Perpetua Murungweni
Women seem to face a number of challenges in political participation than men. Due to economic hardships in Zimbabwe lack of economic empowerment seem to be a major drawback for women participating in politics.
Women’s economic empowerment is widely regarded as the transformative process that helps women and girls move from limited power, voices, and choices at home and in the economy to having the skills, resources, and opportunities needed to compete equitably with man in markets control and benefit from economic gains.
As economic empowerment is the ability to make and act on decisions that involve the control over and allocation of financial resources, it is prudent to give women access to income and assets which equip them with power to make decisions.
According to experts, when women are able to make decisions they can pursue goals free from the threat of violence or revenge and it helps them to fully participate in politics without challenges.
Statistics provided by the United Nations indicate that Zimbabwean women’s participation in leadership and politics remains low at 35percent in parliament, 16percent in local government and 11.5percent in Cabinet. This is due to lack of women empowerment, inadequate implementation of the Constitutional provisions and inadequate capacity of state institutions to mainstream gender in electoral and political processes.
Tendeuka Matara, who said she was nominated to contest in the forthcoming elections in her party said women usually hesitate to take part in politics because of the economic empowerment gap between men and women, with most women being less capacitated than men in terms of education and employment.
“The economic empowerment gap between men and women hinders us women from political participation; most women are less educated than men and fewer women are employed. This affects our campaigns because we do not afford resources needed to become effective leaders but if we become economically empowered we will be in a better position to compete with men in politics,” said Matara.
Women Coalition of Zimbabwe Masvingo Chapter Coordinator Blessing Mombo said economic empowerment improves women’s access to resources as they will be able to make decisions, giving them a sense of self-worth.
“Economic empowerment improves women’s access to resources. Lack of economic empowerment is a major setback for women to participate in politics. For instance lack of financial resources can limit women’s political participation given the cost associated with elections and this is where most of women lose the game especially during primary elections when they do not have financial support from their political parties.
“In primary elections women campaign using their own resources hence they cannot stand the competition as their male counterparts have a better economic base,” said Mombo.
Leah Matavire, the information officer of Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD), said that economic empowerment signifies power in political discourse, and women need this power so that they effectively participate in leadership roles.
“The economic muscle in every society represents power and especially when it comes to the political discourse.
“For women to be able to effectively participate and get elected in politics there is need for them to be economically empowered, as financial resources aid the smooth flow of campaigning, mobilizing electorate and managing the hefty fees required by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for one to be registered as a candidate,” said Matavire.
