Long wait ahead for Sierra Leonean women

It seems the long wait for the women of Sierra Leone is far from over.

Sierra Leone women marching for peace prior to the Nov 17 polls

Even before the ballots were cast, gender activists were nursing major setbacks in the November 17 polls following a dismal performance by female politicians at the primaries, the run-up to which saw amplified activism.

That followed the botched attempt to pass the Gender Equality Bill 2012, which would have guaranteed the minimum 30 percent quota for women.

Women say men are reluctant to give them space out of unfounded fears.

At the end of the war, the women folks flooded into politics in apparent continuation of their key role in ending it. The impact was felt more in parliament.

That served as warning to the men folks and they started fighting back, says Abator Davidson of the 50/50 Group, which propagates for 50 percent political representation for both genders.

Prior to the primaries, the 50-50 Group lobbied political parties to loosen their anti-equity policies.

“Apparently they let us down,” Davidson, a founding member and former vice president of the organization, said.

“We are very disappointed,” she added.

Out of 566 parliamentary aspirants, 64 were female in 2007. After the polls 18 percent of the parliament was women.

In 2012, out of 586 aspirants, only 38 were female.

With stiff competition and other obstacles, it is all but certain that the next parliament will host far less women.

The situation is equally gloomy at the local council level.

Poverty, inferiority complex, illiteracy, and entrenched traditional customs have helped hold back the progress of women in Sierra Leone.

The Gender Equality Bill was designed to overcome all these, proposing 14 winnable seats for female candidates, so that each of the 14 districts is guaranteed at least one female seat.

This was supposed to be only a starting point towards the 30 percent quota.

But the male dominated parliament labeled it undemocratic.

After a long feet dragging, the office of the president joined forces with the Sierra Leone Female Parliamentary Caucus to develop a private members’ bill. Years of hard work wasted away when that parliament closed without passing it.

Critics blame low awareness levels among women on the lack of progress on their aspirations.

Others say NGOs and civil society groups are not independent enough to fight for women's rights, as in the case of women parliamentarians who could not overcome party political differences.

“This made it difficult to deal with the resistance posed by male MPs who had issues about certain aspects of the draft bill in particular the issue of reserved seats,” says Babara Bangura, of the UN Women`s Situation Room.

Added to that is criticism that the Gender Ministry isn’t prepared enough, raising questions of political will.

The ministry has the least share of the national budget – under 1 percent – and is said to have no tangible policy direction towards women`s empowerment.

However, one place where women have been doing well to reconcile political differences for the greater good is the All Political Parties` Women`s Association (APPWA), which comprises women from all registered political parties in the country.

It is by no means easy for these women either; a clause in their constitution putting party affiliations above everything makes sure of this.

The women claim they get pressure from men within their individual parties discouraging them from full cooperation so as not to sacrifice party interests.

“It is a huge challenge that we are faced with but we have one focus, which is advocating for women,” says Gertrude Karimu, APPWA`s National Secretary General.

NEC statistics show that women registered the most for the November polls, an indication that the sensitization paid off, she says.

The large turnout of aspiring female candidates also indicates so, although the unpopular decision by the NEC to increase candidates` fees forced many out of the race.

With the primaries gone, the immediate focus became how to maximize the winning chances of the successful female candidates.

“We are going down to constituencies, where women are contesting and try to campaign for them putting forward their qualities – that women can do better, are good at multitasking, are less corrupt… Those are our campaign messages,” says Karimu prior to November 17.

Beyond November 17, their major focus will be the passing of the affirmative law. And this will involve changing political party structures ahead of the next elections in 2017.

“That is the only way we would actually reduce male dominance…In as much as we have different political ideologies, I think we have seen to it that it is the only way we can fight male chauvinism,” she says.