JENDA: A JOURNAL OF CULTURE AND AFRICAN WOMEN STUDIES ISSN: 1530-5686 Issue 9 (2006)

Nkiru Nzegwu

This issue of Women in Leadership is dedicated to the memory of Agathe Uwilingiyimana (1953-94), Rwandan first female Prime Minister, who was killed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Agathe Uwilingiyimana was Minister of Education from 1992 till her appointment as Premier in 1993. In 1994, President Habyarimana was killed with his Burundian colleague, President Cyprien Ntaryamira, when their plane was shot down on its way to Kigali airport. Following the political turmoil created by the death of the president, the Tutsi-dominated Presidential Guard killed Agathe, a Hutu and mother of six children, together with members of her family and ten Belgian soldiers, the day before she was to step down as Prime Minister. The killings of President Habyarimana and Premier Uwilingiyimana sparked off a civil war and genocide that claimed approximately one million Rwanda lives—both Hutus and Tutsis.

African and African Diaspora women have featured in the political histories of their nations, yet interestingly, the portrait of African women that routinely circulates around the world is one that casts them as ignorant, oppressed, and passive. This perversely negative image seeks to erase the fact that they have always been enterprenurial, hardworking, and the backbone of their societies. They have recorded tremendous achievements in their ordinary lives, and impressive gains in various professional fields of endeavor. These gains have been made in spite of the fact that colonial and postindependent policies of their countries have not been kind to them and to the idea of women as political leaders. Still, one of the most dramatic areas of African women's professional achievements is in the arena of politics where, in the past, they had found their access to power and political leadership blocked by a range of factors. As a result, prior to the 1990s, the political activities of African women and women of African descent have been restricted to the women's wing of national political parties. But these restrictions are rapidly being dismantled in post-conflict countries, notably, Rwanda, South Africa, and Liberia, where conscious efforts were made to restructure societies so as to eliminate impediments to women's access to power and positions of leadership. The ensuing redefinition of sociopolitical realities that followed has led to impressive changes as more and more women are stepping up to take on the challenges of electoral office. Whether or not we agree with their politics, chosen political leanings, or political aspirations, there is no discounting the fact that African and African Diasporan women have made audacious strides.

During the twentieth century there were 46 female presidents and prime ministers worldwide. Many of these women served for short periods, sometimes for less than a year. Three of these leaders were from Africa: Elizabeth Domitien (1975-76) of the Central African Republic, Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi, and Agathe Uwilingiyimana of Rwanda. The last two served as prime ministers in 1993-94. The former, Sylvie Kinigi, was ousted in a coup and the latter, Agathe, was murdered in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. In the category of Heads of State, there is a total of six female presidents of which Africa has President Johnson-Sirleaf. There are five female prime ministers, two of whom are from Africa, specifically Mozambique’s Luísa Días Diogo and Maria das Neves Ceita Batista de Sousa of the Republic of São Tomé e Príncipe. The others are from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and New Zealand. Johnson-Sirleaf is the second elected black female head of state in the world and also the second female leader of Liberia after Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Perry, who, as chairwoman of the Council of State, assumed the leadership of the country after the overthrow of late President Samuel K. Doe.

Although African women have been in the highest echelons of power since the mid-1970s, the total number of women in these positions has been modest. Fortunately, postive changes have been recorded in the post-millenium era with the growing number of women participating in electoral politics. For instance, the number of women represented in Rwandan legislature jumped from 5 percent in the pre-genocide era to 50 percent in the post-genocide period. To its credit, the country has the highest ratio in the world of women in the legislature, beating out Sweden and other European countries. According to the UNDP Human Development Report 2003, Rwanda holds the “world record” with 48.8 percent of women in its Lower House of parliament and 34.6 percent in the Upper House. Mozambique has a strong second place showing in Africa with 35% of women in its legislature.

This two-part issue of Women and Leadership celebrates the achievements of African women and the gains they have made in politics and governance, as well as in the legal and creative fields. It is important to celebrate these achievements and to mark the milestones. Notable among these laudable achievements are the nomination and choice of environmental activist, Dr. Wangari Maathai, as the first ever African woman Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; the emergence of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia as the first ever African woman president after a hotly contested election, the elevation of Condoleezza Rice from National Security Adviser to Secretary of State of the United States; the election of Portia Miller Simpson, first as the leader of the JPJ party and eventually as the Prime Minister of Jamaica, and the appointment of Asha-Rose Migiro, as the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations. Also memorable is the phenomenal economic work of former Nigerian Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, who expertly managed the lugubrious Nigerian economy, and eliminated the external debt owed to the Paris and London Clubs, that had long crippled the nation's economic growth.

