WOMEN empowerment organisation Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE) with the support of UN Women Zimbabwe yesterday conducted leadership training to women leaders at a time when there has been a decline in women participation in the national assembly since 2013 general elections.
Women constitute 54% of Zimbabwe's population and their representation and leadership in decision making positions in politics, the public and private sector remain low. In the last election only one female candidate vied for the presidential post and out of 566 seats on 70 seats were won by women.
Dubbed the Transformative Leadership Training and Coaching, the session included councillors and parliamentarians with the aim of encouraging women to contest for ward and constituency seats in the coming 2028 elections.
Speaking at the training session Walpe's Deputy Director Jessie Chihota, highlighted that there is a need for women inclusion in leadership positions although Violence Against Women in Politics (VAWP) is still a major barrier to women's participation.
“Our society is rooted in patriarchal values that control and oppress women to discourage them from partaking in politics either as voters or as political candidates.
“Women inclusion in politics is important because there is a need to bring diverse perspectives in policies to address some issues such as health, childcare, education, social protection and gender based violence,” she said.
Also speaking at the same event Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprise Development’s Gender and women empowerment specialist Linda Nyamidzi highlighted that women participation is essential in decision making processes of a country.
“Policies need gender equality hence the need for women in representative positions. We need more women in all aspects of leadership from grassroots levels up to national levels.
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“This inclusion increases diverse perspectives in decision making as they bring unique ideas and viewpoints in our communities,” she said.
Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC)'s Director for gender equality promotion Caroline Matizha encouraged women leaders who were elected as Propositional Representatives to move to be elected candidates in the next elections.
“Our society is not ready for women leadership so women political candidates should be firm enough to compete with their male counterparts. Those who are in councils and parliament through these training sessions should be able to compete in the next elections as councillors and parliamentarians,” she said.
Zimbabwe will hold the next general election in 2028.
