WOMEN IN POLITICS IN MALAWI Edited by Inge Amundsen and Happy Kayuni INGE AMUNDSEN AND HAPPY KAYUNI (EDITORS) Women in Politics in Malawi INGE AMUNDSEN AND HAPPY KAYUNI (EDITORS) Women in Politics in Malawi Published by: Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), Bergen, Norway Department of Political and Administrative Studies (PAS), Zomba, Malawi © Copyright: Inge Amundsen and Happy Kayuni All rights reserved ISBN: 978-99908-0-529-1 Front-page photos: Main photo: Ruth Takomana, UDF, campaigning. Photo: Govati Nyirenda, Malawi News Agency Small picture 1: Former President Joyce Banda. Photo: Cindy Ord, Getty Images Small picture 2: Woman voter, 2014 elections. Photo: Mabvuto Banda, Reuters News Agency correspondent Small picture 3: Rose Lomathinda Chibambo, independence freedom fighter. Photo from the 200 Kwacha banknote. Small picture 4: MCP women dancing. Photo: Booney Sauti, provided by Govati. Small picture 5: Helen Singh, President of the UIP. Photo: NyasaTimes Small picture 6: Dr. Jean Kalilani, MP, Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare. Photo: NyasaTimes Small picture 7: Aspiring female councillors at workshop. Photo: Govati Nyirenda, Malawi News Agency Bound and printed by: Blantyre Print & Packaging Limited, Blantyre, Malawi Chr. Michelsen Institute Department of Political and Administrative Studies (PAS) P.O. Box 6033 University of Malawi, Chancellor College N-5892 Bergen, Norway P.O. Box 280, Zomba, Malawi [email protected] [email protected] www.cmi.no www.cc.ac.mw WOMEN IN POLITICS IN MALAWI IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements This book is the major achievement and output of a collaborative research programme between the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), in Bergen, and the Department of Political and Administrative Studies (PAS), at Chancellor College, University of Malawi, in Zomba. The programme, entitled Democratisation, Political Participation, and Gender in Malawi, started in 2014. Thanks are due to our colleague Arne Tostensen at CMI, a long-time researcher of Malawian politics and society, for his inspiration and for sowing the first seed that led to the programme being established. We also owe a debt of gratitude to the Norwegian Embassy in Lilongwe for moving the programme forward through the Norwegian Research Council (NFR), and to the NFR for the research grant that has financed the programme. We also thank Professor Blessings Chinsinga at Chancellor College, who made the first review of and comments to the draft chapters, and ensured the chapter authors followed the agreed outline and quality requirements. We also want to thank, in a special way, Dr Ngeyi Kanyongolo and Dr Peter Mvula who provided their feedback to the authors’ initial research notes. In addition, we are grateful to Professor Alfred J. Matiki who did the proofreading, and we are deeply indebted to Dr Asiyati Lorraine Chiweza for her skilful coordination of the research project and the book. Without her constant pulling and pushing the book would never have materialised. We are also grateful to all the authors of the individual chapters, who struggled to collect the data, sweated over the analysis, brawled with the text, and worked hard to keep our deadlines. It is their efforts that brought about all the interesting observations, findings, and arguments that are the backbone of this book. Their insights and analyses of women in politics in contemporary Malawi are exceptional and unparalleled. A final thank you goes to the Graphic Designer Geir Årdal, and CMI’s administrative staff, Department of Information, and Management, for the typesetting, good ideas discussed, and final clearance of the book, and to Blantyre Print and Packaging Ltd., for printing this fine final product. Inge Amundsen and Happy Kayuni July 2016 V WOMEN IN POLITICS IN MALAWI VI CONTENTS Contents V Acknowledgements VII Contents Chapter 1 1 Women in Politics in Malawi: An Introduction INGE AMUNDSEN AND HAPPY KAYUNI Chapter 2 11 The 50-50 Balance: Myth or Reality? LEWIS B. DZIMBIRI Chapter 3 23 Legal Empowerment: Laws Promoting Women Participation in Politics NGEYI RUTH KANYONGOLO AND BERNADETTE MALUNGA Chapter 4 33 The Women’s Parliamentary Caucus: Promoting Cross-Party Substantive Representation ASIYATI LORRAINE CHIWEZA, VIBEKE WANG, AND ANN MAGANGA Chapter 5 45 The ‘Joyce Banda Effect’: Explaining the Discrepancy between Public Opinion and Voting Behaviour TIYESERE MERCY CHIKAPA Chapter 6 57 A Different Yardstick: Gender and Leadership in the Political Discourse EDRINNIE LORA-KAYAMBAZINTHU AND EDITH KALILOMBE SHAME Chapter 7 71 Local Government Councils: A Potential Arena for Women’s Substantive Representation ASIYATI LORRAINE CHIWEZA VII WOMEN IN POLITICS IN MALAWI Chapter 8 81 The Gatekeepers: Women Political Participation in Phalombe and Chiradzulu Districts HAPPY KAYUNI Chapter 9 93 Women in Political Parties: The Politics of Participation KONDWANI FARAI CHIKADZA Chapter 10 105 The Gender Machinery: Opportunities and Challenges for Women in Central Government MICHAEL CHASUKWA Chapter 11 117 Gender Quotas: A Possible Way to Include Women in Politics CHARLOTTE WEZI