As the visibility of African professional women continues to rise, there is greater appreciation of their managerial skills and the need for them to play greater roles in the public sector of their countries and in the international arena. Rice's appointment as Secretary of State made her the most powerful woman in the United States and the world, while Rose’s appointment gave her a formidable voice in the United Nations and in international affairs. In recognizing these achievements, we should not shy away from critiquing the politics of these women or from taking issue with aspects of their political beliefs that we disagree with. To do anything less is to patronize them since critique is a necessary component of the democratic process. It is the sure and steady way to bring about social change and transformation.

In this issue of Women and Leadership, a number of scholars examine the factors that affect the progress of women in the field of governance as well as the tales we tell ourselves that serves to either affirm or invalidate women’s political work. Employing a phenomenological reading of Nigerian women’s lived experiences, Olutoyin Mejiuni examines the processes that account for the present low level of women’s participation in civic-political affairs and she argues that: there is magic consciousness in the religions and religious practices in Nigeria; that the official and unofficial presence of the religions in formal schools ensure that the beliefs and the values of their adherents fuse with the structure of the school (through the official and the hidden curriculum) and the larger society to construct an identity for women; and that the constructed identity represents a major factor in determining whether women have political power. She concludes that the potential for challenging and reordering the status quo exists in the women who perceive themselves as different from whom men would rather they were.

Carole Boyce Davies examines what happens when members of a subordinated group rises to power within an oppressive system. Whom do these people end up representing? How does a U.S. black woman manage the internal/domestic political responsibilities while understanding her location in diaspora and the transnational world. What happens when a member of a prior subordinated group now ends up being the face of empire? How do class, status and political affiliation affect the nature of one’s participation? How do we begin to subject the rise of black women to leadership positions to the kind of internal critique that is fair but necessary? She responds to these questions by examining the meaning of Condoleezza Rice, a black woman Secretary of State of the U.S. (2005-2008) and international spokesperson for contemporary American imperialism.

Next, Carolyn Cooper explores some of the class issues in Jamaica surrounding the election of Sister P that helps to explain her endorsement of Portia Miller Simpson's candidacy for presidency of the PNP. She begins by critically unraveling the theme of Sister P’s campaign, “the strength of a woman” through translating into Jamaican an African-American aetiological tale recorded in Zora Neale Hurston’s collection, Mules and Men. She uses this strategic translation to highlight and affirm Sister P’s command of that “devilish” female cunning that would ensure her victory.

Moving back into history, Nkiru Nzegwu raises the very real possibility that in the fluid political conditions of sixteenth century Benin empire, some of the initiatives that were attributed to Oba Esigie were in fact the initiatives of his mother, Iyoba Idia. Taking seriously the tales and legends about Idia that proliferate in modern day Benin City as well as the dramatized histories at the heart of the Igue, Emobo, Ugie Azama, and Ugie Oro festivals, she explores the political leadership of Idia in Benin political affairs, particularly her role in bringing into fruition some of the major accomplishments that have been attributed to Oba Esigie. The central questions of the essay are, what is the political significance of Idia in Benin dynastic history? Why was the Iyoba institution created? And, how do we account for Idia's political influence over Esigie?

Lastly, Dora Nkem Akunyili, the Director General of the Nigerian National Agency for Food and & Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) discusses the emergence of women in African social, political and economic leadership. She then focuses on how the festering problem of fake drugs and other food and drug malpractices in Nigeria was addressed and the Food and Drug Administration transformed under her leadership.

In sum, these articles together with the interview of Okonjo-Iweala and the republished Op-ed articles on Johnson-Sirleaf and Ruth Garang open a doorway for further engagement of the role of women leaders in Africa and the African Diaspora.

Citation Format:

Nkiru Nzegwu. “Editorial: Women and Political Leadership” JENDA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies: Issue 9, 2006.

Copyright © 2006 Africa Resource Center, Inc.