2.2 The Situation in Tanzania

4. Focused group discussions with selected experts and

WPP team Review, discuss and make recommendations on what needs to be done. These will also serve as spaces for experience sharing and lesson learning Zoom, Google Meet or Skype;

Note I: Persons who were considered strategic to WPP were also approached for their insights regarding the macro level of issues within the project.

Note II: Discussions were held with staff to explore key questions on project design and implementation. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) were also explored.

5. Data analysis Data coding, interpretation and analyses CRI team plus analytical tools

6. Reflections with WPP team at FAWE These will take the form of validation meetings to build consensus with WPP at FAWE and relevant partners or stakeholders. Zoom, Google Meet, Skype

7. Reporting Inception, draft and final reports CRI team

1.4.2 Data Analysis

The consultants read through each of the FGD and KII transcripts to identify both the expected themes as well as emergent/unexpected themes. Two analytical approaches were triangulated: systematic code-through-content analysis and ethnographic summary. First, simple descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages were used to display level of consensus/dissent as well as response patterns across the focus groups and individual participants. Secondly, descriptive data helped situate emergent themes in a more meaningful context thus validating any inferences made about the level of consensus. Thirdly, analysis provided an ethnographic summary through use of direct quotes illustrative of key themes selected from the transcripts and woven together with an accompanying narrative explanation. Selected stories of change are included to augment the collected data.

Purposive sampling was used to identify the appropriate respondents, particularly in getting data from the target groups. KIIs and FGDs were conducted with persons considered strategic in terms of their participation in and appreciation of the WPP program. As such, the KIIs targeted both internal and external stakeholders.

1.4.3 Sampling Procedures

Table II: Respondents contacted during KIIs/FGDs

Category/Institutions

Parliament

Independent Institutions

NGOs/CSOs

Political Activists

County or local government

FAWE

Tanzania Responses

Selected Tanzania Parliamentarians - 1

CHRAGG; EAC

IINGOs/NGOs: AAF, Women Pastoral Council. FBOs: BAKWATA;

Women Political Leaders - 2

- 2

- 1

- 2

Party officials

FAWE Tanzania - 2

-1

1.4.4 Validation of Draft Report

Importantly, the findings of the study were synthesized and compiled into a draft report that was shared with FAWE team for review and later discussed in a validation workshop held on 9th and 11th March 2021 in Nairobi. The feedback from both reviews was incorporated to improve/ strengthen the final report.

1.5 Study Limitations/Risks and Mitigation Measures

The research team took all reasonable measures to mitigate any potential risks to the delivery of the required outputs of this consultancy on time and strove to meet the expected quality standards. The consultants assumed that the risks to the success of the review ranged between low and medium. They principally concerned the ability of the team to gain access to target population. Given that we engaged through participatory approaches and with involvement of project managers and implementers at FAWE, most risks were mitigated. The team was also able to tap into CRI networks and partners across Tanzania for good stakeholder engagement and additional reference materials including videos from FIDA and CMD, as well as recent reports from Oxfam and Tanzania’s Policy Forum. In the outlay below we outline the limitations/risks, their impact and how they were mitigated.

Limitations/Risks Focus Tools/means

Risk 1:

Collecting data from stakeholders in Tanzania was quite challenging owing to new and heightened

political and legal restrictions

requiring clearance before engaging citizens in this kind of research. High: Because the political environment was so hostile and implications tougher, actors were reluctant to offer information or present themselves to be interviewed. We explored and relied on both FAWE, AIHD and CRI networks and personal contacts. The research team used their connections & relationships with some stakeholders in mobilization and convincing participants to freely engage and share information.

The hostile political environment in Tanzania greatly affected rate return as most invited participants did not respond.

Risk 2:

Reports and documents for desk research may not be readily available Low: Our previous experience shows that sometimes there could be slow or poor response.

Risk 3:

CSO/NSA interviews senior staff and partners may not be available during chosen period/times. Medium: Our experience is that senior actors have many other commitments and may not be available when needed. We solicited documents and data as early as possible, indicating clearly the types of documents and data required, and worked with WPP team at FAWE for proactive followup as necessary. As a result we got all the necessary documents. We also used our own contacts to get additional and more materials as mentioned above.

We identified and contacted potential interviewees early enough to find suitable times for consultations, which allowed enough flexibility to accommodate existing commitments and schedules of senior partners or stakeholders.

Limitations/Risks Focus Tools/means

Risk 4: Feedback and approval times . Feedback and approval of Drafts by FAWE team may take longer than predicted Medium: Our experience is that multiple stakeholders can be difficult to mobilise quickly for feedback. Because of delays in receiving filled questionnaires back for those who opted for self-administration and delayed interviews we sought a month’s extension,, which helped us conclude the interviews and report writing. Though we had these delays, we ensured we were not so off the timeliness for submission of required reports.

