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FIRST Lady Monica Geingos says that women in leadership positions will not bring lasting change for the next generation of women if their sole purpose is to promote themselves.
Geingos, who spoke at the 2021 Amujae leadership induction on Saturday, said that women in leadership positions on the continent have chosen their own interests over having an impact on women in the future.
“I have watched with horror how a handful of women across the continent have placed their party or their personal or religious interests ahead of progressive policies for women. And regardless of the leadership position we occupy, we will not create sustainable change. if our only interest is to be physically present at the table, “Geingos said.
She said women leaders should make structural changes through policy when they fill those roles.
The first lady’s comments come at a time when female parliamentarians, through online messages viewed by The Namibian, appeared to attempt to divide the National Assembly (NA) on a motion on women’s reproductive rights introduced last year. past.
Maria Kapere, former Secretary of the Namibian Council of Churches, Minister in the Presidency Christine // Hoëbes, former Swapo MP Margaret Mensah-Williams and Elma Dienda, Member of Parliament for the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) participated in this online conversation.
“Then we will crush it when I present it. We will reject it and [the] the house will have to be divided. The fact that there were already petitions and [the] the speaker will send it to a standing committee for citizens to give their input, it’s a done deal, “read a comment under the name Mensah-Williams.
Meanwhile, a study by University of Namibia political science professors Job Amupanda and Erika Thomas shows that female legislators presented five motions related to gender equality and women’s political participation, which were presented in NA 2015. to 2018.
During the same period, women parliamentarians presented 15 motions in total.
The chamber was dominated by Swapo, whose legislators had the largest representation in NA.
None of them presented motions related to gender issues or women’s participation in politics.
The study on the effectiveness of Swapo’s 50/50 gender representation policy in NA from 2015 to 2018 revealed this.
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After the 2019 elections, women now make up 46% of Namibia’s parliament, six percentage points more than before the November elections.
Namibia and South Africa are now on par with regard to the increased representation of women in parliament in the Southern African Development Community.
Geingos said that women leaders are not protected by the patriarchal idea of the position of women and are often looked down upon in those spaces.
“Being a leader is hard enough, but being a female leader adds a gender angle that we’ve all certainly experienced, and the part that always amazes me is how your position, no matter how high up the food chain you are, never protects you. of the open and covert lack of respect that the patriarchy presents to women, “he said.
Geingos said women are not yet free from traditional gender roles, which dictate that they must marry, be seen but not heard, and have offspring.
“Just that they talk to you, that they constantly interrupt you when you speak, that you focus on your physical appearance and that we do not forget the insults and gender innuendos …”, he said.
Despite the backlash, more women in Africa are assuming leadership positions, she said.
The main African countries with a high percentage of women in ministerial positions are Rwanda (51.9%), South Africa (48.6%), Ethiopia (47.6%), Seychelles (45.5%), Uganda (36, 7%) and Mali (34.4%).
Morocco (5.6%) is the country where women in ministerial positions are least represented.
