Botswana: Best Nation Has Only Four Women in Parliament

15 July, 2009 in Botswana

source: allAfrica
Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
14 July 2009

Gaborone — Botswana, often cited as Africa’s political and economic success story, is preparing for general elections in October, but gender activists are worried about the lack of female parliamentary candidates.

Currently, only four out of Botswana’s 57 Members of Parliament (MP’s) are women.

They say under-representation of women is a serious problem in all political parties in the country, the activists say, and are demanding serious changes in the distribution of party positions.

“In most cases, party leaders create an environment that makes it difficult for women to participate,” gender activist Maungo Mooki, who is also chairperson of the Botswana Congress of Non-Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO), said, according to IPS.

“Decisions from the top brass within the party cannot be [continue reading]