Risk 5: COVID19 Restrictions. The study was conducted at a time of soaring numbers of COVID 19 cases. Medium: This therefore underscored the need to observe physical distancing, prompting most of the interviews to be conducted virtually for both Kenya and Tanzania. Further, some of the target respondents (especially elected women leaders) were not readily available for direct online interviews as a result the data collection took slightly longer than anticipated since the consultants had to make use of mailed questionnaires to reach as many respondents as possible. Unfortunately most of the mailed questionnaires were not returned.

Chapter Two : Review Results on Status and Trends

2.1 Regional Overview - Africa

According to UN Women, women’s leadership and political participation are restricted around the world as well as in Africa, leading to under-representation of women as voters/candidates, as well as in leading positions, whether in elected office, the civil service, the private sector or academia. This occurs despite their proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally in democratic governance. Gender equality advocates had further reason to celebrate when Catherine Samba-Panza was sworn in on 23 January 2014 as interim president of the Central African Republic (CAR), making her the fourth African female head of state. The first was Ruth Perry, who headed the Liberian transitional government for about a year from September 1996. The third was former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia who was elected into office in 2006, while the fourth was Malawi’s first female president, Joyce Banda in 2012. Regrettably, Ms. Banda, the second woman to be seated as president, became the first to be unseated when she lost the elections, in what some say was a retaking of power by loyalists of the late President Bingu wa Mutharika (www.africa.unwomen.org).

Despite the numerous challenges, Africa has witnessed a celebratory rise in women’s political participation as assessed by Kingsley Ighobor in the Africa Renewal Journal of April 2015. “One of the most fascinating developments in African politics has been the increase in women’s political participation since the mid-1990s,” writes Aili Mari Tripp, a professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA. Besides the four female heads of state (mentioned above), Ms. Tripp bases her upbeat assessment on the increasing number of women parliamentarians on the continent. Indeed, with 64% of seats held by women, Rwanda has the highest number of women parliamentarians in the world. Senegal, Seychelles and South Africa have more than 40% each, and Mozambique, Angola, Tanzania and Uganda are not far off, with women occupying over 35% of all parliamentary seats. Considering that women hold only 19% of the seats in the USA congress and 20% in the senate, Ms. Tripp maintains that Africa has every right to be proud. What she did not capture in her exciting analysis is that in USA and Europe women hold top positions beyond parliament, in ministries, military and other top government departments, which is not the case in most African countries .

As countries strive to implement Sustainable Development Goal 5, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,” governments must also strive to embed gender parity in constitutions and legal frameworks. They must realize full compliance with the law, eliminate all forms of violence against women and ensure that girls receive a quality education. However, a survey on women’s participation in politics in 34 African countries by Afrobarometer, a research group that measures public perceptions of socioeconomic and political issues in Africa, notes that while countries such as Rwanda and South Africa may have numerically significant women parliamentary representation, some of the world’s worst performers are also on the continent. For example, women have only 6.2% representation in Swaziland, 6.7% in Nigeria and 8.4% in Benin . Nevertheless, the good news is that a vast majority of Africans (72%) agree that women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as men (Afrobarometer 2019). The problem, again, is that this majority opinion on gender equality does not exist in some parts of the continent. While 74% of respondents in East Africa believe in women’s equality and 73% in Southern Africa, only 50% in North Africa agree that women should have the same rights as men.

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan speaks during the inauguration of the Morocco–Mwenge highway in Dar es Salaam, on December 02, 2021. Photo credit: Ericky Boniphace(Shutterstock)

In fact, women’s leadership was rejected by 53% of respondents in Sudan and by 50% in Egypt . There are many reasons why women’s participation in politics is the key to good governance. Experts say women are key to the new breed of politicians who will offer Africa the opportunity to advance democracy in the continent. It is interesting that the four female African leaders assumed office during crises or transitions. Ms. Sirleaf was elected after a 13-year devastating civil war; Ms. Banda, who had been vice president, took over after President Bingu wa Mutharika died in office; and Ms. Samba-Panza was sworn in amid rebellion and sectarian violence in the CAR and Ms. Perry headed the interim government following ceasefire negotiations that ended almost two decades of war (UN Women 2019).

Ironically not everyone believes women leaders are remarkably different from their male counterparts. Countries in Africa where women are leaders have not always been beacons of good governance, some observers say. But the reasons for this are deep-rooted and may be beyond the leadership capabilities of such female leaders. Satang Nabanech, a women’s rights advocate and attorney from the Gambia, lists several social, cultural and economic barriers that inhibit women’s ability to make significant changes in politics. Ms. Nabanech cites patriarchal politics, or a belief that men must naturally make decisions and that the place for a woman is the home. In addition, most women often lack skills, education and experience to survive in politics, Ms. Nabanech says, having been denied opportunities to go to school over the years. She also underscores the cost of politics, stressing that politics is expensive and many women lack the financial wherewithal to succeed in it. “It is difficult for women to participate in political life when their major concern is survival and they have no choice but to spend much of their time trying to fulfil the basic needs of families.” Violence in African politics is yet another factor which may also discourage participation. Generally, women feel “a sense of vulnerability to political intimidation and violence,” notes the Afrobarometer survey . In Guinea, for instance, 64% of women say they are very concerned about political intimidation.

