The call was made by Botswana Congress Party’s (BCP) Tebogo Dingake, on Friday at the party’s Women’s High Tea event held at the University of Botswana.
She emphasised the importance of achieving a 50% representation of women in Parliament and council seats, in line with international standards. While her party currently has a 30% female representation in its structures, Dingake stressed the need to advocate more strongly for women's representation in council and Parliament elections.
However, she said the BCP Women’s League has made significant progress since the 2019 General Election, with six women now ready to compete at the polls this year. She said in 2019, they had only one woman who was contesting for general election, while the rest were men. For council seats, she said they had 48 candidates.
The BCP president said 52% of the population is women, but the majority is failing to lead the country. “Women are leaders in their homes and, therefore, they can lead the country. More women need to be empowered to be in leadership positions. Politics needs money, which most women don’t have, hence we are doing this kind of fundraising activity to support our women," Dingake said. "It is important for men in politics also to understand a woman, as they cannot work or be in every party activity due to the commitment and responsibilities they have at their homes.
One of the reasons why women are not involved in politics, especially married ones, is because it needs more time and a lot of sacrifice.” Keynote speaker at the event, Pearl Khupe who is a pastor and lawyer by profession, shared that any “nation that wants to do well in politics and government must take care of its women since they play key roles in the society".
"They are the drivers of what a party or an organisation wants to achieve. Again, they know how to bring the family and society together. Women need support to be able to deliver effectively,” she said. Khupe added that the BCP must emphasise making sure that 50% of the representation of women is in both Parliament and the council. She said the BCP must have a strategy on how they want to empower their own women.
