Kelvin Kachingwe
28 January 2008
(Page 2 of 2)
She is the first African woman to achieve this. Those who know Africa's social structure will recognise the special event which results from both Western influence and the early stages of the evolution of customs which could - in perspective - subvert millenary traditions.
For now, however, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is a rare bird in an immense sea: There are no other women in the rest of the black continent who can make a bid for power.
For Zambia, however, it still looks like a matter of if, not when, a woman will become President. About two have made a shot at the presidency, both in 2001 - Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika and Gwendoline Konie - but without much of an impact.
In terms of their credentials, you can actually safely say they are both qualified for any position that you can think of, even those available on the international front.
The situation as it stands now is that, of the major political parties, only one is headed by a woman, Edith Nawakwi, who is president of the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD).
So, how do the fortunes look like for women politicians on the local front?
In 2003, the Zambia National Women's Lobby did make publish a research report on political parties' adoption systems in relation to the adoption of women in elections.
The research, conducted with assistance from the Friederick Ebert Stiftung, aimed at establishing intra-party hindrances to women's access and participation in party politics.
The interest to undertake the study stemmed from the large number of women that were not adopted by their political parties during elections.
In their findings, the Women's Lobby said for women to get adopted, they needed to pass crucial barriers.
First, they needed to convince themselves to stand for elections and, secondly, they needed to identify which political party and, thirdly, they needed to get selected by the party.
The Women's Lobby said the third stage, where the party gatekeeper actually chose the candidate, was perhaps the most crucial stage for getting women adopted.
"In particular, party structure, party rules and party norms along with the social and cultural systems impact negatively on the adoption of women - it has been discovered that women members of the party rarely support their fellow women and are used by candidates to bring down women opposing them," the report reads in part.
With that, feminists will obviously be looking at the outcome of the U.S. elections.
Should Hilary win, the influence and effect of it all is likely to have greater effect on how women participate in future elections.
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