My Turn

Maybe, women just can’t lead (I)

If the past two years have achieved anything, it is that it has done very little to convince Malawians of the value women can create if given the reins of power. The nation and the world saw former president Joyce Banda as a beacon of hope and possibility for all women in Africa; some even called her a “game-changer”.

But Banda, almost single-handedly, managed to turn this national goodwill and positive energy, which characterised her ascension to leadership, into a national joke—a joke which even had its own catchphrase: “Is it because I’m a woman?”

JB’s two years at the steering wheel of this country will raise all kinds of questions about whether her leadership has hurt or bolstered the factoids that have placed women as better caretakers of homes and communities (and therefore, countries) than their male counterparts.

Her chapter in the annals of history will be short, and for many Malawians, that chapter is best forgotten like a surreal nightmare that felt all too real for comfort.

But, being Malawi’s first female president, her contribution and legacy to the women’s fight to break the ‘Glass Ceiling’ will be debated for many years. But one thing seems to be evident: despite her being an activist in her own right, ironically JB has helped shift the ‘Glass Ceiling’ even higher than ever before. The decades of gains made by other great Malawian women, including Rose Chibambo, Vera Chirwa, and Anastazia Msosa have been eroded in such a short time—and men had nothing to do with it. This all proves the simple life-truth that it is easy to destroy than it is to create or build.

But that said, I must add, not all women are JB and JB does not represent all women. But we cannot ignore the fact that she has only confirmed the many stereotypes that Malawians have had about women in leadership and that is: women just cannot lead!

In the same vein, a similar trend is showing in the parliamentary election results. Among the many casualties during this 2014 election are the decimated women’s representation in Parliament. The numbers have dwindled so drastically that the 50-50 Campaign champion, Emma Kaliya, vented her frustration in the media saying she would tender her resignation because she saw this “dwindling” as a personal failure. You have got to hand it to her—she is one of the few Malawians who understands personal accountability; that is if she actually resigns.

But several questions come to mind about this state of affairs. Is there a link between JB’s leadership, and its impact on people’s perception of women as leaders, and this “vote of no confidence”, as it were, in female parliamentarians? But most importantly, after all the goodwill and investment that was poured into the 50-50 campaign, why is it that the goal of a balanced Parliament with an equal gender balance seems to shift ever further away?

The seemingly elusive goal of attaining equal gender representation has been fraught with all kinds of challenges but, my personal un-womanly take on the matter is that its major problem has more to do with strategy than material challenges. Having had a few years’ experience working alongside many gender activists, there is one issue I have had with the women’s empowerment movement in Malawi.

The movement was more concerned with quantity, and less on quality, in the hope that the numbers would somehow magically translate into actual gains policy-wise without really clarifying how that would happen. If recent events do not prove the inadequacy and ineffectiveness of such a strategy then I don’t know what will.

…..To be continued

—The author likes to comment on social issues.

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One Comment

  1. THERE ARE ALREADY PLENTY OF WOMEN IN POWERFUL RANKS UNLESS YOU TELL ME THAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THOSE IN THE POLITICAL ARENA TO WHICH I SAY ‘RUBBISH’. WOMEN GET OVER THE MOON IN POLITICAL RANKS THAT THEY SPEAK WITHOUT THE HEAD. ANAZOLOWERA KULAWA… NCHERE WAKWANA …..AI ONJEZERANI….AI WAWAWA…..TSUKULUZANI…IN POLITICS THERE IS NO TASTING OR PALE BALANCING….YOU NEED STRONG MINDS. MOST OF THEM WHO CAMPAIGNED FOR POLITICAL POSITIONS, TRACK THEIR HISTORY, YOU WILL FIND ITS THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE COIN TO 50/50- SO CALLED BREAKING GLASS CEILING THING. BRING IN WOMEN WITH GOOD WELL MANNERED HISTORY YOU WILL SEE US MEN CHAMPIONING THIS. THE OTHER ISSUE IS THIS CAMPAIGN HAS ‘KAMPENI KUMPHASA’ WHY ARE MENS CAUSE NOT BEING FOUGHT FOR. THIS MIGHT LEAVE SOME SECTORS WANTING VERY MUCH,BECAUSE MEN WILL SHUN THE IDEA WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY OVERRUN THEM.

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