Despite being the majority, women have once again failed the political gender test in the Zambian general elections, Shoshong MP and vice chairperson of SADC Parliamentary Forum, Duke Lefhoko has said. The failure in Zambia is even puzzling because apart from the fact that they had numerical advantage at the voting roll, women were prominent and active in the campaigns.

However, their participation as candidates was low, said Lefhoko who has just come back from Zambia as part of the SADC Parliamentary Forum observer mission.

Speaking at a press conference in Gaborone yesterday, the Shoshong MP stated that the number of women candidates formed only 15 percent of those vying for Parliament and 10 percent for councils. He asserted that these statistics fall short of the minimum standards set in regional and international conventions, which Zambia is a signatory to. The SADC quota for women representation in decision-making positions is 50 percent. Lefhoko said that lack of political will and affirmative action contributes to low participation of women. The - First - Past - the - Post - electoral system further compounds the problem.

Lefhoko decried that in some instances, eligible voters in Zambia were denied the opportunity to cast the ballot as they did not have national registration cards. In other cases, people in possession of voting cards and proper identification could not vote as their names did not appear in the voters' roll. "The observer mission was made to understand that this could be partly attributed to the rather short period of time within which registered voters were expected to verify their registration details," he said. Lefhoko indicated that government media like the Times of Zambia, the Daily Mail and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation were biased. They gave the president, vice president and the governing party wide coverage. He suggested that the media governing body in Zambia should draw lessons from the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). However, Lefhoko indicated that the elections were held in a peaceful and transparent manner. Besides the Shoshong MP, other Botswana legislators in the observer mission were Isaac Mabiletsa of Kgatleng East and Rakwadi Modipane of Kgatleng West.

Mabiletsa said at the press conference that there were unconfirmed reports of parties that bought voters' cards to deny certain people a chance to vote. Modipane said moving ballot boxes to counting places created suspicion that some might be lost. He suggested that election day in Zambia should be declared a holiday so that employers could feel obliged to release people to go and vote.

The SADC mission has recommended that adequate election material should be distributed to polling districts well in advance and necessary security measures should be put in place. The mission recommended that there should be a provision for another team of electoral staff so as to avoid fatigue. It urged political parties to foster national dialogue to address gender equality. It suggested that there should be a provision for political funding so as to level the playing ground. "This would curb the undue influence of money and other resources in the campaign and level the playing ground. If public funding is not possible, there should be a legislation setting the maximum campaign expenditure," he said. It was recommended that an independent broadcasting authority act be implemented to provide for the independent regulation of broadcasting services. The observer mission suggested that the current requirement that voters' numbers be noted on the counter foil should be discarded as it could compromise secrecy.