Story by Fungai Jachi
POLITICAL parties have been implored to align their party constitutions with the National Constitution to ensure gender equality in the political space.
The Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus held a dialogue with male parliamentarians at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden this Tuesday where the active participation of women in politics was high on the agenda.
Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus, Senator Maybe Mbowa called out political parties for failing to align their constitutions with the supreme law of the land.
“Our major concern is that political parties are failing to adhere to what the national constitution says because if they align their party constitutions then it will be possible to achieve 50/50 in parliament,” she said.
Zimbabwe Gender Commission Research and Programming Manager, Ms Lorraine Mbodza said the 50/50 representation can be achieved if a proportional electoral system is adopted.
“We recommend the executive in Parliament to consider operationalising the gender equality provisions through the constitutional and legal reform and to adopt a proportional electoral system. This will compel political parties to submit gender balanced candidate lists,” she noted.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Advocate Jacob Mudenda weighed in saying political parties should put in place practical measures to promote meaningful participation of women in the political space.
“Political parties should make provisions to support women with resources especially land because lack of resources hinders women from making meaningful political contributions. They should also make alive the provisions of the Constitution which pushes for equality. Gender parity will remain an illusion if constitutionalism is not upheld. A collaborative effort is also needed to ensure everyone is on board to promote gender equality,” said Advocate Mudenda.
The meeting saw the women’s caucus lobbying for men to take part in promoting gender parity in politics.
This comes after The Parliament of Zimbabwe signed up to be part of the HeforShe Champions, a campaign aimed at encouraging men to champion gender equality.
