By Evans Munashe Tembo
When Gibson Nyikadzino looks at Zimbabwe’s 2023 election statistics, he does not see progress towards women empowerment; he sees a warning.
For Nyikadzino, the decline in the number of women contesting in the presidential elections is not incidental. It reflects what he describes as “systemic barriers embedded within Zimbabwe’s political system.” The barriers, he says, are structural, institutional, and deeply tied to those who hold power. As proved by recent research conducted by the Electoral Support Network of Southern Africa (ESN-SA), barriers to more meaningful participation by women in electoral processes emanate from an overall socio-economic, cultural and political environment that continues to be inhibitive. The restrictive nature of the environment is seen in factors that include electoral systems that discriminate against women, political party orientations that alienate women, poor access to economic resources by women, socio-cultural practices that perpetuate gender-based discrimination and institutional factors including insufficient constitutional and policy frameworks.
It is a result of a combination of these factors that the current distribution of Parliamentary seats in Zimbabwe points to a serious marginalization of women in political processes. Women currently hold 84 of Zimbabwe’s 279 National Assembly seats, representing 30.1% of total seats in the country’s lower chamber of Parliament. This is in comparison to men who occupy 195 seats, which translate into 69.9% of total seats in the National Assembly. In the Senate, women occupy 35 out of 79 seats, which is 44.3% of thetotal Senatorial seats. The other 44 or 55.7% of total senatorial seats are occupied by men. During the 2023 harmonized elections, only 22 women won directly contestedparliamentary seats compared to 188 men. This means women secured just 10.5% of directly elected parliamentary positions.
The small number of seats occupied by women owes to the predominance of the First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system that, owing to past gender imbalances, is heavily tipped in favour of males. This is as contrasted to the Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system, which according to the ESN-SA research, is more conducive for a more effective participation of women in electoral processes.
The FPTP electoral system has traditionally advantaged men who have used it to crowd out women within a lop-sided context characterized by a historic male domination of political processes, economic marginalization of women, violence, vote buying, and other manipulative practices.
Zimbabwe and other countries in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region have largely stuck to what has turned to be gender repressive electoral systems.
As statistics gathered by ESN-SA point out, 56% of countries in SADC continue to predominantly use the FPTP system compared to 25% that have embraced the PR system. Zimbabwe uses a hybrid electoral system, but statistics presented earlier point to the PR component being embraced on a token basis that perpetuates the marginalization of women.
With the FPTP electoral component being considered the main basis for political power distribution, women who have attained political positions through PR and a quota system are treated as lesser political beings. 60 seats in the 280-member National Assembly are exclusively reserved for women while 30% of council seats are for women party-list councilors.
Insinuating that these affirmative action measures are token, political analyst, Vivid Gwede says “participation exists, but is not on equal terms.” As Gwede further states, the existing situation is one in which there is a “managed inclusion” of women in electoral processes. This sort of inclusion, as Gwede added, has created a situation in which “women are present, but their routes to power are limited and often dependent on male dominated political party structures”.
Gwede’s sentiments testify to how gender imbalances characterize internal dynamics of individual political parties where participatory frameworks are heavily oriented towards male domination. This gender unequal pattern is seen in candidate selection processes that defy gender parity.
While the ruling ZANU PF embarked on primary elections for its candidate selection, the process left a lot to be desired with respect to gender transformative electoral politics.
As observed in the Zimbabwe Gender Commission 2023 Gender Observatory Report and in the feministic analysis of the 2023 elections by the Institute for Young Women’s Development (IYWD), ZANU PF’s primaries were not gender progressive insofar as they were characterized by “entrenched patriarchy”, prohibitive candidate fees, and low representation of women in constituency seats that were contested under the FPTP electoral system.
CCC did not hold primaries preferring to select electoral candidates through the Bereka mwana (queuing behind the candidate)model. As observed in the IYWD analysis, this method exposed women to public queuing intimidation, resulting in many women voters withdrawing from participating “as voters, traditional leaders and political rivals could see who they supported.”
As further observed by IYWD, the Bereka mwana model “relied heavily on existing social networks, where men historically dominate local structures and traditional leadership.” Women participants, however, “lacked these established networks and struggled to gain the public visibility required to win over a crowd.” Although touted as a citizen-centered process, CCC’s candidate selection process was ultimately determined by a male chaired central vetting committee, which, like ZANU PF’s Politburo had power to override or veto results.
As established through ESN-SA research, patriarchally oriented political party systems are fueled by traditionally rooted stereotypes, attitudes and prejudices that militate against gender transformative political systems. These stereotypes, attitudes and prejudices have also affected the constitution of the executive arm of government in which women remain in the minority. Following the 2023 elections, only 6 out of 26 Cabinet ministers appointed were women. This means that only 23% of Zimbabwe’s cabinet ministers are women. This is a far cry from the aspired 50% to 50% ratio in the distribution of key decision-making positions between men and women.
Another disturbing, recurring phenomenon hindering gender transformative politics in Zimbabwe is that of Violence Against Women in Politics (VAWP). As pointed in the ZGC observatory report, women who participated in Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections were subjected to VAWP manifestations such as sexual harassment, physical violence, economic violence, cyber bullying, vote buying, emotional and verbal abuse and destruction of campaign material. More than ninety-two percent (92%) of women Parliamentary candidates who participated in the ZGC survey experienced one or more of these forms of violence.
Speaking of economic violence against women, observers have noted Zimbabwe’s beyond reach nomination fees for electoral candidates as an impediment to meaningful political participation by women. For the 2023 elections, the nomination fees for presidential election candidates went up from $US 1000 to $US 20 000.
For parliamentary candidates, the fees rose from $US 50 to $US 1000 while those for proportional representation candidates went up to $US 200 from $US100. As observed by Action Aid, “the sudden skyrocketing of nomination fees was a systematic financial barrier that priced out capable women.” With women candidates facing financial barriers, all the 11 candidates who contested in the 2023 presidential election were males. Of the 934 candidates nominated for parliamentary seats, only 229 or 24.5% were women.
Women are further exposed to situations in which institutional and policy frameworks meant to uphold their electoral rights are either absent or disrespected. Believed to be an incremental gain in terms of upholding and promoting rights and freedoms, the 2013 constitution, which has not been fully implemented, is under serious threat.
The Constitutional Amendment Bill Number Three (CAB3), currently being fast tracked through Parliament, is set to abolish the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, a creature of the constitution that, according to its website, “acts as a watchdog to monitor gender rights, investigate violations, and advise both public and private institutions on achieving gender balance”.
With CAB3 also seeking to abolish the direct election of the country’s President through Direct Universal Suffrage, making the election of the President a preserve of a male dominated Parliament, the majority of women stand to lose their right to elect a President of their choice.
For issuing a statement that was critical of this Bill, the Chairlady of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, a supposedly independent body that exists as a watchdog for upholding human rights, was recently reassigned to a less consequential role of being a mere Public Service Commissioner.
Those elected or appointed to decision making positions against these odds are not spared discrimination and abuse. Angella Nyambisva is a Councilor in Wedza. She got to that position on the side of the opposition through Quota System provisions.
As she confessed, her work as a Councilor has not been spared from abuse as male colleagues in Council treat her as a political beneficiary of political grace who does not deserve to perform full duties of a municipal representative.
As seen by Stabile Dhewa, Director of the Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE), the confinement of Nyambisva and other women politicians to token political roles reflects a selective political will in which political participation by women is only upheld at a symbolic level that does not lead to an equal redistribution of real power between men and women.
