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.

Mnyika kuongoza maandamano ya kudai maji Marchi 16

Tarehe 16 Machi 2013 nitaongoza maandamano ya amani ya wananchi kwenda kwa Waziri wa Maji kusimamia uwajibikaji kuwezesha hatua za haraka za kuboresha upatikanaji wa majisafi na ushughulikiaji wa majitaka katika Jimbo la Ubungo na Jiji la Dar es salaam.

Wote mlioshiriki mkutano wa tarehe 10 Februari 2013 (Kwa wale ambao hamkushiriki mnaweza kutazama video hii: YOUTUBE , mtakumbuka tulimpa wiki mbili Waziri kujitokeza kwa wananchi kujibu hoja alizokwepa kujibu bungeni.

Tutakusanyika kata ya Manzese eneo la Bakhresa (jirani na daraja) saa 5 asubuhi na tutapita barabara ya Morogoro kuelekea kata ya Ubungo zilipo ofisi za Wizara ya Maji kufuatilia majibu ya ukweli na ukamilifu kuhusu hatua tisa za haraka za kuboresha upatikanaji wa majisafi na ushughulikiaji wa majitaka nilizopendekeza kwa niaba ya wananchi bungeni kupitia hoja binafsi na masuala mengine ambayo wananchi watataka yatolewe majibu siku hiyo.

Kila mmoja anaweza kuendelea na maandalizi ya kushiriki kwa kuwa tayari tarehe 4 Machi 2013 nimewasilisha notisi kwa Kamanda wa Polisi Mkoa wa Kinondoni na Maafisa wa Polisi Wasimamizi wa Maeneo kwa kuzingatia masharti ya kifungu cha 43 cha Sheria ya Jeshi la Polisi na Huduma Saidizi Sura ya 322 (The Police Force and Auxiliary Service Act, Chapter 322).

Itakumbukwa kwamba baada ya kutoa wiki mbili Waziri alijitokeza mara tatu ndani ya wiki hizo; mbili kati ya hizo ikiwa ni kupitia mikutano ya CCM na mara moja ikiwa ni kwenye mkutano kati yake na wafanyakazi wa DAWASA na DAWASCO.

Katika mkutano wa hadhara wa CCM uliofanyika Temeke mwisho tarehe 16 Februari 2013, Waziri hakutoa majibu badala yake alirudia tena maelezo yale yale potofu aliyoyatoa bungeni tarehe 4 Februari 2013.

Kwenye mkutano wa hadhara wa Goba tarehe 17 Februari 2013 ambapo aliahidi maji kutoka tarehe 20 Februari, 2013 ambayo hayakutoka. Tarehe 23 Februari 2013 nilifanya mkutano Goba na kutangaza namba zake za simu wananchi wamhoji ahadi hiyo na kutaka Manispaa, DAWASA na DAWASCO waweke kambi Goba mpaka maji yatoke.

Shinikizo hilo limesaidia baadhi ya maeneo ya Goba maji yameanza kutoka hata hivyo maeneo mengi bado hali ambayo inahitaji hatua za haraka nilizopendekeza bungeni kuhusu kata hiyo ziweze kutekelezwa.

Kupitia mkutano wake na DAWASA na DAWASCO tarehe 21 Februari 2013 (tofauti na maelezo yake bungeni) alikiri kwamba kuna upotevu wa maji ikiwemo kwa wizi, kuna biashara haramu yenye kuhusisha hujuma ya miundombinu, bei ya juu ya maji na kutozingatiwa kwa ratiba ya mgawo wa maji katika maeneo mengi ya Jiji la Dar es Salaam.

Hata hivyo, zaidi ya wiki moja imepita Waziri wa Maji na Wizara kwa ujumla haionyeshi kwa matendo kuisimamia kwa karibu EWURA, DAWASA, DAWASCO na Manispaa ya Kinondoni kuchukua hatua za haraka ambazo nilizieleza kwenye hoja binafsi.

Hivyo, wote mlioahidi kupitia mkutano wa tarehe 10 Februari 2013 kushiriki maandamano na wote ambapo mnaguswa na matatizo ya maji katika kata mbalimbali za Jimbo la Ubungo na Jiji la Dar Es salaam tukusanyike Manzese tarehe 16 Machi 2013 saa 5 asubuhi tuandamane kwenda Wizara ya Maji kwa mujibu wa Katiba ya Nchi Ibara za 8, 18, 20 na 21. 

Wenu katika uwakilishi wa wananchi, 

John Mnyika (Mb)
05/03/2013

Source: WAVUTI