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Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 11:25:27 EDT
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Subject: [AfricaMatters] Women leaders in Africa doing it for themselves
August 18, 2000
Women leaders in Africa doing it for themselves
by LEWIS MACHIPISA
Harare, Zimbabwe (IPS) - Women activists in southern Africa say efforts by
the region's first ladies to uplift the status of rural women may be nothing
but a disguise to prop up their husbands.
Accompanying their husbands to the southern African Development Community
(SADC) summit, held in Windhoek, Namibia last week, the first ladies held
their first ever meeting in which they pledged to look into the status of
women in the region.
The ladies said that they would redouble efforts to improve the quality of
life of the rural women who live in poverty. But doubts about their
intentions already run high even before the first ladies embark on their
goal.
The main fear by women activists is that they will further their husband's
agendas which may not be popular.
The legacy of first ladies, and their negative role in gender empowerment in
Africa, has left a sour taste in many mouths.The women activists complain
that the women's agenda should not be set by wives, but by the very talented
women who arrive on their own steam.
''Who are they?'' asked Zimbabwean opposition member of parliament, Priscilla
Misihairambwi. Outspoken feminist, Patricia Mcfadden echoed this sentiment
saying, "They are just a group of women who happen to be married to men who
are powerful and rich. Who do they serve?''
While Misihairambwi said that the first ladies were free to help the poor
women she added that they should play a supporting role in women's movements
and not become the leading players.
''Our experience is that these women only use their positions to prop up
their husbands,'' Misihairambwi said. To support her skepticism, she wonders
why the first ladies chose to assist the rural women.
"The rural vote has largely retained African presidents in power for a long
time because it is vulnerable and less educated," she added.
''Why look at something so basic as collecting clothes for grassroots women?
Why not choose political empowerment. They have no right representing people
in any way " Misihairambwi asked.
Her advice to the first ladies: ''They have two options, look after your
husbands or to use your influence to address real issues like peace and
political empowerment in civil society.''
The role of the first ladies also came under spotlight at the Sixth African
regional Conference on Women held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa
last year.
The activists objected to the stage that was accorded to Nigerian first lady,
Stella Obasanjo, stating that it has rekindled the syndrome that gripped West
Africa, where first ladies were used as an instrument to quell political
opposition.
'It is an undemocratic situation,'' said Joanna Foster of Women in Law and
Development in Africa (Wildaf) who is also a drafter of the NGO report.
"The entrenchment of first ladies, as political entities, often means that
their programmes sap resources that could go to the institutional mechanisms
for gender advancement," Foster added.
Participants complained that donors favour first lady programmes, despite the
fact that they are not sustainable because the programmes end when leaders
and their wives depart office.
On the other hand not all are worried about the first ladies syndrome. ''In
Botswana our first ladies have put their office to good use. Former first
lady, Masire had a Youth Development Centre while Mogae is involved in
environment,'' says Ntombi Setshwaelo, a women activist in Botswana.
"There are other good examples . . . South Africa's first lady, Zanele Mbeki,
was a gender activist long before her husband's accession to power in June
last year." Setshwaelo added.
"She has declared that she is not defined by her husband's job description.
In Mozambique, Graca Machel, was a Frelimo leader in her own right," she
added.
Still, a new generation of talented women says that women can and must get
leadership positions in their own right and not hover in the shadows of their
successful husbands.
from MISAnet/Pan African News Agency
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
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