2.2 The Situation in Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a low-income country of 54.2 million people with women constituting 27.7 million (51.9%) and men 26.5 million (48.9%) (Tanzania Bureau of Statistics, 2017). The government has adopted gender equality as well as women and girl’s empowerment as one of its key strategies in ensuring attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals through the National Plans of Action and other gender responsive laws. Despite the demographics of women being higher than the men and all affirmative efforts by the government, women involvement in politics is low. Women access political decision making positions through the First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system, women special seats, ten presidential appointments and based on the position one becomes an Attorney General or Speaker. Tanzania, has a unicameral parliament with the use of voluntary party quotas and legislated quotas for the single/lower house and at the sub-national level. 145 of 393 (37%) seats in the Bunge/National Assembly are held by women (IDEA, 2020). The efforts to promote women in leadership is at a slow pace in many of the top political leadership positions. For example, since proclaiming its independence from British rule in 1961, by 2015 no women in Tanzania had occupied a top-level leadership position, such as that of president or vice-president, prime minister, chief minister or attorney general. The first ever woman to become Vice-President was Her Excellency, the Hon. Samia Suluhu Hassan, after the general elections in 2015. In the same 2015 general elections, 5 women were running mates to presidential candidates representing five political parties namely Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), Chama cha Sauti ya Umma (SAU). Civic United Front (CUF), Democratic Party (DP) and United for Multiparty Democracy (UMD). Out of 1,250 candidates in total only 238 women (19%), won seats in Parliament (National Electoral Commission, 2015). The Tanzanian Parliament, as a major decision-making body, has 37.18 percent of women parliamentarians. 30 percent of these representatives come from

Photo credit: FAWE RS

2. UN Women (2019) on Leadership and Women Political Participation in Africa (accessed 07.12.20) 3. As quoted in Kingsley Ighobor’s article in Africa Renewal Journal of April 2015 4. UN Women (ibid) 5. Afrobarometer Survey (2019) special seats arrangement and 7 per cent are constituencybased elected members of parliament) (National Parliament, 2019). At the local government level, elected women councilors occupy up to 240 seats equivalent to 5.2 percent of the 3946 elected councilors countrywide (Karate Mbashiru, 2018).

In February 2020, Tanzania Policy Forum in collaboration with the British Council hosted a breakfast debate to unveil the study on the women special seats in Tanzania entitled “Towards 2020 General Elections: Reflecting on Women Special Seats in Tanzania”. The Forum is a Tanzanian network of civil society organizations working to influence policy processes that improve the lives of wananchi (local people). Participants during this forum made notable observations as part of the discussions around women participation in elections and the relevance of special seats to women in Tanzania , some of which we highlight below.

According to Dr. Suma Kaare (Gender & Political Science Specialist), limiting the women’s special seats would be diverting attention to the main point of the reason for existence. “The main reason is for the women to amplify the voices of those few and marginalized individuals whose voices otherwise wouldn’t be heard’’. Commenting on the relevance and impact of special seats she made the following observation; “In the Council where actually majority of us connect with Government, Women Special Seats are not allowed to have leadership positions within the council. The negative gender norms that are there are still “ prohibiting women” ~ Dr. Suma Kare, Gender Specialist – Political Science

“Despite the efforts to increase female parliamentary candidates, there has been a challenge for women to contest for electoral positions which hinders further numerical increase in the number of candidates that have been voted for by the people. The

National Electoral Commission (NEC) should put in place proper guidelines on how to secure candidates to eliminate bewilderment. Hence the improvement of women special seats and its implementation should be aligned and geared to accelerate realization of its objectives” Dr. Victoria Lihiru,

Lecturer Open University of

Tanzania, February 2020.

It is instructive to note that the Constitution of Tanzania stipulates women members must not make up less than 30% in the National Assembly. The special seats for women are distributed among the political parties in proportion to the number of seats awarded to them in parliament . In Tanzania, the country’s 31 administrative units/mikoa are key to the realisation of gender parity in governance. The number of women running for elected office remains low despite these progressive provisions. According to UN Women, more than 12,000 candidates contested for different elective offices from the district level up to the presidency in the 2015 elections. Of those candidates, approximately 1,000 were women, representing about 8% of total candidates running for elected office. This is fairly low considering Tanzania’s constitutionally mandated 30% gender quota in parliament. The table 1 below shows the number of male and female that were nominated to contest for President, Vice President, Members of Parliament and Councillors.

6. https://www.policyforum-tz.org/reforming-and-restructuring-women-special-seats-towards-2020-general-elections-stakeholders-debate 7. Constitution of Tanzania, Articles 66 (1: b) and 78 (1)