WOMEN S PARTICIPATION IN KEY DECISION MAKING INSTITUTIONS IN ZAMBIA: CASE OF THREE ARMS OF GOVERNMENT: LEGISLATURE, EXECUTIVE AND THE JUDICIARY

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1 Journal of Societal and Cultural Research Volume 1, Number 3 September, 2015 ISSN: X WOMEN S PARTICIPATION IN KEY DECISION MAKING INSTITUTIONS IN ZAMBIA: CASE OF THREE ARMS OF GOVERNMENT: LEGISLATURE, EXECUTIVE AND THE JUDICIARY Roy Kalinda Masauso Chirwa University of Zambia University of Zambia Abstract: There is a clear justification for including women in decision-making bodies in Zambia. Census data for all years indicates that the majority of the Zambian population is female. They have been on the periphery when it comes to influencing policy in the country, particularly when it comes to participation in decision-making positions in both the public and private sectors. The article looks at their participation in the judiciary, legislature and executive arms of the government since the introduction of democracy in the country at independence time in Evidence from the available literature indicates that women are under-represented in all the three arms of government except the judiciary. This review indicates that there is need to achieve a 50 percent representation of women in all key areas of the country. The Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have been working hard through advocacy to have women promoted to key decision making positions in government and should continue their work so as to attain equal participation between men and women in key decision making positions not only in government but also in the private sector at all levels. This will in the long run create a more equitable and just society for all Keywords: Women, Parliament, Judiciary, Cabinet, Zambia. 128

2 Women s Participation in key decision-making Introduction Across Africa, many countries have taken initiatives to increase women s participation in the governance and other decision making bodies. In the past decades, participation of women in governance across the continent has increased tremendously (Burnet, 2008; Chilisa & Ntseane, 2010). Many African countries among them Rwanda, South Africa Namibia and Uganda have instituted reserved seats for women or quota system to ensure the representation of women in decision making bodies. Zambia has made strides in increasing the representation of women albeit with challenges (UNICEF, 2008). Zambia s independence cannot be written without indicating the cardinal roles which women played during the liberation struggle (O Reilly and Gordon, 1995; EFZ, 2009). Yet historians have unconsciously or deliberately concealed the women s role in the liberation struggle and their participation in post-independence development related activities (Pankhurst, 2002; Grown & Sebstad, 1989). Consequently, this to some extent has led to the continued marginalization of women in many decision making positions in the country in both the private and public sectors at different levels (Mwale, 2012). Women to date comparatively have minimally participated in the decision making positions in both government and the private sectors. While the census results for both 2,000 and 2010 (CSO, 2012) have demonstrated that the majority of citizens in the country are women, their participation in decision making particularly at cabinet and parliament levels has indicated that women are still a minority group in Zambia as far as participation in decision making positions in the country is concerned (UNICEF, 2008; Mwale, 2012). In this article, we explore two related phenomena in Zambia. The first is the participation of both men and women in public life and governance. Since the reintroduction of multi-party politics and democracy in Zambia in 1991, the government has taken many steps to increase the participation of women in politics and other spheres of life. One such example is through the creation of the Ministry of Gender and Child Development. There has also been a number of nongovernmental organisations that have been formed to champion the cause for women in Zambia. Among them include Women for Charge, The National Women s Lobby Group, Women in Law in Southern Africa, and Women in Law and Development and to advocate for equality between men and women with a goal of improving people s lives, choices and opportunities open to them (Milimo et al., 2004). The second phenomena we will explore is women s participation in the judiciary. There are three arms of the Zambian government, viz: executive, judiciary, and legislature. The Judiciary is responsible for interpreting the law. The government has put in place policy and institutional frameworks such as the National Gender policy and the Ministry of Gender and Child Development (GRZ, 2011). The aim of these frameworks is to promote gender equality in all spheres of society. However, as much as the government has put in place these measures, female political participation represents a paradox in that their (women s) ability to influence policy making leaves much to be desired. However, in the long term, it is hoped that their increased participation in decision making bodies will prepare a path for their meaningful participation in a genuine democracy. In post-one party state, women s organizations have taken a leading role in building society and in helping women build their lives (Skjelmerund, et al., 2008). The 129

