Allexer Namundjembo
Women in politics were urged to move beyond representation and focus on creating meaningful impact.
This call was made during a national roundtable on women in politics and decision-making held on Wednesday at Seaside Hotel in Swakopmund.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, opened the event by emphasising the importance of inclusive leadership.
“Appointing women is not a favour but a recognition of the value they bring to society,” she said.
She raised concern over the drop in women’s representation in Parliament.
“During the 7th Parliament, we achieved 50%. Today, we stand at 38%. This decline must be reversed,” she said.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila called for the formation of a Women’s Parliamentary Caucus to strengthen legislative influence.
“We must move from symbolic representation to impactful leadership that transforms policies and changes lives,” she added.
Minister of gender equality and child welfare, Emma Kantema, called for gender-responsive budgeting.
“Gender-responsive planning and budgeting is not technical jargon. It’s a transformative tool to ensure that policies and resources address real needs,” she said.
Kantema encouraged women in public office to act boldly.
“Use your voices, votes, and positions to demand gender-equitable budgets,” she said.
Secretary general of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Boemo Sekgoma, also proposed a cross-party Women’s Parliamentary Caucus and called for solidarity among women leaders.
“Representation without impact is like thunder without rain. She said female leadership must be institutionalised. We must redefine leadership so it endures. Patriarchy has no place in a constitutional democracy,” Sekgoma said.
The roundtable was hosted by the ministry of gender equality and child welfare in partnership with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
It brought together parliamentarians, political party members, and civil society leaders.
Similar models have been implemented in Rwanda and South Africa. Rwanda has more than 60% female representation in Parliament, the highest in the world.
This was achieved through constitutional guarantees, legal quotas, and a proportional representation system that reserves seats for women.
Rwandan law mandates that women hold at least 30% of decision-making positions in public institutions.
A few weeks ago, Kantema called for more grassroots empowerment during a session in the National Assembly.
In South Africa, voluntary party quotas, such as the African National Congress’s zebra system, which alternates male and female candidates on party lists, have improved female representation.
These internal mechanisms ensure that women are consistently placed in leadership positions within Parliament and Cabinet.
