kadirire said that the majority of women end up distancing themselves from politics for their own safety.
“When instances of politically motivated violence occur, women are often at the receiving end of it and this ends up serving as a deterrent,” she said.
She also said that lack of resources has deterred women from participating in the politics of the land.
“Lack of resources also means that women do not get the opportunity to effectively take part and campaign in political processes.
“Political parties should ensure that they create an enabling environment free from all forms of violence in order for women to fully participate in leadership and political processes” said Kadirire.
