MALAWI TO ADOPT THE LEGISLATIVE QUOTA BASED SYSTEM TO ACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY IN POLITICS AND PUBLIC LIFE

By EUNICE CHIPANGULA

The Malawi Gender Related Law Reform Commission on the Development of a Gender Equality Statute has recommended that Malawi employs the legislative quota based system as an affirmative action strategy in order to level the playing field for both men and women’s participation in politics and public life.
“While noting some of the negative perceptions of the system resolved that Malawi’s current gender imbalance scenario merits the adoption of this strategy since one can speak of quality representation only after the playing field has been leveled,” the Commission observed.
The Commission also recommended an inbuilt sunset clause to enforce review after a specific period besides ensuring meritocratic considerations such as qualifications, relevance and experience, to allay fears of a reversal in discrimination against men.
It therefore said after conducting research, it has established that the legislative quota based system can only apply to the electoral process, political parties, public service appointments and not traditional leadership, religious communities and the private sector spheres.
In its presentation of preliminary findings on the review of gender related laws to the public, the Commission observed that the participation of women in politics and public life in Malawi still remains very low despite the country being a signatory to various international instruments and having in place national policies that are aimed at promoting gender equality.
“The Commission however acknowledges the political will which is there in the drive to promote the visibility of women in public life as evidenced by the recent appointments of qualified and capable females to the positions of Attorney General, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, Clerk of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of Parliament among others,’’ it said .
Women in Malawi constitute 52 per cent of the total 12 million Malawi population. However, recent statistics indicate that there are 6 women cabinet ministers out of a total of 37, 9 female chairpersons of parastatal organizations out of 47 and only 4 of 27 judges of the High Court and Supreme Court are women.
In the public sector, from the super scale grade (P8 to above), there are 338 women against 1416 men in the Civil Service, 23 females against 104 males in the police service, 24 females against 54 males in the Judiciary, 25 males against 8 females in the Law Commission while in the Office of the Director of Public Procurement there are 2 females against 12 males. Men therefore continue to dominate the public domain in Malawi.
The Commission said these statistics clearly indicate that a lot needs to be done in Malawi to ensure that the playing field is leveled so that there is full participation of all segments of society, women in particular, in affairs that directly affect their livelihoods. “The legislative quota system was therefore considered as ideal but as expressed in percentage terms that neither gender should occupy more than 60 per cent and no less than 40 per cent in all public appointments”, it stated.
The Commission said the implication is that relevant legislation should provide for at least 40 percent of women candidates in parliamentary and local government electoral contents. It therefore pointed out the need to amend the Presidential and Parliamentary Act to reorient the existing First Past the Post electoral system which is ill-suited to the implementation of the legislative quota system.
On political parties, the Commission recommended the introduction of a binding regulation to commit them to ensuring that they put at least 40 percent of female candidates in an election. It observed that this however requires an amendment of the Political Parties Registration Act 1993 with a properly worked out regime of sanctions for non-compliance.
On public service appointments, the Commission recommended that its quotas be embedded within the Gender Equality Act so that they provide indicative guidelines to the appointing authorities in filling public positions in recognition of the merits of women and the obstacles that prevent them from competing on an equal footing with men.
In relation to Religious Communities, the Commission said research indicates that the Gender Equality Act will not apply to the regulation of internal affairs of religious communities since they are best regulated by their respective doctrines and creeds. It said women who feel aggrieved in this sphere could simply leave that particular religious grouping.
On traditional leadership, the Commission resolved to impress on the government to explore ways and means in which traditional leadership institutions can be engendered and the possibility of legislating traditional leadership structures in a gender sensitive manner.
For the Private Sector, the Commission observed that with the shrinking of the sector following rightsizing reforms to promote efficiency and effectiveness, the sector should not be subjected to the quota system but instead the government should explore policy measures of encouraging it to engender its activities.
These findings coupled with input from the general public, will lead to the development of a gender equality statute in Malawi.