Botswana: Bleak outlook for women in 30 Oct elections

Gaborone, 25 October:  With less than a week to the 2024 general elections, the prospects for an increase of women’s political participation in Botswana is not encouraging.

Of the 264 Parliament candidates confirmed by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), only 30 are women. This represents a slight increase, from 5.5% in 2019 to 7.9% in 2024.

The two percentage-point increase is cold comfort especially since most women candidates are in non-winnable constituencies. Presently Botswana has only 11% women in parliament. There is a danger that even this figure may decline in the October 30 elections.

Only one of the three elected women Members of Parliament survived the primary elections. Minister Annah Mokgethi is contesting the Gaborone Bonnington North constituency again, under the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) ticket. Fellow cabinet ministers, Nnaniki Makwinja and Talitha Monnakgotla lost the primaries.

The BDP has fielded seven women parliamentary candidates, with the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) registering six each. The main opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has three, and Botswana Movement for Democracy with only one. The five remaining are contesting as independent candidates.

Gender Links is still awaiting confirmation of figures on women contesting elections at the local level. While there is a slightly higher proportion of women at the local level (18%) indications are that this figure is unlikely to increase significantly.

Gender Links is currently conducting a gender audit of the upcoming elections, including media monitoring. Preliminary results show that media coverage of women candidates, and gender issues is at its lowest.

In the second Women Political Participation (WPP) Africa Barometer produced by International Idea in partnership with Gender Links, Botswana’s is ranked 49th out of 54 African countries. and 18% in local government, Botswana ranks last in the SADC region.

These figures are a blight on Botswana’s international image as a country upholding democratic principles and advancement of women in different sectors of governance. Botswana has fared badly in terms of women’s participation and leadership in politics.

The 2024 WPP Africa Barometer, and the 2020 Gender Links situational analysis, uncovered a wide range of formal and informal barriers to WPP in Botswana, including culture, custom, religion and tradition, lack of support, socialisation, the electoral system and lack of a quota, the media, access to finance and resources and violence against women in politics. The First Past the Post, has proven to be the greatest obstacle for women and other disadvantaged groupings.

In a submission to the Constitutional Review Commission, women of Botswana united under the banner Molaumoteu Buang Bomme (the Constitution: Women Speak out) to call for electoral reform. They advocated a mixed FTPP and Proportional Representation system with a quota for women. This solution has been applied in several SADC countries (Zimbabwe, local and national; Lesotho, local as well as Tanzania, national) to boost women’s political representation.

The Constitution is yet to be reviewed, and there is still no serious consideration of electoral reform in Botswana.

The 2024 election is just one election away from 2030, the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This global instrument, along with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development, commit Botswana to achieving gender parity in all areas of decision-making by 2030.

To meet these targets, Gender Links has over the two decades, worked with women across the political divide, especially at local government level, to build capacity for participation and leadership.

Since 2021, Gender Links, working with a consortium of gender justice organisations in eight African countries, has undertaken intense and purposeful training programs. Through the nation-wide Academies and mentorship program, supported through International IDEA WPP project, Gender Links has worked with more than 100 women, some of which are contesting at local government level.

The GL team is currently on the ground supporting women candidates across political parties to amplify their voices through the media. The gender audit of the elections will be published shortly after the elections.

For more information contact: Pamela Dube on +267 77 132 086.