THE Sadc Parliamentary Forum Regional Women's Parliamentary Caucus has expressed concern over the apparent decline in the number of women in decision-making positions in most African countries.

The caucus has urged Governments to come up with a deliberate policy to address the anomaly.

The caucus meeting, held here yesterday under the auspices of the Sadc Parliamentary Forum, noted a decrease in the number of women making it in parliamentary elections held in recent years.

In an interview during the ongoing Sadc PF 26th plenary session, the newly elected chairperson of the Sadc PF Regional Women Parliamentary Caucus, Mrs Regina Musokotwane of Zambia, described the decrease in women parliamentarians in many governments in the region was as a cause for concern.

She said while South Africa and Angola had recorded a surge in female legislators during their last polls, there was a decrease in Zimbabwe, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Lesotho.

Botswana was, however, under fire here as it produced only two women legislators out of its 57 elected representatives in the just ended poll in that country.

"The composition is not good. As Sadc PF, we had initially requested for a 30 percent representation, but now it has moved to 50 yet on the ground the number is actually decreasing," said Mrs Musokotwane.

"This is a cause for concern to the women caucus of the Sadc PF, but we are happy that in South Africa and Angola, though not yet within the threshold, there has been an improvement.

"The biggest problem is that of the selection system. There is need for deliberate policies either reserving seats for women or to adopt proportional representation and not the first-past-the-post that many countries are using. Very few women will make it if we continue using the first-past-the-post system in elections."

Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus chairperson Cde Beata Nyamupinga echoed the same sentiments. She said it was critical for people to realise that women constituted the bulk of many countries' population and this should be reflected in leadership positions.

"Because of our cultural background, women have been marginalised yet they are capable of performing the same, if not better, than men," said Cde Nyamupinga, who is the Zanu-PF legislator for Goromonzi West.