NESTOR BASEMERA, PhD: The Marginalized Majority: Why Uganda’s Women Councils Need Real Power, Not Just Seats

Much has been written about gender and the involvement of women in politics, and convention upon convention has been drafted to address gender inequalities. But hitherto, in Africa, it has all been much ado about nothing. In Uganda, and indeed many other countries, local government elections are open for all to vote and be voted into office, but the political superstructure militates against the free participation of women in these elections. 

Although authorities have a mandate to make decisions about how public resources will be spent on a broad range of local services, gender inequalities surround us in most of our daily activities. Women, who are the majority and, indeed, the major consumers of local authority policies, remain relatively underrepresented in decision-making bodies and their concomitant processes. 

Moreover, the upper echelons of political power have remained a remarkably resilient bastion of male exclusivity, and efforts undertaken to redress this gender imbalance have been superficial. My argument juxtaposes these superficial efforts with the Uganda Women’s District Councils Capacity Building Programme, which uses a holistic approach to institutional development but ultimately failed to address unequal gender relations in national councils. 

From a gender perspective, local government is the level of administration closest and most accessible to women, particularly since it traditionally provides services utilized by individual households, such as water, schools, health centers, roads and other social services. It is a sad reality that most Uganda’s women remain marginalized and continue to face discrimination at all levels, as a harsh political climate militates against efforts to incorporate them into decision-making through the ballot box. 

Therefore, holding reserved seats or participating in localized administrative bodies does not automatically translate into tangible influence over macro-level budgets or national economic strategies. Moreover, grassroots women’s councils often face severe funding shortages and lack technical training in complex public finance, accounting, and national development planning. Therefore, reliance on isolated affirmative action slots can inadvertently relegate women to a parallel political track, leaving mainstream, high-level economic policymaking tables male-dominated.

To that end, true economic transformation requires moving beyond symbolic grassroots representation to ensure women hold substantive, decision-making power in national economic planning, resource allocation, and fiscal policy. Women’s council elections should act as a vital grassroots platform to drive socioeconomic transformation, economic empowerment, and poverty reduction. Aligning local leadership with national frameworks ensures that elected committees actively facilitate community development.

Achieving this requires moving women from general deliberative seats into core executive committees and chairperson roles where budgets and administrative agendas are finalized. Finally, transitioning council discussions away from sidelined, traditionally “feminine” sectors like social welfare, and instead integrating them into mainstream economic planning, infrastructure development, and land rights is paramount.

basemeranestor3@gmail.com

 

The post NESTOR BASEMERA, PhD: The Marginalized Majority: Why Uganda’s Women Councils Need Real Power, Not Just Seats appeared first on Watchdog Uganda.