By Kennedy Nyavaya
Women’s rights advocacy groups have advised parliament to uphold the constitutional provisions for gender parity in all leadership roles by voting against a clause in Amendment Bill Number Two that seeks to suspend them for another decade.
Clause 11 of the contentious Bill, now set to go to for debate in parliament after public consultations last month, recommends the extension of the women’s quota system, which was scheduled for abolishment in 2023.
While it was vehemently rejected by women during the virtual and physical public hearings, the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs has gone on to recommend its implementation in a report.
“The committee recommends continuation with the quota system for another ten years. Meanwhile, government must take robust measures to ensure that the constitutional provisions of 50-50 are implemented,” reads part of the report.
However, speaking at an online meeting convened by Election Resource Centre recently, Women in Politics Support Unit (WiPSU) executive director Sakhile Sifelani-Ngoma said the report betrays the nation’s consensus on the matter.
“The clause is quite retrogressive in my view, it steps away from the provision of 50-50 [proportional representation system], which is already enumerated in the constitution,” said Sifelani-Ngoma.
According to her, the quota system was a temporary measure that the country adopted to address imbalances that were there and allow political parties to undertake the reforms within the decade from 2013 and delaying the constitutional provisions further would be insincere.
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“Coming back to us saying let’s continue the quota system because we have not quite figured out how to do the 50-50 in my view is disingenuous because our members of parliament in different spaces are aware of the methodologies that are available, so that is a window-dressing response,” she said.
Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellency director Sitabile Dewa also weighed in, saying the report was a brazen attempt to continue male dominance in leadership positions.
“Personally I do not even know where the recommendation to extend the quota system came from [because] the committee openly acknowledged that the quota system is creating problems and perpetuating the pretence of promoting women’s participation in politics,” said Dewa.
“What I deduce from this is that there is lack of sincerity on the part of the policymakers and the government to make sure that there is equal representation in all leadership positions across the board.”
The contentious bill is laden with clauses that threaten to critically change the face of the 2013 constitution immensely in what is now solely lies on the decisions of the lawmakers who have a chance to endorse or reject it in the august House.
