Botswana: Sober findings in gender and elections report
Gaborone – February 17, 2025: A comprehensive assessment of Botswana’s October 2024 general elections has uncovered a continued decline in women’s representation in positions of leadership in the two tiers of government, Parliament and local authorities.
The Gender Links (GL) Women’s Political Participation (WPP) audit, released this week, showed an almost three percent decline in women in Parliament since the 2019 elections. In the 13th Parliament, women made only 8.7%, a drop from 11% in 2019. The picture is equality dismal in local government, where only 54 women out of 609 (8%) were elected councilors. The nomination of 62 women out of 116 (40%) by the minister of Local government and Traditional Affairs, Ketlhalefile Motshwegwa raised the proportion of women in local government to 15%. The overall number of council seats across the 16 districts, is 762. Going into the 2024 elections, Botswana ranked last in WPP representation in the SADC region, with 11% and 18% for Parliament and local government respectively. Now Botswana has dropped even lower.
The only area of progress was cabinet appointments, from 16.6% in 2019 to 22%. After nominating the three as Special Members of Parliament (SEMPs), President Advocate Duma Boko appointed Nono Kgafela-Mokoka minister of Basic Education and Child Welfare; Lesego Chombo, Gender and Youth Affairs; and Bogolo Kenewendo to the Ministry of Minerals and Energy. The other two women MPs from the ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), Helen Manyeneng, Mmopane-Metsimotlhabe legislator, and Maipelo Mophuting of Gaborone Bonnington North constituency, were appointed deputy Speaker and assistant minister in the Office of the President, respectively. Kgatleng West MP, Dr Unity Dow of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) is the only opposition woman legislator.
A former minister in two administrations of the former ruling party, Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Dow is the third woman to represent opposition in 58 years. Dr Habaudi Hobona of the BCP was the first from the opposition ranks, winning the Francistown West By-election in 2013, followed by the late Tlokweng MP, Same Bathobakae of the UDC in 2014. The former ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) failed to secure a seat for a woman in the 13th Parliament, since 1974, when the first two women, Dr Gaositwe Chiepe and Kebatshabile Disele, came through as SEMPs. The audit included gender and media monitoring, undertaken during the six weeks of the pre, during, and post-election period.
The GL study, a first for Botswana, found that women constituted a mere four percent of news sources in election coverage. This is way below the usual national and regional average for women sources in news content. The last Media Progress Study (GMS) conducted by GL, showed that women news sources in Botswana comprised 26%, higher than the 21% recorded in the media across the Southern African region. The GL Gender Audit of the 2024 Botswana elections is a culmination of a four years programme on Women’s Political Participation (WPP), funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) through International IDEA.
The project, undertaken in eight other African countries, started in 2021, focusing on three areas of capacity building: training academies and inter-generational dialogue and mentorship. More than 100 women politicians from across the political party divide, attended the academies, capacitated in electioneering, funding strategies, communications, and branding, among other issues of WPP. Young politicians also underwent mentoring by seasoned politicians. Of the graduates, 14 contested for council, seven made it on direct election, and three on minister’s nomination. (The Botswana Gender Audit can be accessed here and Media Monitoring results can be viewed in real time on this link. For more information, contact GL Botswana Gender and Elections Audit Manager Pamela Dube on +267-77132086)