3 Journal of Societal and Cultural Research Vol. 1. Issue 3 proliferation of women s organizations since the late 1990s in Zambia seems nothing short of remarkable. Women s organizations seemed to step in to fill a social void ; they help meet women s basic needs (food, clothing, and shelter) and make up for the missing kin and social support systems that have been weakened since the privatisation period that saw a lot of people lose jobs, leading to high poverty levels in the country (Nooyo, 2000). While none of these changes happened overnight, women s organizations have indeed served the needs of thousands of women, men and children in both urban and rural areas in Zambia. The growth of women s organizations, as well as their mission to help the most vulnerable people in society (women and children), positioned them as among the most active sector of civil society from the early 1990s onward. A good number of women s organisations are greatly involved in advocacy work in the country. For example, Forum for African Women Educationalist in Zambia (FAWEZA), Women and Law in Southern Africa(WLSA), Women for Change, Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), Young Women s Christian Association (YWCA), have continued to perform commendable work to uplift the girls and women s position and economic status in society (Milimo et al., 2008). Some of the roles or functions of these organisations include: provision of education to poor and vulnerable girls such as orphans; provision of care to children in orphanages; providing legal assistance to women; sensitisation of women on human rights; providing shelter to victims of gender based violence; counselling and provision of legal representation in courts of law to bettered women are among many other roles that women s organisations are involved in in the country Women s organizations had greater space in which to manoeuvre and advocate for women s rights than many other civil society organizations, especially local human rights or indigenous rights organizations (Mwale, 2012). During the early 1990s and early 2000s, women s organizations were largely perceived as apolitical by the government and the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (the then party in power). Since protecting women s rights and promoting women s involvement in the public sphere and governance were core components of the MMD policy, the government did not step in to curtail the work of women s organizations (Mwale, 2012; Bajaj, 2009). However, despite all the efforts that have been put in place to enhance women s participation, these have not translated into a more egalitarian Zambian society especially in the political arena. This very evident in the key arms of government (Legislature, Executive and Judiciary). Women s participation at decision making level in the arms of government remains minimal in comparison to men s participation particularly in the executive and legislature. Rapid positive change has been observed in the judiciary and hopefully the same will happen in parliament and cabinet. Once men are in decision making positions, it is usually the case that they will have the privilege of appointing more fellow men to higher positions too. Decision making positions entail access to and control over resources in different sectors under control. Women as a minority and marginalised group rarely have access to and control over institutional resources at the same level as men. In most cases, women have remained spectators and not participants in the development process of the country in different sectors of the economy due to the fact that they have been marginalised when it comes to participation in decision making positions. 130

4 Women s Participation in key decision-making Previous Studies A growing body of literature on women in governance and other economic spheres has begun to assess the impact of women s increased representation (Moghadam, 2005).Competing schools of thought give different interpretations of what gender inequality entails, but all draw on deeply embedded social processes such as patriarchy and inequality (Bajaj, 2009). Earlier researches on gender in Zambia decry the domination of women by men (Bardouille, 1981). This domination in Zambia dates as far back as the pre-colonial period when family structures, social relations and ownership of land were later in history reinforced by discriminatory colonial policies and practices (Rakodi, 1988). It is a well known historical fact that women effectively participated in the struggle for independence in the country. However, their efforts and sacrifice were not rewarded at the dawn of independence as the efforts and sacrifice of men. Attempts were made after independence to reduce the oppression of women, and enhance their wellbeing by improving their accessibility to opportunities but they still remain marginalized both socially and economically. Zambia s economic decline in the 1970/80 also exacerbated women s situation as impoverishment became widespread (GRZ, 2011).Authors such as Bajaj (2009) assert that discriminatory legal and cultural practices in Zambia are an impediment to achieving equality between men and women in all spheres of society. Methods We carried out a review of women s participation focusing on three areas: judiciary, legislature and executive arms of government. This paper is concerned only with their (women) participation in decision making. Further the paper will address the literature related to rights of women. Search Strategy The search for evidence explored various databases, including Web of Science, Google Scholar, JSTOR, Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest), as well as in Applied Social Science Index and Abstracts. Publications such as from organisations such as the Central Statistical Office, the World Bank, UN Statistics Division, the University of Zambia, and the Ministry of Gender and Child Development. Bibliographies of selected articles were also searched. We set out to identify all relevant publications regardless of the language. Only primary studies and reviews that focused on women in decision making bodies in Zambia were considered eligible for review. Literature which shows the participation of women and men since independence to date were included. At independence in 1964, Zambia was a multi-party state up to 1972 when a one party state was introduced and multi- Party democracy was later reintroduced in Inclusion criteria and Instrumentation Both primary studies and reviews relating to gender and participation of men and women in decision-making positions in Zambia were included. The studies were assessed for inclusion and categorisation by the two researchers RK and MC. The studies were categorised according to broad themes: women s participation in the political arena, judiciary and the executive arms of the government. Analysis The initial stage of analysis began with reading and re-reading the articles to familiarise ourselves with the data with the aim of drawing themes rather than letting themes simply emerge. We then began to 131

