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Are women finally gaining political power across Africa?
DW (English)
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1/28/2025
From Ghana to Namibia, women in politics are breaking barriers in male-dominated fields, marking a significant shift. But are African nations now leading in boosting female political representation?
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00:00
Last year, Namibia elected Netumbo Nandin Ndaitwa as its first female president,
00:06
and many believe that Tanzanian leader Samia Sulu Hassan will retain the presidency when Tanzania goes to the polls.
00:14
Currently, there are also five female prime ministers across Africa.
00:19
Namibia stands out as it has both a female president and a female prime minister,
00:24
holding the two most significant positions in the country.
00:28
But does this indicate that African nations are taking the lead in enhancing female political representation?
00:35
Not so fast.
00:36
Welcome to the flip side.
00:38
President Samia Sulu Hassan is genuinely popular in Tanzania,
00:43
and she will face off against Dorothy Simu, a woman candidate from the ACT Wazalendo party.
00:50
This is the first time that CCM has a woman who is vying for this position.
00:56
So it is a milestone, and it is a milestone that we are now going to see two women competing for the same position.
01:04
President Hassan has assumed the leadership of the influential CCM party.
01:09
This situation is reminiscent of Nandi Ndaitwa in Namibia,
01:13
where her party, Swapo, has been in power since the country gained independence.
01:19
Despite the similarities, their rise to leadership has been inspiring.
01:23
Now, these young children are seeing a role model,
01:26
particularly for young children who are seeing a leader who looks like them.
01:31
She has a record to show, and she has really shown leadership,
01:36
her ability to unite her party, but also the nation.
01:40
However, it's one thing for established politicians,
01:43
but quite another for women engaging in local politics.
01:47
In many countries, women face discrimination, patriarchy and misogyny
01:52
From Tanzania
01:54
One of the challenges is for people who still have that perspective of no women in higher positions.
02:03
To Kenya
02:04
For women, it's a lot harder to have that capital to vie for a political seat.
02:09
It's also one of the most expensive things to do in this country,
02:13
and the harassment they receive, which is just not online, digitally, but also physically.
02:20
To Ghana
02:21
Where even though the country made headlines
02:23
by unveiling a first-ever female vice president in Jane Nana Opuku Agimang,
02:29
the country's electoral commission admitted that only one in eight candidates for parliament were women,
02:35
despite public sentiment trending the opposite way.
02:39
The good thing is that when you look at the Afrobarometer survey,
02:43
the general population majority said that women should have the same chance as a man
02:50
to be elected into political office.
02:55
In 2024, Ghana enacted the Affirmative Action Law,
02:59
which aims to increase female political representation to 30% by the year 2030.
03:05
If not for anything, it gives a legal backing and enforcement
03:11
for women participation in both political space, political life, decision-making and governance.
03:20
Rwanda excels in women's representation in parliament,
03:24
leading the world with over 60% of its chamber of deputies comprised of women.
03:29
Despite the challenges, women like Samia Suluwa-San have succeeded.
03:34
She has shown that a woman can also govern the country and a country can be in peace.
03:41
But we've shown how we have seen successful ministries,
03:45
even Honorable Martha Karua when she was Minister of Justice, for instance.
03:50
We've seen them transform, even Wangari Madai winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
03:54
And that is the flip side.
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