Women in Politics- Do the right thing OR stay in office?

Leila Sheikh

The 1950’s saw the emergence of indigenous voices on the
political platform of the then Tanganyika.

The voices were predominantly male which were occasionally
interspersed with a few women’s voices like that of the legendary
Bibi Titi Mohamed and that of Lucy Lameck.

The struggle for Independence was able to build up a strong
corps of indigenous leaders, who were strong, vocal and
committed to the struggle for self-governance.

The advent of Independence in 1961 brought those leaders
to the fore in governance though again, those leaders were
predominantly male, and moreover, those very same leaders were
carrying the baggage of tradition, prejudice and the legacy of
colonial structures.

The UWT was formed as a women’s political wing in TANU, the
then ruling party, and though the UWT was able to provide a
platform for women to take part in the decision making process,
it lacked the status and the political muscle to be a viable forum
for advocacy for women’s rights.

It was not treated with respect by the male leaders who viewed
it as a nest for intrigue and backbiting among women. It was also
not taken seriously.

Though to be fair, the UWT was able to foster women’s political
talent.

Among the UWT’s most notable contributions were the lobby for,
and the enactment of the Law of Marriage Act in 1971, quite a
revolutionary piece of legislation at the time!

In the wake of the multi parties consensus in Tanzania, the newly
emergent Political Parties formed Women’s Wings which to some
extent eroded the visibility of UWT which became the Women’s
Wing of CCM rather than the Community/Union of Tanzanian
Women.

Various women have held political office at the level of Cabinet
Ministers right down to local council in the last 40 years.

However, the male to female ratio in political leadership has
been at best, a façade because at a glance, women MPs have not
been able to fill the quota required by the national consensus on
affirmative action.
Neither have women’s political voices been given a solid platform
in terms of political muscle, for influencing change.

This is brought by the fact that the majority of women
politicians have to bow down to Party dictum, the Parties which
have given them political visibility and positions, to the extent
that when it comes to gender issues, they would rather stick to
the prevailing Party posture towards Gender Rights than risk
being alienated from the body politic.

Those same Gender Rights which Political Parties eschew and
include in their Manifesto during campaigns but which get
relegated to just being a Tool in their campaign strategy.

In the words of the late John F. Kennedy
“Politics is a jungle, a struggle between doing the right thing and
staying in office”.

Fear of rejection by their political parties, fear that they
would not be selected in the next Primary Elections; fear that
they would be viewed as pariahs if they become more vocal on
Gender Equality and Economic Justice; has forced many a woman
politician to suppress activism in favour of staying in office.

As a result, the women constituency has been feeling short
changed. The question among Gender Right activists is “If women
politicians are supposed to be representing our interests, then
how come they are more focused on holding on to their political
office rather than on campaigning strategically and actively for
the interests of women?”

In reality, women politicians who get elected to become Members
of Parliament for ‘Special Seats’ do not see the women of
Tanzania as their constituents. They look up to the Political
Parties which got them in office as ‘their constituent’.

To be fair to them, some women politicians have tried to push the
Gender Agenda onto the Political Agenda and various successes
have been documented, but this has happened because of the Civil
Societies (CSO) movement which has been acting as a lobby and
advocacy platform and which from time to time has been calling
on politicians, women politicians included, to account.

Most notable successes like law reform have been accomplished
by forming coalitions between the CSO movement and the

government. Voices from opposition parties have added an
impetus to such campaigns.

As a corps, women politicians are not very strong. Neither are
they very vocal. They only become strong and vocal when the
Agenda under review is consonant with their Party Policy.

However, the particular Policy initiated by the Party may
not be consonant with the interests of the Tanzanian women
constituency.

Gender Rights activists have criticized women politicians
especially those elected for special seats for forgetting that
they hold office through popular mandate.

Lack of a cohesive union among women politicians who belong to
different Political Parties has to some extent, marginalized the
interests of women constituents.

This has led to the fragmentation of women’s political strength
and the voices that come out are discordant.

Multiparty democracy and the proliferation of newspapers and
radio stations have served to make Tanzanian constituents
politically aware.

Human rights education and voters’ education programmes which
have been conducted by CSOs have helped raise the level of
awareness among Tanzanian voters.

Though the so-called political maturity styled along Western lines
has not yet been attained, more and more voices are heard from

the public through the media, and through direct contact with
Members of Parliament and local council leaders.

This dialogue needs to be strengthened so that public voices
would become amplified.

The media has been acting as a powerful tool for lobby and

advocacy in Tanzania. It has been a tool for change in attitude
towards gender stereotypes.

The media has provided a forum for peoples’ voices to be heard.

Moreover, the media has succeeded to a large extent on public
education programmes vis-à-vis legal literacy, voters’ education
and human rights awareness.

Going back in history from the time of the campaign for UHURU
to current times, there should be debate on the role of women
on the political platform which debate it is hoped, would pave the
way for more participation of women on the political platform
both in the role of political leaders as well as in the role of
voters/constituents.

Research has not yet been conducted on the women electorate
who prefer to vote for male politicians at constituency level but
it is ‘whispered’ that the women electorate is more favorably
disposed towards male politicians than towards women politicians
at the time of voting.

Until a structured survey is made, we can give the only
explanation that for centuries men have been the symbol of
authority therefore, are able sway electorate opinion in their
favor.

Also, male politicians receive more support from their political
parties. They have more money for campaigns. They are not
modest to list their achievements and they have an olds boys’
network from which they can draw support.

Women on the other hand not only operate within patriarchal
structures after they are elected, but they also have to deal with
prejudice and tradition from among their potential voters, while
they are campaigning.

This has served as a handicap and most women politicians prefer
getting elected through the Special Seats forum rather than
through electoral constituencies.

The outcome of such a strategy makes women politicians prone to
emotional blackmail from their Political Parties.

In turn, they suppress their activism, sometimes supporting
policies and action which are detrimental to the women of
Tanzania, because the alternative would be alienation, and a No-
vote next time.

There should be public debate on the following:

.

The issue of power vis-à-vis responsibility

.

More women to campaign for office at constituency level

.

Make visible the issue of loyalty and responsibility to
women among politicians elected for special seats.

.

Forum for discussion by different stake-holders on the
electoral process

.

Discussion on the need for policy review and reform at the
level of Political Parties to include more comprehensive
strategies and plans for gender balance and opportunities
for skills building among women politicians to ‘have a Voice’
within their Parties

.

Historical analysis of women on the political platform –
where we come from and where are going.

.

Provoke a change in the process of selection at the primary
election level so that leaders are selected on the basis of
commitment to the development process rather than on the
basis of popularity at Party level

.

Initiate public debate on the issue of ownership of the
development process that the elected leaders are only
custodians of the process with ownership belonging to the
constituents

.

The issue of accountability between both parties i.e. the
leadership and the electorate should be discussed and each
party should be called to account

Finally, women politicians need advice to stop abusing and
sometimes, physically fighting with each other.
This is stressful to women constituents who watch with dismay
at the verbal and physical abuse some women politicians throw at
each other and we ask ourselves “Are these the women we want
to represent our interests?

If they can abuse each other with impunity, would they be able to
Speak Up against Gender Based Violence?”