5 Journal of Societal and Cultural Research Vol. 1. Issue 3 extract information from the data towards generating ideas which could be assessed in a meaningful way. This process involved asking questions about the data we were reading thereby formulating themes and meaning rather than paraphrasing (Bryman, 2012; Creswell, 2007). Results and Discussion Women s participation in the three arms of government Our review of articles revealed that of late there has been a change at the Judiciary where for the first time in the history of the country, the number of women participating as judges at both high court and supreme courts has tremendously increased. Currently, the Chief Justice is a woman and she is the first women to head the judiciary since independence in For many years, the judiciary has been a preserve for men until in the recent past when women have been promoted as judges in big numbers. Currently, there are more female judges at the high court and the gender gap is lowly narrowing at the Supreme Court as more women are getting appointed as Supreme Court judges. At the judiciary level there has been a break through by women to the highest positions but the situation at parliament and the executive remains dismal due to consistently few numbers of women members of both parliament and cabinet. At both parliament and executive, the numbers of women keep on fluctuating. There is evidence of little or no political will to increate the participation of women in parliament and cabinet levels. While the quota system in other African Countries has worked positively to increase the number of women in parliament, the Zambian political leadership which is dominated by men at both parliament and cabinet levels has not used this approach or intervention to increase the numbers of women in the legislature and executive. Women s political participation The women s participation currently at a parliament and cabinet levels stills remains far less than 50% as men have continued to dominate the key positions. When the Movement for Multiparty Democracy came into power in 1991, they assured the people that gender equality was an important aspect of the societal transformation they aimed to achieve. They teamed up with Non Governmental Organisations, and many especially professional women were willing and ready to enter into mainstream politics. They saw this as a means of pursuing their specific gender and class interests. For example, during the 1991 elections, the Zambia National Women s Lobby Group (ZNWLG) campaigned and even provided financial support to female parliamentary candidates in some cases. The organisation took a non-partisan approach as it supported female candidates regardless of their political affiliation. Results from the 1991 general elections showed that despite this support by the ZNWLG, there were only six women parliamentarians against 144 male parliamentarians elected while a partly seven percent were elected as councillors even though 198 and 673 female candidates filled in nominations for parliamentary and local government elections respectively. The number of female parliamentarians has continued to be far below the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) threshold of 50 percent women in decisionmaking positions. A look at the last elections reveals that the number of women in parliament actually dropped from 15 percent in 2010 to 11.5 percent in A further review of literature indicates that from 2008 to 2011, parliament had a female deputy speaker and this is the highest position held by a woman parliamentarian since independence in Below is a table that shows the situation of 132

