Malawi’s 50:50 campaign Flop
Veronica Maele
President
Peter Mutharika’s cabinet reshuffle has yet again shown how politics continues
to be a male-dominated domain. Not only has the number of women in the
20-member cabinet dropped from four to three, but the reshuffle comes in the
wake of female politicians facing increasing derogatory political rhetoric and
hostile nomination processes.
Though
Action-Aid Malawi, Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) and the Coalition
for the Empowerment of Women and Girls (Cewag) have rightly voiced their
concern, the entire ‘50:50 coalition’ needs to re-examine its strategies if
progress towards gender parity is to be made. Thus, writing to UN Women as HRDC has done
with the intention of having Mutharika fired as HeforShe Champion is akin to treating symptoms of a pernicious ailment.
Why?
Because,
it is not the cabinet stupid (to
borrow Bill Clinton’s campaign cliché) but Malawi’s whole campaign for the
increase of women in elective and decision-making positions has been a flop.
The statistics are depressing whether one compares strides in the SADC region
or looks at our national trends.
Having
missed the 30 percent target on women representation in parliament and cabinet
by 2005, we eventually adopted the 50:50 campaign only to tumble calamitously in
the 2014 tripartite elections. The country’s first female president, Joyce
Banda lost the poll and the number of women MPs plummeted to 16.7 percent from
22.3 percent in 2009. At 13.4 percent, women representation in local
government is critically low.
Judging
from current approaches by key players in the 50:50 campaign (government, CSOs
and political parties) it seems forensic scrutiny of what is going wrong has
not been done. To varying degrees, some appear ill-informed. Others are wedded
to tokenism as their focus is on treating the symptoms of what are insidious institutional
barriers to women’s participation in high-level politics. Of course, political
parties (and leaders) are noticeably the worst offenders.
As
next year’s elections loom, women aspirants are once again under intense
pressure as their efforts, set against a lacklustre 50:50 campaign, are thrown
into the electioneering blitz. Recently, this deep frustration was aptly
expressed by ruling DPP aspirant for Nsanje South West Helen Buluma who has called
for the campaign to be redesigned. As with the cabinet, some responses to her
plea have been cynical. Why do women keep asking for favours? Others have unashamedly
exalted politics as a realm for men (chanamuna).
Such
remarks are part of a common narrative that dispels historical disparity in opportunities available to men and women be
it education and economic resources. One that disregards how retrogressive
socio-cultural attitudes and practices continue to relegate girls and women in
all echelons of life. The very idea of 'merit' in appointments and elective
positions, which is often maliciously parroted by those who do not subscribe to gender
parity, presupposes equal opportunity. Unfortunately, this is not yet the case.
Notably, cognisance of women’s
right to equal representation and their role in social, economic and political
development, our leaders adopted the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development (2008)
and committed to an ambitious and achievable target. It is a benchmark on which
we can measure our efforts.
Already,
some countries within the region have made progress towards gender parity in
politics, for example, South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (2018), Rwanda tops the world,
not just Africa, on women representation in parliament. Why then is Malawi
lagging behind?
Rightly
as observed by Buluma, the 50:50 campaign has suffered from poor timing. As in 2014,
stakeholders have rolled out the drive barely a year before the forthcoming polls.
This has, again, adversely affected the mobilisation of resources. For one, Mzimba
North East lawmaker Olipa Chiluba has been blunt: implementers should provide financial
assistance to struggling female candidates to enable them compete effectively
with men.
Sadly,
networking and information-sharing among stakeholders (including the women’s lobby) is disjointed, hence, there
is no proper coordination of the crucial support aspirants need. Though efforts by the NGO Gender Coordination Network, other
CSOs and government are laudable, interventions continue to be defined by short-termism
when female aspirants need streamlined, long-term capacity-building programmes
that equip and nurture - from funding, political and campaign strategies to
mentoring.
Again,
this is because women face obstinate institutional obstacles. It is still difficult for them to stand
as independent candidates or find their way onto party shortlists. Few sit at the
top of the hierarchy: in NECs, (shadow)cabinet and parliamentary committees but
are overrepresented at the bottom where they perform traditionally female roles
- dancing and singing. Gender imbalance is a problem in other professions too.
Across
the aisle, the attitude of political parties is a major stumbling block. Leaders
are uninterested in gender quotas as a commitment to increasing the number of
women legislators, councillors - not even the earmarking of some constituencies
for all-female shortlists. Despite his pledges on women empowerment, Mutharika has
completely failed to match his words with action in cabinet appointment since
he came to power in 2014.
Although
his brother late Bingu wa Mutharika’s reign was marked by serious concerns over
governance, he holds a better record on efforts towards gender equality. Bingu appointed
several women to key decision-making positions as firsts: late Mary Nangwale as
IG of Police, Jane Ansah as Attorney General, Matilda Katopola as Clerk of
Parliament. The number of female MPs increased during his tenure and he
nominated Joyce Banda who became the first woman Vice President in 2009 and
president upon his demise in April 2012.
But our attitudes towards female leadership
are still stuck in the past. In 2010, DPP regional governor for the South Noel
Masangwi told us ‘Malawi is not ready for a female president.’ For all of
Banda’s political miscalculations, her loss of the presidency four years later was
partly due to our doubts about female leadership. Banda was often called a
‘prostitute’ and a clueless ‘mandasi woman’ (fritter seller).
When Vera Chirwa, a lawyer and renowned human
rights activist announced her interest to stand in the 2004 presidential
elections, she was described as ‘unfit’ for the role when men with pitiable
credentials have never been doubted. During its reign, the UDF harassed
Nyandovi Kerr for being ‘too ambitious.’
The rigour of male-dominated political
institutions is off-putting to many women who have to tip-toe amidst jeers of
bigotry aimed at battering them to conform to prescribed gender norms. As
at now, capable women are being ostracised using hostile party nomination processes
presided over by male leaders, for instance, Mutharika and Leader of Opposition
Lazarus Chakwera. Whilst ruling DPP Regional Governor for the South Charles
Mchacha is proudly scolding UTM female members as ‘prostitutes,’ efforts are
underway in opposition MCP to see Juliana Lunguzi and Jessie Kabwila lose their
primaries.
This
is why stakeholders particularly CSOs should desist from selective criticism and
their obsession with megaphone statements and the sensationalisation of issues
relating to gender imbalance. Women are facing major obstacles (cultural,
social, economic, institutional etc) which continue to impede on their active
participation and equal representation in politics and other arenas. Change
will not solely come from the top but dialectical processes that involve
grassroots awareness and engagement of all key actors. The 50:50 campaign is up against complex
structural barriers and it will only succeed if it reboots and adopts a multifaceted
approach, with clear goals to be achieved within reasonable time-frames.
