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Talent Gore and Blessings Chidakwa

Government is working on ensuring greater participation of women at local government level.

This comes after the representation of women in local government declined from 16 percent to 15 percent.

Out of 6 800 candidates who contested in elections for seats in the 92 local authorities, only 1156 (17 percent) were women.

Speaking at the working meeting on women in local government constitutional and legal options in Harare on Tuesday, Local Government and Public Works Deputy Minister Marian Chombo said women in politics are hamstrung by a number of factors that limit their participation in political processes.

Deputy Minister Chombo said women who participated as candidates in the 2018 Harmonised Elections were fewer than expected and none of the contesting political parties attained 50-50 representation between males and females for the National Assembly elections.

“It is of key consequence that the empowerment of women and their participation in decision making positions is made a priority,” she said. “The more women are represented in politics and decision making positions, the more it is likely for the country to achieve the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Statistics show that the number of women with competitive seats dwindled with the introduction of the quota system, yet it is meant to be a temporary measure as we work towards attaining gender parity.

“There is a conspicuous decline in women representations from the year 2018 as a clear indication that there are still challenges and barriers to women participation in local government.”

Deputy Minister Chombo said the number of women in key leadership positions keeps dwindling due to various factors which include women hate on one another and the pull-her-down syndrome.

She said in as much as the Constitution has provisions that promote gender balance in all spheres of life, women remained under-represented in politics.

“The Constitution does not contain a special measure for women’s representation in local government which is fundamental as it drives social service delivery which has a high impact on women’s livelihoods because of their care-giving roles,” said Deputy Minister Chombo.

She said there was need to enforce the 50/50 gender parity clause at all levels, beginning with political parties.

“There is a lot that needs to be done from amending the Constitution and reviewing the Electoral Act to ensure that Proportional Representation is beneficial to the Gender Equality Agenda,” she said.

Zanu PF Deputy Secretary for Women’s Affairs Angeline Masuku said the representation of women and men in local government should be equal.

“If women are not included at the grassroots levels, how do we expect them to hold top leadership positions,” she said.

“My party is saying that at the local government level, let there be an equal representation of women and men.”

Deputy Minister Chombo said Zimbabwean women were denying themselves their right to have a fair share f representation in Parliament and local government.