KAMPALA – Women in politics and Civil Society have protested the current state of politics in Uganda which has been heavily commercialized – locking out many potential women from fully participating and governance.
During the Monday High-Level Women Leaders Round Table Conversation organized by Akina Mama wa Afrika in partnership with Uganda Women’s Network, stakeholders noted that in Uganda, there is exclusion and discriminatory politics alienating women from meaningful engagement in governance and political processes despite years of affirmative action and feminist activism.
The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), report (2023), indicates that while the number of women in elective positions has increased through the ring-fencing of constituencies for them, little progress has been made in direct competitive politics. For example, out of the 529 members of Parliament, only 188 are female MPs, while 146 of them were elected on the affirmative ticket, and only 14 came through direct constituency elections.
At the Local government level, up to 97.4 percent of all district chairpersons are men. For district speakers, 13.7 percent are women while men represent 86.3 percent, and for district vice chairpersons, 73.5 are men against 26.5 percent of females.
“At the same time, there is deep mistrust and disappointment at the failure of women’s representation in political leadership to effect change that advances gender justice or shifts the lives of the most marginalized communities.”
They noted that money needed to officially register for elections and to facilitate the campaign process is a lot for most women.
In her keynote address, the former First Lady of Ekiti State in Nigeria also founder of Akina Mama Wa Afrika Bisi Adeleye- Fayemi advised women to build networks that can enable them to overcome such challenges.”
“It’s very important for women to work together in solidarity because that way, they can have a better understanding of challenges they face, how to engage society at large and also to create safe spaces to fight for one another.”
According to her, politics is commercialised everywhere in the world but it makes it harder for women because they don’t have financial access like their men counterparts.
“Some of the strategies we have tried in Nigeria when it come to the issues of financial access for political offices is to negotiate with political parties for wavers for women. There are some offices where the woman gets forms at subsidised rates or free of charge. We also have development partners who have come up with creative ways of supporting women.”
She urged women also to be mindful of quality, much as quantity is needed.
“Sometimes, there are women in leadership who have not performed as expected. So we need more numbers but the quality as well.”
Former minister Victoria Ssekitoleko, Kampala Woman MP Shamim Malende and Eunice Musiime, the Executive Director, Akina Mama Wa Afrika all explained that the biggest challenge women face is commercialized politics.
Musiime said, “Of course people have talked about criminalising vote buying but who is going to criminalise it if we know that this is happening by both the opposition and the ruling party. What needs to be done is to make sure that we raise the consciousness of population to value quality leaders over money that has been given.”
Ssekitoleko said, “The moment you monetise politics, you have locked out the women because they are already locked out of the economy. Our economy depends a lot on land, not many women have land. You have heard many times that a man has sold a house or land to go into politics, the woman has nothing to sell.”
Angela Nakafeero, Commissioner in charge of Gender and Women affairs at the Ministry of Gender advised women already in positions of authority to strive and address challenges that still hinder women from progression.