THE Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) has lauded the country’s main political parties, Zanu PF and the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) for fielding female candidates in the recently held Mutasa Rural District Council local authority by-elections, saying this shows that they are serious in achieving the 50/50 gender representation.
The by-elections were held following the death of Stephen Kavhuru, who was elected on an MDC Alliance ticket when it was still being led by Nelson Chamisa.
In a statement, Zesn commended the nomination of Regina Barara of Zanu PF and Barbrah Nyamururu of CCC as candidates for the vacant local authority seat.
“Women in Zimbabwean politics are traditionally marginalised. In light of that, Zesn commends the two parties and the Mutasa community for fielding female candidates in the by-elections,” the statement read.
“The network, therefore, proffers the following recommendations to improve the prepolling and post-electoral periods in future elections: Political parties should encourage their supporters to observe electoral laws in campaigning and chanting slogans within the vicinity of polling stations. Voters are encouraged to inspect their names whenever voters rolls are displayed outside polling stations before polling. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) and civil society organisations should do more civic and voter education to encourage voters to vote in local authority by-elections.”
Zimbabwe Election Advocacy Trust (Zeat) executive director, Ignatious Sadziwa said women continue to experience marginalisation in politics.
“Gender parity in representative politics has been a concerning issue in Zimbabwe where women find themselves marginalised in political narratives. Sometimes women fear to participate in politics due to political violence which is a norm in our elections history. As Zeat we advocate for a proportional representation (PR) electoral system as opposed to the first past the post system that we are currently using,” Sadziwa said.
Previously, Zimbabwean women bemoaned slow progress in ensuring that they occupy parliamentary and local authority seats, as well as leading positions in politics and other sectors.
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Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence executive director Sitabile Dewa said societal attitudes towards female candidates were still largely characterised by deeply ingrained stereotypes.
Dewa said male political opponents used this to question women’s capabilities.
Article 17 of the Constitution provides for equal representation of women and men in all areas of decision-making, but local government elections are presently not included in the constitutional quota.
