Sub Saharan Africa

“If you want to be influential in the political arena, you need to influence policy,” Ms Betty Murungi, a social justice advocate, recently told female entrepreneurs and corporate managers in Nairobi.

WHEN Maude Taruvinga votes in new elections this year, she will be voting for her local female politician as she has placed her hopes for a better future on the presence of more women in country’s legislature.

Ahead of a tripartite elections next year the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has shown the world that it is moving with time by setting a deliberate policy to allow women in the country pay 25 per cent less the  nomination fees of parliamentary and local government elections.

The female aspirants, Newstime Africa understands, will pay K 150,000.00 only for the parliamentary race while those going for the ward councillorship will cough K 15,000.00 only.

Marlyse Aboui, a 40-year-old nurse, has still not gotten over the astonishment she felt when she heard that Cameroon’s President Paul Biya had nominated her to the senate.

Women’s participation in politics remains low due to several bottlenecks hindering efforts to ensure that men and women share 50% representation in the political arena by 2015 in line with the Sadc Protocol on Gender and Development.

President Uhuru Kenyatta's 26 nominations for principal secretary positions only include seven women, prompting criticism for failing to meet the constitutionally mandated one-third quota for female nominees, Kenya's Daily Nation reported Saturday (June

Marlyse Aboui, a 40-year-old nurse, has still not gotten over the astonishment she felt when she heard that Cameroon’s President Paul Biya had nominated her to the senate.