VICE-PRESIDENT Inonge Wina says women do not want to depend on the benevolence of a dictator or the good will of a President.
She says the PF has never run away from facing the issues of women empowerment.
Responding to Senga Hill PF member of parliament Kapembwa Simbao during the Vice-President’s Question Time yesterday, Vice-President Wina expressed disappointment over the failure of Bill 10.
She said Bill 10 was progressive and should have been endorsed by all members of parliament.
In his question, Simbao wanted to know if the government had come up with an explanation on the failure of Bill 10 and measures to improve women representation in Parliament.
“Mr. Speaker, I want to say that the failure of Bill 10, embarrasses me as a man and I wonder if I am in the same country with those who proudly, boastfully brought it down. Mr Speaker, the demographic of this country shows that women make up 51 per cent of the total population. And they also make up 60 to 70 per cent voters in this country and yet in Parliament women are less than 11 per cent. And her Honour the Vice-President knows that because she’s been there for a long time and this is because the present system we use of first past the post is not favourable to women; it is very competitive. So Bill 10 provided a sure way to increase the number of women,” said Simbao, a former minister in the MMD government. “So Mr Speaker, I want to know from the Vice-President if government has come up with a very good explanation to the 51 per cent (women representation) in Zambia while their attempt to improve the numbers of the women in Parliament was not supported by the same party [UPND] that wants to rule them, starting from next year and thereby failing this Bill 10, thank you Mr Speaker.”
In response, Vice-President Wina said UPND members of parliament had done a disservice to women, the youth and people with disabilities who were guaranteed some safe seats in the House for them to participate in decision-making in the running of their country.
“Mr Speaker, I heard some leaders saying ‘no, no, no, when I get into power, I will appoint women’. Mr Speaker, I can assure the honourable members that even if President Lungu chose all ministers of the provinces, if he chose women, the number will still be negligible. That’s why we need a constitutional provision that will guarantee the number of marginalised people in Parliament. Women do not want to depend on the benevolent dictator or the good will of a President,” she said.
“The President should be assisted by laws that stipulated that the numbers should be increased and it is a right of every woman to participate in the governance of her country. It is a right of the young people. At independence, Mr Speaker, most of the ministers were young. And they were able to move the agenda of this country – to lay the foundation for the prosperity we are enjoying today. But UPND does not want to see women participate. When they even know that in their strongholds they can sponsor women but that party does not do so because they don’t want to see the faces of the women in Parliament. It is as simple as that.”
Vice-President Wina further accused those who rejected Bill 10 of enjoying suppressing women.
“Mr Speaker, the countries that have put women at the forefront such as Rwanda here in Africa and countries like Sweden have seen substantial development in running their countries but here in Zambia, especially in the political party that wants to take over from PF, which they will not do, they seem to relish suppressing women. I don’t want to take it further, to know how women are treated in their homes,” Vice-President Wina said but Speaker Dr Patrick Matibini advised her not to take that line of debate. “I withdraw that last part, Mr Speaker, but this was an opportunity. Bill 10 was offering an opportunity to the young people, to the women to be part of this governance. So long as we are leaving women out of the governance of Zambia, we should not expect much development. Women see what men do not see some times. And it is only appropriate for a progressive country like Zambia to ensure that when progressive bills of this nature are introduced in the House, these bills should be welcomed and endorsed by all members of parliament. Mr Speaker, I am still very disappointed. And the women in the UPND, I hope will be able to impress upon their leaders that they should change mind and look at women as equal contributors to the development of their country.”
But leader of the opposition and Monze Central UPND member of parliament Jack Mwiimbu asked why the Vice-President was u-turning when her party had rejected clauses that were proposing increasing women representation in Parliament.
“Your Honour, the Vice-President, I have noted that you have not stopped mourning over the demise of Bill 10. Your Honour the Vice-President, your party in 2011 defeated the motion that was moved by the MMD that included proportional representation by walking out of this House. Again in 2015, on the floor of this House amended and removed the clause that was proposing the proportional representation on the bases that all women should be free to contest. Why are you summersaulting now because of the obnoxious Bill 10 that contained so many bad clauses that led to its defeat? And also Your Honour, the Vice-President, we give you members of the UPND to vote with you, you still failed. You are the one that failed the people of Zambia by not coming with a good constitution.”
In response, Vice-President Wina asked why Mwiimbu did not debate Bill 10 if it was obnoxious.
“But he kept quiet throughout. When it suited the member of parliament to debate, he walked out, which means they were running away from a progressive bill,” said Vice-President Wina.
“Mr Speaker, PF has never run away from facing the issues of empowering women and we will continue to do so and not the other party, UPND, that does not even talk about what they think is wrong in the bill but only keeping away from the House. That is cowardice.”