Women should not accept to eat crumbs in the next government

At the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE), our work is inspired by the vision of realising a Ugandan society where women and men equally participate in and benefit from decision-making processes in public and private spaces. 

To that end, events happening in the country’s socio-economic and political scene are close to our hearts. They matter to us because we are not spectators but active participants.

 They matter also because we as a nation, like many across the African continent and indeed the world, have come a long way and still have a long way to go in terms of realising a fair and just society for groups that have been marginalised by society on account of gender and other identity markers that inform decision-making processes. 

In more ways than one, over the last five decades, the position of women in our country has improved. There was a time, as recently as the 1980s when women were relegated to the backwaters of our country’s governance. 

No speech to my mind, captures this reality better than that made by then First Lady Mama Miria Kalule Obote on International Women’s Day in 1984 at State House, Entebbe. 

Ms Obote remarked: “Let it be understood that the demand for more attention being given to women’s issues is not out of selfishness on our part, but rather out of an urgent need to achieve equality that our country can leap ahead in development with two healthy legs rather than limp with one good male leg and one bad female leg.

 We believe that no meaningful development can be achieved without recognition, encouragement, and participation of more than half of the population.” 

She then hammered the nail on the head when she observed: “One does not require many examples to show what we are trying to point out. There are no women in the Cabinet. There is only one woman Member of Parliament. 

The number of women on boards of various parastatal and other bodies is minimal. There are no women judges. At Makerere University, there is only one-woman professor. There is only one-woman Permanent Secretary and three Under Secretaries. 
“It is no wonder that the women of Uganda feel they have not been appreciated or taken seriously enough.

 The Ugandan Community should try to address itself specifically to women as an important part of the population, especially during this time of rehabilitation and reconstruction of the country.”

Of course, between 1984 and 2021, a lot of water has passed under the bridge and the women’s movement has since made impressive strides to fix the glaring gaps between men and women locally and internationally. 

We cannot and will not get tired of saying, “it is not yet uhuru.” We insist that it is important for our nation to continually and robustly debate the situation of the woman in the country’s decision-making and leadership framework because these public sector positions carry significant symbolism about government’s commitment to actualising the spirit and letter of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda, which is emphatic on affirmative action and uplifting women and other marginalised groups. 

Last year, FOWODE conducted a study that culminated into a report titled: ‘Reality Check: Women in Leadership Positions in Uganda,’ which noted that with only one woman out of the seven heads of the three arms of government, Uganda remains stuck with “male-centred leadership”. 

The finer detail on the scanty supply of women in other government offices as captured in that study, with most scoring below 50 per cent in women representation, is even more mind-blowing. 

There are complex nuances to this reality to which we can return to later, but suffice it to say the truth is that in some government offices, the Uganda described by Miria Obote in 1984 looks similar to that of 2021. Can we continue this way? 

It is our considered view that this state of affairs must not continue and a bold, honest conversation must ensue on the position of women in the configuration of power relations in the next government.

Ms Patricia Munabi Babiiha is a lawyer and the executive director of the Forum for Women in Democracy.