MESIKANO-MALONDA IX Contributors VIII INGE AMUNDSEN AND HAPPY KAYUNI CHAPTER 1: AN INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 Women in Politics in Malawi An Introduction INGE AMUNDSEN HAPPY KAYUNI In one of the earliest studies of women in politics in modern Malawi, there is a vivid description of how women are recruited to sing and dance at political rallies. In the words of Gilman (2001: 43), A salient feature of all political and state functions in contemporary Malawi – rallies, national celebrations, the arrivals and departures of presidents at airports – is the presence of swarms of dancing women ideally clad in party fabric who elevate their party and its politicians to great heights through their songs of praise and gratitude. Now, the situation has changed, at least somewhat. Still, the political parties of the multi-party era call out to their female supporters to perform ‘traditional dances’ at their public functions, but the practice is receiving much criticism. At the same time, the general awareness of the deep gender disparities is much higher, the legal framework for women participation in politics is well developed, and even the informal rules regulating women representation at the grassroots level have improved. Malawi has also had Africa’s second female president, Joyce Banda, serving for two years (2012-2014). In spite of these changes, much of the traditional role of women still prevails in Malawi. She is the caretaker; her role is largely limited to the private domain, and much social and cultural prejudice against her participation in politics persists. In the general elections in 2014, women participation in politics in Malawi also saw a significant set-back. Not only did incumbent President Joyce Banda lose the elections and consequently the presidency, the number of female members of parliament was reduced by a quarter. Although there was a small increase of women in local councils (to a modest 13.4 per cent), the 2014 general elections were a noteworthy disappointment. This book explores the recent developments in women participation in politics in Malawi. We examine the factors behind the slow but marked increase in women in political representation during the multiparty era, as well as the different explanations for the recent set-back. We also provide some ideas as to what can be done to improve women’s representation in Malawi, in terms of their sheer numbers, in terms of popular attitudes to women politicians, and in terms of women’s political influence. 1 WOMEN IN POLITICS IN MALAWI It is our belief that a true democracy requires representation of both genders and that the current low levels of women representation in Malawi constitute a democratic deficit. Women Political Participation 1964 to 1994 In order to understand women’s low participation in politics from 1964 to 1994, it is important to grasp two major factors: the role of Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the country’s first president, and role of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the ruling, and from 1966 to 1993, the only legal party in the country. Competitive political participation during the Banda regime was seriously curtailed, and the president-for-life dominated the political space. He provided the vision, direction, and pace of policies, especially in terms of defining core ideas, framing the issues, and defining measures of success. No political organ, parliament included, held any significant political clout in policy-making in the one-party era. Ministers were required to resign if they disagreed with the president on significant public policy issues, and the president himself held up to five cabinet portfolios. As a one-party state, the MCP party structures provided some semblance of participation, principally in terms of mass mobilization in support of the regime’s political agenda. One key instrument was the MCP annual convention, which was dubbed ‘parliament number one’. The policy agenda was outlined in the opening speech of the president, who tripled as party leader, head of government, and head of state. His proposals were not critically debated; the delegates simply spent the week competing with each other on heaping praises on the country’s leadership and endorsing the president’s proposals. The parliament served a rubber-stamp role only. It was not engaged in any critical debate and its agenda was determined by the MCP annual convention. There was also very little involvement of civil society. During the period, questioning government policies was treated as questioning the authority of the president. As a result, there was no place for lobbying and advocacy. Banda looked down upon civil society and regarded it as a competing power entity. Women’s role in politics was defined likewise, within the parameters of the party and the president. Although the government ratified several international conventions on the rights of women, and Banda constantly portrayed himself as the protector of women (he even took the title of ‘Nkhoswe No. 1’, meaning family advocate or guardian (Chirambo 2009: 82), his interpretation of ‘protecting women’ was not very ‘liberating’.