By Joe Mwansa Lombe Kaluba
This year Zambia goes to the polls. This has therefore sent excitement to a lot of political players. Politicians, voters, Civil Society Organisation(CSO) and international organisation including cooperating partners are all excited
I have a feeling that we are going to have a lot of competition not only during elections but within political parties. The competition I am talking about in parties is that of adoption. Women and men alike will seek to be adopted on a number of seats. As we seek to elect our President(With Running Mate), Mayors/Council Chairpersons, Member of Parliaments and Councillors. I think this is going to be a mouthful if you ask me. With the Constitution Bill also signed. This adds more drama.
My focus of this post is on Women and Politics in relation to the August elections. How they should be seen as partners and not substitutes. I would like to note that in this time and age we should not be talking about things like 50/50 representation between Men and Women. We should rather be consolidating that. I think men have been selfish and I feel women have not been aggressive enough. In time we have seen that women have been treated us substitutes or just mare cheerleaders. Men thus have taken advantage of this and stayed in those positions.
As a promoter and champion of Women in leadership I want to see a lot of women adopted in this year’s elections. I would like to see women themselves stepping up in taking up leadership. There is nothing like I will be adopted just because I am a women. You have to stand up and get out of that mud.
If men can lead so can women. But as I said men will always take advantage of different situation just to show that they are better. We are the same the only problem is society teaches us that men are smarter than women which is not true. I would also like to highlight that men and women are not enemies. We are partners we are a team. The moment we see men as competitors it will bring in a lot of elements like emotions and hate. We have different abilities and that makes us unique in our own way. Men and women alike.
I am a feminist or women’s rights and gender activists. However what I hate is ideologies that want to show fights between men and women. I have been to workshops and conferences where men are seen as the enemy and not the partner. I have also been to programmes where women are seen as the weaker being and people that only think about gossip, fashion or competition with other women. If we have to move as a team we need to work as a united force. There is need to stamp out all stereotypes that/which society has dressed us with.
I would like to see the social movement lobby for equal representation of women and men. Young people and the physically challenged. It is a pity that we have CSOs who think about their bellies first and the deprived or disadvantaged groups last. In this election year I would like to see this change.
I would also like to see political parties putting in deliberate policies which aids the striking of that balance. We should see more women adopted as candidates. In this regard the move taken by the ruling Patriotic Front(PF) in reserving 40% of all electable positions for women and 40% for men is a welcome move. PF has noted that the other 20% will be competed for by all party members regardless of their sex.
The ruling party has also highlighted that: “…the party wants to empower women and ensure that it increases women representation in parliament and councils adding that the party is trying to move towards a fifty/ fifty representation before the 2021 elections.”
Now we are talking. That sounds like a good plan. Other political parties should do the same. In the actual sense I would like to see a balance of adoption even at Presidential/Running Mate. This will be big progress for everyone.
Nevertheless, I think Women must start to put their acts of improvement together so that they fully take part in the development of our country. Having more women in leadership is in itself not only great but it will rather be used as opposition within a party, council, parliament or cabinet which will seek to provide impelling checks and balances.
Everyone who has worked with women will tell you that they are hard working. But the problem is that we seek to pretend that they are not. With the Grade Twelve Certificate as one of the prerequisite to being adopted I think that sets a balance for all.
In this regard women should also up their involvement. Not the 24/7 insults they trade with each other on social media. The issue of who is dressed well or who puts up the best make-up should be the thing of the past. Don’t let men or community be vindicated. Move out of that mud and step up. The time to lead and get involved is now.
If you can’t stand in this year’s election, position yourself in other elections. Involve yourself in leadership programmes be it in a Faith Based Organisation, Education institution, CSOs, Volunteer groups, Political Organisations even at work. Leadership skills should be natured ladies. Waiting for people to see that you are ready will just delay your participation and quest to help lead and develop Zambia, Africa and the World as a whole. So move lady and snatch or grab that position.
May more women be adopted this year.
The post Opinion: Young Women In Politics – Don’t Be Stuck In The Mud appeared first on Zambia Reports.