- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – President of the Republic of Liberia
- Joyce Banda – President of the Republic of Malawi
- Catherine Samba-Panza – Interim President of the Central African Republic
There is progress here and there on the continent regarding women's rights . We must go much further to ensure greater gender equality in Africa. It is not just a matter of justice....When women take their rightful place at the negotiating table, in the parliament and in leadership positions across society, we can unleash Africa’s enormous potential..." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
To learn more about women's political participation, please visit the following websites:
Hundreds of women on Tuesday petitioned President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto to intervene following the continued absence of a Deputy Governor in Nairobi.
Led by Nairobi County Women Forum chairlady Cecilia Wairimu, the women want Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko to move with speed and appoint a Deputy Governor preferably a woman.
“For a close to a year ,women have waited for the Governor to honour his pledge of appointing a woman Deputy Governor. Some of the problems women face emanate from the fact that there isn’t someone high placed to stand for them,” she said.
In March this year,Governor Sonko through his Facebook page proposed some names and asked Kenyans to help him choose a deputy among them was lawyer Miguna Miguna who was rejected by the Nairobi County Assembly.
Others proposed by the Governor include business woman Ann Kagure , former town clerk John Gakuo, Lawyer Karen Nyamu and Bishop Margret Wanjiru among others.
Ann Kagure is a known successful insurance executive who has won for two consecutive years as the Insurance Agent of the year across the country she started off as a sales representative for the American Life Insurance Company(ALICO), now CFC Life at the age of 20,and was promoted in the year 2000 to Unit Manager,and later Agency Manager.
Lawyer Karen Nyamu came into the lime light after she unsuccessfully vied for the position of Nairobi Woman representative in 2017.
Bishop Magret Wanjiru is the former Starehe MP and also contested for Nairobi Gubernatorial seat in last year’s general election.
The position of a Deputy Governor has been vacant since January this year after Polycarp Igathe tendered his resignation.
The Governor has been under pressure even from the Members of Nairobi County concerning several issues top on the agenda being the appointing a Deputy Governor.
Following the Supreme Court Advisory, Governor Mike Sonko is required to nominate his preferred candidate for the Deputy Governor’s post for submission to the County Assembly which will vet and approve the candidate if satisfied.
Source: QUARTZAFRICA
Ethiopia’s prime minister Abiy Ahmed is rewarding women’s contributions to the nation’s progress.
Source: CNN Africa
Diane Rwigara, a leading critic of Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, spent more than a year in prison before she was released on bail Friday.
Source: AllAfrica
Soham El Wardini, former deputy mayor of Dakar, has taken over the position of her predecessor, Khalifa Sall, who was imprisoned in March 2017 for corruption. Wardini polled 64 votes against her opponent's 13 votes and 11 votes for Moussa Sy and Banda Diop respectively.
Source: The Star
Rwanda on Friday ordered the release on bail of a vocal critic of President Paul Kagame, further raising hopes for greater political tolerance in the country after the release last month of another jailed opposition figure
A Rwandan High Court judge ruled that Diane Rwigara and her mother, who was arrested along with her mother last year, would be released immediately but that they were not allowed to leave the capital Kigali "without the prosecutor's authorization".
Source: The Southern Times
Women in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries continue to be denied equal representation in political and decision-making positions at various levels of governance.
A damning document seen by The Southern Times discussed in the SADC Council of Ministers’ meeting held in Namibia last month shows that there has not been a significant improvement in the number of women representation at various levels of governance. In fact, women representation at various levels of governance has decreased in the last five years (2014-2018).
Source: Voice of America
South Sudanese women leaders are calling on the president to give 35 percent of executive appointments to women, as agreed to in the recently revitalized peace deal.
On Tuesday, President Salva Kiir appointed 10 people to a committee tasked with starting the process to create South Sudan's envisioned transitional government. Only one of the 10 are women.
Source: Daily Monitor
Rwandan opposition politician Victoire Umuhoza Ingabire has vowed to push for the opening up of the political space days after she was released from prison following a presidential pardon.
Ms Ingabire was freed on Saturday September 15 after serving eight of her 15-year sentence.She had been arrested in 2010 soon after returning from exile in the Netherlands seeking to contest for the presidency.She was charged with inciting revolt against the government, forming armed groups to destabilise the country, and minimising the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Source: The Jordan Times
ZOMBA, MALAWI — When I was eight years old, a family friend told my father that he thought I was destined for leadership. My dad never let me forget that heady observation, and as a result of his constant encouragement, I took every opportunity I had to pursue our friend’s prophecy. Today, I owe much of my success to my late father, whose belief in me was unwavering.
Source: Face2FaceAfrica
Recently- re-elected president of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita named 35-year-old Kamissa Camara as the minister for foreign affairs in his recent cabinet reshuffle. With a rich background in foreign affairs and policies, Camara becomes the first woman to hold this post in the history of Mali.
Before her appointment as the minister, she served as the diplomatic advisor to President Keita. She is also the founder and co-chair of the Sahel Strategy Forum, which provides a platform to stakeholders to promote peace, security and development across the Sahel.
Source: BBC Africa
If you are a man and mulling over the idea of running for president in 2019 for one of Nigeria's main parties then deep pockets are required.
Campaigning, of course, is going to cost money, but both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) charge presidential hopefuls who want to run in the party primaries tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege. The APC, the party of President Muhammadu Buhari, wants $125,000 (£97,000) for a nomination form. An opposition PDP presidential nomination is cheap by comparison - just $33,000.
Women, on the other hand, get a discount - half price for the APC or totally free if you want to try your luck with PDP. But neither party has ever nominated a woman since the return of democracy in 1999 and only one woman, Sarah Jibril, has run in the primaries.
She gained just one vote in the 2011 contest.