The number of CCM members who have so far joined the race to succeed President Jakaya Kikwete has reached 26, but women are largely missing from the scene, thanks to what some analysts have likened to the Darwinian theory of “the law of the jungle”.
So far, only two women have joined the race to State House within the ruling party, casting doubt on whether the dream of having a female president over five decades after independence was really achievable.
In a country where gender disparities in politics have been minimised in recent years, some analysts were hoping to see distinguished Tanzanian women from the academic and political arenas joining the race to State House. Of course, some argue that most women have been active in politics in recent years, not through a democratic electoral process, but just through special seats in Parliament.
Some analysts interviewed by The Citizen yesterday blamed what they termed “law of the jungle,” which govern liberal democracy and entrenched patriarchal systems, for barring potential women candidates from the election process.
This according to the analysts, push women to the periphery, effectively leaving competitive politics in the hands of males within and outside the ruling party.
Be it ward councilor, MP or president, politics has become a table of men where only a handful of wealthy and well-connected women can sit. The rest are not locked out altogether as they have one crucial role to play in the process: to vote.
The one-size-fits-all political space is evidently not fit for all. Ordinary working women, no matter how qualified they are academically and politically talented, and with straight As in integrity test, have little, if any chance of making it into the corridors of power.
For instance, out of 24 cadres who had sought nomination to vie for the Presidency through the ruling party CCM only two of them are women: Dr Mwele Malecela from Tanzania Mainland and Ms Amina Salum Ali from Zanzibar. This is happening at a time when affirmative action that created special seats for women in the National Assembly is being supported and criticized in equal measure. Wanawake na Katiba, a rights advocacy coalition of more than 60 organisations, including Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) and Tanzania Media Women’s Association (Tamwa), recently launched a push to ensure that after the October poll, of all the top three slots—President, Vice President and Prime Minister—one is a woman.
If that is the target, then the question is: where are women in the primaries? They are in the periphery, mostly by chance, according to pundits. Political Scientist Bashiru Ally of the University of Dar es Salaam believes that the nature of liberal democracy, the system that inherently favours the haves is a disadvantage to women as the playground becomes a place of the muscular—people with cash and class—most of whom happen to be men.
“The forces at play in this kind of politics naturally leave women in isolation,” he says. Based on merits, there are a lot of capable women but they do not believe in the system, they do not want to get involved in the survival of the fittest game, he said. Instead, those talented women choose to stay aside because of the dirtiness of the game.
Prof Gaudence Mpangala of Ruco says the culprit that should be fought the hardest, is the patriarchal system that has for centuries made both men and women feel that leadership is the birth right of men and women are there to be led. “For our democracy to pass as matured and inclusive, the mind of the nation must be cleared of the belief that women are lesser beings incapable of leadership,” he says:
“If that belief remains unshaken, good laws will be passed to put women in power but they will not get the respect they deserve and the confidence they need to undertake their duties as leaders.”
By Songa wa Songa The Citizen Reporter
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