Political Perspective

THE Swapo Women’s Council say they want 50-50 representation in the Party’s top decision-making bodies and National Assembly.

Well, why not? I’d be the first to agree that women have not yet achieved their rightful place at all levels of society in Namibia. The main point in my mind is that they do not necessarily need to ask for quotas to achieve this end, but to simply to go ahead and do it since there’s nothing prohibiting it from happening in the first place.QUOTAS may serve the purpose of pushing a country to reach targets in areas as important as gender equality, but in my view they don’t necessarily enhance the quality of public representatives, whether they be Swapo senior officials or national office bearers in other areas.Namibia really does need to groom quality leaders, men and women.A large number of role models of either sex are not particularly prolific in this country, whether at Government level or in the private sector.So it may be a good thing to concentrate on quality rather than quantity.Ideally, one hopes that good leaders, whether male or female, would automatically rise to the top in any given stratum of our society, given that there is such a dearth of people of substance at the top.In reality, of course, we have to acknowledge that male prejudice could easily count against women on the move in certain sectors.We’ve seen it at work in Parliament, among others.How certain, but not all, male MPs are quick to point accusing fingers at women in attitudes that border on misogyny in certain circumstances.Men need to change men, but women need to change men also.It is one thing to demand a 50-50 quota for women at certain levels at a workshop or a meeting, it is quite another for those same women to ensure they are asserting themselves at all levels of life to practice for such an eventuality.The call for quotas is almost like asking men’s permission to grant that amount of representation for women.Also it’s been something of a litany for some years now – demands for 30, then later 50 per cent quotas.We didn’t achieve the first, and now we’re calling for a higher number, so we need to take a reality check and figure out why it’s not happening.We shouldn’t have to wait for legal mechanisms to make it possible for women to attain higher representation.We should be actively working towards preparing women to take over.And I’m wondering whether any or all of the groups who are making these calls have been helping to empower women over the years, and if so, what level of success has been achieved.Their priority, I would think, is to concentrate less on the calls for quotas than on the practical aspects of reaching their goals, which certainly means they have to get out there and get the process moving by identifying women to take on tasks of governance in public life or as political office bearers.And most importantly, see that they are given the skills to do it.What we don’t want is to have a ‘legal mechanism’ in place to ensure 50-50 representation, and then watch women as they fall and fail to do the job they’ve been appointed to do.They need to be skilled, qualified, educated, empowered, confident, knowledgeable, self-confident, to prove the point not only to male colleague disbelievers, but the people at large.After all, in public office they will represent all people, and not only women.And it is not enough just to want tokens in place.I’d be the first to object.So, yes, it is very important for a nation to empower its women and to ensure no impediments are put in their way to climbing the ladder.We don’t have to request the permission of men to do this.We can set our own goals and targets, but more importantly, set out to achieve them and make them a reality, even if the increase is incremental.It will be noted.And if we could, at the same time, bring into being a quality of leadership that this young independent country has not yet experienced, it would be even better! We can turn things around, not by asking for quotas only, but by making a concerted effort to make it happen, and by ensuring that the women who are there already are making a difference! And that’s not necessarily the case.The main point in my mind is that they do not necessarily need to ask for quotas to achieve this end, but to simply to go ahead and do it since there’s nothing prohibiting it from happening in the first place.QUOTAS may serve the purpose of pushing a country to reach targets in areas as important as gender equality, but in my view they don’t necessarily enhance the quality of public representatives, whether they be Swapo senior officials or national office bearers in other areas.Namibia really does need to groom quality leaders, men and women.A large number of role models of either sex are not particularly prolific in this country, whether at Government level or in the private sector.So it may be a good thing to concentrate on quality rather than quantity.Ideally, one hopes that good leaders, whether male or female, would automatically rise to the top in any given stratum of our society, given that there is such a dearth of people of substance at the top.In reality, of course, we have to acknowledge that male prejudice could easily count against women on the move in certain sectors.We’ve seen it at work in Parliament, among others.How certain, but not all, male MPs are quick to point accusing fingers at women in attitudes that border on misogyny in certain circumstances.Men need to change men, but women need to change men also.It is one thing to demand a 50-50 quota for women at certain levels at a workshop or a meeting, it is quite another for those same women to ensure they are asserting themselves at all levels of life to practice for such an eventuality.The call for quotas is almost like asking men’s permission to grant that amount of representation for women.Also it’s been something of a litany for some years now – demands for 30, then later 50 per cent quotas.We didn’t achieve the first, and now we’re calling for a higher number, so we need to take a reality check and figure out why it’s not happening.We shouldn’t have to wait for legal mechanisms to make it possible for women to attain higher representation.We should be actively working towards preparing women to take over.And I’m wondering whether any or all of the groups who are making these calls have been helping to empower women over the years, and if so, what level of success has been achieved.Their priority, I would think, is to concentrate less on the calls for quotas than on the practical aspects of reaching their goals, which certainly means they have to get out there and get the process moving by identifying women to take on tasks of governance in public life or as political office bearers.And most importantly, see that they are given the skills to do it.What we don’t want is to have a ‘legal mechanism’ in place to ensure 50-50 representation, and then watch women as they fall and fail to do the job they’ve been appointed to do.They need to be skilled, qualified, educated, empowered, confident, knowledgeable, self-confident, to prove the point not only to male colleague disbelievers, but the people at large.After all, in public office they will represent all people, and not only women.And it is not enough just to want tokens in place.I’d be the first to object.So, yes, it is very important for a nation to empower its women and to ensure no impediments are put in their way to climbing the ladder.We don’t have to request the permission of men to do this.We can set our own goals and targets, but more importantly, set out to achieve them and make them a reality, even if the increase is incremental.It will be noted.And if we could, at the same time, bring into being a quality of leadership that this young independent country has not yet experienced, it would be even better! We can turn things around, not by asking for quotas only, but by making a concerted effort to make it happen, and by ensuring that the women who are there already are making a difference! And that’s not necessarily the case.