6 Women s Participation in key decision-making men and women in parliament since independence for some selected years: Table 1: Men and women in Zambian parliament since independence Year Women Men Source: CSO 1991 Men and Women in Zambia: Facts and Figures; CSO 1996; CSO 2010; Gender statistics report. The above table shows that that since independence in 1964 or fifty years ago, women parliamentarians have never numbered up to twenty. In other words, the women have been highly underrepresented in parliament and Zambia failed to reach the Southern Africa Development Community goal of 30% female representation in decisions making positions by 2005 and the African Union goal of 50% female representation indecision making positions by 2015 at the parliamentary level. Despite Zambia signing different conventions such as the 1995 Beijing Convention and Platform of Action; the 1979 CEDAW, the Cairo Convention of 1993 and many other conventions and summits, the women s participation has remained dismal at both parliament and cabinet levels. Women face discrimination during selection as parliamentary candidates at political party levels and at nomination level as ministers and nominated members of parliament. Women face discrimination due to the cultural perception of politics as a domain for men. Historically very few women have ventured into politics due to this perception and poverty has equally acted as a barrier to women s political participation. It is equally stereotypically believed that women are better off as homemakers taking care of children and leave politics to men. Currently, among many political parties in the country, only one is led by a woman. Women s participation in Cabinet The situation at cabinet level is not any different from parliament as the women have continued to be under represented. Since independence female cabinet ministers have never reached half of the entire cabinet. In some cases cabinet has been devoid of women. Cabinet appointments are made by the president and none of the past presidents have appointed more than ten females as cabinet ministers. Even when women are appointed as members cabinet, very few or none are appointed to senior ministries such as Ministry of Defence, Finance, Agriculture, Home Affairs or any other ministry. The table below shows the number of women and men in cabinet for some selected years since independence in 1964 (these are the years when presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Zambia): 133

7 Journal of Societal and Cultural Research Vol. 1. Issue 3 Table 2: Men and Women in the Cabinet in Zambia YEAR WOMEN MEN Source: CSO 1996 Gender statistics report; MwakaMizinga 2010 The above scenario is what has been the practice as far as the participation of men and women at the level of cabinet is concerned. Women even at this level have been the minority since independence in A host of reasons from cultural to socio-economic exist for the poor showing of women at cabinet level just as at the level of parliament. Some reasons include sex stereotyping of women s role in the household which affect their appointment to decision making positions despite their high academic qualifications and experiences in politics; poverty among the women folk makes it difficult to wage wide campaigns and make themselves visible as capable leaders to the appointing authorities; currently violence perpetuated by political party cadres especially during campaigns for elections keep women away from politics. These are among the many reasons which keep the majority of the otherwise highly qualified and capable women out of the sight of the appointing authorities. The leaders turn to be conservative as there seems to be a strong belief that women cannot perform at high level. Unfortunately even professional women have been alienated from occupying the country s top five ministries (Defence, Home Affairs, Finance, Foreign Affairs and Judiciary). The early years of independence shows that there were at times no women in cabinet or only one. The largest number according to the above table shows that it is only in 2008 that we see five women as cabinet ministers. It is hoped that if this political will is sustained, moiré women would take up decisionmaking positions in the country in different sectors at different levels. However, there seem to be hope as things seem to be changing. For example, for the first time in the history of the country, there is a female first Vice- President since January Women s participation in the Judiciary Branch Historically in Zambia, the judges have been men at both high and supreme courts. The law was more of a preserve of men. Of late in the 21st century, the judiciary has witnessed a number of women participating as judges. There have been great achievements as far as the participation of women is concerned in the judiciary particularly at the decision making level. Currently the chief justice who is the head of the judiciary is female and a good number of women have been appointed as judges to the high court or Supreme Court. Overall, the total number of judges was more for men than women between 2008 and The pattern later changed with more female than male judges in 2010 and The gender differences were widest within the high court with a gap of 7 in With a changed pattern, there were at least 4 more women than men serving as judges in the High Court. Below is a table showing the numbers of men and women serving as judges at both high court and Supreme Court levels: 134

