BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
The mass recall of councillors by Zimbabwe’s former main opposition coalition, the MDC Alliance, has knocked back the push for more female representation in the Victoria Falls City Council as the local authority now only has two female councillors.
Former ward one councillor Marguerite Varley was recalled two years ago and would not be returning to council chambers as she has since been replaced by a male councillor following by-elections held on Saturday.
The MDC-T-led by Douglas Mwonzora recalled over two dozen elected legislators and 122 local government representatives, saying they were no longer representing the interests of the party.
Observers, however, say the recalls dealt a huge blow to efforts to increase women representation in local governance platforms as there were already few elected female officials in Parliament and local councils.
Varley’s recall meant that Victoria Falls, the only city in Matabeleland North province, only has two female councillors namely Patricia Mwale and Netsai Shoko.
Victoria Falls has 11 councillors.
Varley did not stand in the March 26 by-elections to replace the recalled legislators and councillors, which means Victoria Falls might have to wait until 2023 when Zimbabwe holds its next harmonised elections to get a female councillor.
The main parties, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and Zanu PF, both did not field female candidates in the two wards that were up for grabs in the by-elections in Victoria Falls.
Zanu PF’s Tonderai Mutasa, who is Varley’s successor as ward one councillor after the by-elections, said the lack of female councillors in Victoria Falls reflected the patriarchal nature of Zimbabwe’s political landscape.
“Some of them still believe that politics is a game for men,” Mutasa said.
“From my party in the ward where I contested there was a woman who was willing to contest, but she did not qualify because of Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) restrictions.”
Christopher Ndiweni, who contested in ward one on a CCC ticket said his experience from other parties where he has been a member, was that women were always willing to take part in elections, but they were being thwarted by their male counterparts.
He said women also needed to be assertive in claiming their space in the political terrain.
“Reading from the bible, it says a woman should be provided and protected by a man.
“So these people are probably not forceful in doing their things,” he said.
“There are some women, who are professionals who no longer want to get into politics because of other politicians who are always frustrating them to save their political positions.
“So when these professionals find out that such scenarios are playing out in politics, they then slide back as they naturally do not want to be seen to be forcing things.
Ndiweni said he has also seen male politicians discouraging women from taking part in important debates and this discouraged female candidates from taking part in important elections.
“Such professionals are seen as a threat by other male politicians,” he said.
Bekithemba Mlotshwa, who won the ward six by-election on a Zanu PF ticket, said his campaign team was driven by women whom he said were persuasive.
Mlotshwa believes rigid societal beliefs hindered women from running for political offices.
“Most of my campaigning teams were women because women make things move although there are instances where at times they might not fit,” he said.
“For example, 6PM to 7PM is the time for them to prepare dinner and that kind of time is not conducive for them to attend (to politics)
“We went to Binga in Siabuwa (last week) to campaign and we left at 4AM so that we will be there at 2PM.
“So that kind of situation for someone who is female and married becomes hard for them to partake in such activities.”
Mlotshwa said out of the 1210 registered voters in his ward, 709 were female and this made them the majority.
He observed that women were also discouraged from taking part in politics because of sexual and physical abuse.
According to the Election Resource Centre (ERC), the March 26 by-elections saw political parties fielding 128 candidates 28 constituencies and out of those, only 16 were women.
ERC said CCC fielded 28 candidates, but only three seats were given to women.
Figures showed that even Zanu PF with 28 candidates had only five female contestants.
Parties such as the Patriotic Zimbabweans, United Democratic Alliance and Zimbabwe African People’s Union did not field any female candidates.
Ndiweni said it was the duty of political parties to identify female candidates with a potential to win elections in order to achieve gender parity.
“It is our duty as politicians to identify people, who are capable of making things happen and persuade them to join politics,” he said.
“We should also try and support them because they are the most important figures in our societies.”
Mlotshwa said there was need for political parties to respect the constitution and ensure gender equity.
“I am happy that there has been some legislation, which promotes women to come through and partake in these positions and I am looking forward to that although the landscape does not favour participation of women in politics,” he added.
“So I would like to take it back to some political parties to promote women. We want them to come through because they are persuasive compared to us men.”
Zimbabwe’s constitutional provides for a women’s quota in parliamentary seats through proportional representation and there is a push to extend this to local government.