8 Women s Participation in key decision-making Table 3: Male and female judges at supreme and high courts in Zambia in 2015 Year Supreme Court Judges Women Men % 86% % 100% % 87.5% High Court Judges % 87.5% % 77.8% % 70% Source: CSO 1991, Men and Women in Zambia: Facts and Figures; 1996 Gender statistics report; ZARD 1998: Beyond inequalities: Women in Zambia The above table shows that between1993 to 1997, there were very few women judges at both high and supreme courts. The table further shows that in 996, there were no female judges at the Supreme Court. In the year 2015, the scenario in terms of women and men s participation is represented in the table below: Table 4: Number of Judges by Judiciary Level in 2015 Supreme court Year Women Men High Court Year Women Men Industrial relations court Year Women Men Total Source: GIDD office records 2015 The above table shows that women only dominate at the high court level while the Supreme Court and the industrial relations courts are still dominated by men. There has been a progressive narrowing of the gender gap at the level of judges despite the fact that men are still more than women as judges. This arm of government (judiciary) has demonstrated serious efforts at bringing women into the mainstream legal administration despite the wide gender gaps at the industrial relations courts and the supreme courts. Within the judiciary, women in their majority have been performing subordinate roles as government lawyers. The table below shows the number of male and female magistrates in the country as at Table 5: Judges in the Magistrate Court Year Women Men Source: GIDD office records The above table still shows the wide gender gaps at the magistrate court where women still lag behind men by very wide gaps. It can be stated that there are wide gender gaps at the magistrate court which have not been addressed as at the other levels indicated above. Conclusion This article examined the changes that have taken place with regard to participation of women in governing of Zambia. We see that the participation of women has been low in all the arms of government. The participation of women in the judiciary has improved at the high court level but the rest of the levels still indicate wide gender gaps with women as minority participants. There is need for NGOs championing the course for women 135

9 Journal of Societal and Cultural Research Vol. 1. Issue 3 inclusion in decision making to up their efforts. The effect of the inclusion of women in governance structures is the increase in the number of women with leadership and governance experience. Greater women representation could pave way for their meaningful participation in a more democratic political system that values importance of equality in society. This might also result in a great deal of change in socio-cultural conceptions of gender roles manifested in the acceptance of women in positions of power like Vice-President, ministers and councillors among others.. References Bajaj, M. (2009) Un/doing Gender? A case Study of school Policy and Practice in Zambia. International Review of Education 55: Bardouille, R. (1981) The Sexual Division of labour in Urban Informal Sector: the case of some townships in Lusaka. African Social Research, December Issue Bryman, A Social Research Methods, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Burnet, J.E. (2008) Gender Balance and Meanings of Women in Governance in Post Genocide Rwanda. African Affairs, 107/428, Chilisa, B. & Ntseane, G. (2010) Resisiting Dominant Discourse: Implications of Indigenous, African Feminist Theory and Methods. Gender and Education Research 22(6), pp Creswell, J. W Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches, London: Sage Publications. CSO (1991) Men and Women in Zambia: Facts and figures, Lusaka: CSO Publication. CSO (1996) Gender Statistical Bulletin, Central statistical office, Lusaka: CSO Publication CSO (2010a) Gender Statistics Report, Lusaka: Cabinet Office Publication. CSO (2010) Selected Social Economic Indicators 2010, Lusaka, CSO Publication. CSO (2012) Zambia 2010 Census of Population and Housing: National Analytical Report, Lusaka, CSO Publication. EFZ The Voice of the Church on Gender Matters in Zambia, Lusaka, EFZ. GIDD (2015), Gender Statistics, Lusaka: Cabinet Office Publication Grown, C.A. & Sebstad, J. (1989) Introduction: Toward a wider perspective on women s employment. World Development, 17 (7) GRZ (2011) National Gender Policy, Lusaka: Government Printers Lewis, C. (2004) Microfinance from the Point of view of women with disabilities: Lessons from Zambia and Zimbabwe. Gender and Development Vol 12. No. 1 pp28-39 Milimo, C., M., Munachonga, L., M., Mushota, L., Nyangu, N. & Ponga, A. (2004). Zambia Strategic Country Gender Assessment. A Report of the World Bank. Available: g/extrafrregtopgender/re sources/zambiascga.pdf. Moghadam, V.M. (2005) The Feminisation of Poverty and Women s rights. Paris: UNESCO Publication Mwale, E. (2012) Presentation on Gender Equality in Zambia During the Civil Society/Patriotic Front Dialogue. Paper Presentation, Lusaka 136

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