Practicing democracy in contemporary Africa: To what extent can female leadership improve the position of women in African societies?

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Bachelor project seminar: practicing democracy in contemporary Africa

To what extent can female leadership improve the position of women in African

societies?

Name: Indy Koster

Student number: s1803069 Instructor: Dr. Leila Demarest Date: 17 – 06 – 2019

Words: 8257

Abstract

Colonialism has played an important role in the emergence of the patriarchal system that created ‘Big Man’ politics in Africa. The colonial regimes dictated that political power was a male domain and they rarely included women into positions of authority. As a consequence, women in Africa have traditionally been marginalized from the political power.. However, since the third wave of democratization in the 1990s, women across the world have expanded their role in politics, including in Africa. Yet despite the fact that African women have made significant treads in political participation, women have to deal with the gendered stereotypes and prove their capacity as political leaders before they can be acknowledged as full equals and partners to their male counterparts. In only two African countries women have so far been able to attain the highest political position in the country, Liberia and Malawi. In general, African executives are considered powerful and influential, but to what extent can female leadership improve the position of women in African societies where women have historically been marginalized? This paper contributes to this question by investigating to what extent the female leaders of Liberia and Malawi have been able to use their powerful position to improve the situation of women in society more generally. I look specifically at women’s socio-economic position, their political rights and participation, as well as societal norms with regard to women. My analysis shows that the female presidents of Liberia and Malawi have improved the socio-economic situation of women, but they did not succeed in improve the positions at the political top for women and in changing the gender perceptions.

Key words

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1. Introduction

During the third wave of democratization, which started around 1990, women got to play a more important role in politics. Gender as a public issue received more attention all around the world. Since the 1990s, women in Africa also expanded their role in politics. For instance Ruth Perry of Liberia, became President of the State Council, which governed the country since the deposition and murder of dictator Samuel Doe in 1990. In 1994, Dr. Specioza Wandera Kazibwe, from Uganda, was the first female vice-president of Africa. In the same period, there were three countries (Burundi, Rwanda and Senegal) where women were appointed as prime minister (Hyden, 2005). However, although the situation of African women in politics has improved, they are still marginalized from the political top. Anno 2019, there is only one female president on the whole African continent, namely Sahle-Work Zewde from Ethiopia. However,

she has less executive power than the male prime minister of the country. Yet even when women make it to the political top in Africa, to what extent are they able

to improve the status of women in their country in general and encourage them to take up political roles? Cheesman (2015) laid out that: “In addition to the emergence of neo-patrimonialism, the creation of centralized state structures with greater coercive control and a monopoly over economic opportunities undermined the potential for a more democratic politics to emerge” (Cheesman, 2015, p.17). The author notes, as a result, this strengthened the power of the executive and it rooted the patron-client relationships in the state. This made leaders less willing to give up their privileged position, and this made it more likely that they would choose repression over reform.The executive is often considered to be powerful in African contexts. Through the influence of patriarchy, men continue to be in authority of the state of affairs and make decisions almost exclusively. Yet what if the top leader is a woman? Will she be able to be as powerful as her male predecessors and be able to positively impact the position of other women in society?

This paper addresses this research question through two explanatory case study studies of Liberia and Malawi. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia became Africa’s first democratically elected female president (2005-2018), furthermore she was also the first female president of the African continent. Joyce Banda became the first female president of Malawi (2012-2014). Banda, who first was the former Vice President of Malawi, was not democratically elected as president, but through constitutional provision after the death of the incumbent President Bingu Wa Mutharaki. Both countries differ in how the female presidents are elected, but they share the common thread of struggles which are faced by female politicians in African patriarchal societies. The research is based on secondary data analysis of academic literature. I also use

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data from the World Development Indicators (WDI), and survey date from the Afrobarometer. Specifically, I analyze to what extent both female leaders have been able to improve the legal position of women in society, their socio-economic position, their political power, as well as societal norms with regard to the role of women in society.

Section 2 starts with a literature review on executive power in Africa and how it is connected to the notion of ‘Big Man politics’. I then address how this notion reveals the importance of men in politics and how it limits women to achieve the political apex. In Section 3, I discuss my research design and methodology. Section 4 gives a short historical political overview of Libera and Malawi. Section 5 analyzes the achievements of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Joyce Banda in office, as female heads of state. Section 6 concludes.

2. Literature review

2.1 Strong executive rule and ‘Big Man Politics’ Africa has for much of the last century been characterized by authoritarian rule. Since the third

wave of democratization, which occurred in the 1990s, more and more Sub-Saharan African countries broke more or less free of authoritarian rule, but significant weaknesses remain. According to Freedom House (2018), Sub-Sahara Africa consists of 49 states, 18% of the states are considered as free, 43% as partly free and 39% as not free. Furthermore, across the continent there are still many problems, for instance, the tendency of the executive to have little checks & balances, weak rule of law, widespread corruption, and discrimination against women and the LGBT community (Freedom House, 2018). Although there are some success stories of states who achieved the position of a free state, many states still suffer from a government or leader with strong executive power.

African authoritarian rule is often linked with neo-patrimonialism. According to Cheesman (2015, p.13): “Patrimonialism refers to political systems in which leaders derived their authority form their position at the apex of a family or ethnic community.” Neo-patrimonialism then refers to a system which from the outside has the appearance of a modern state, with an executive bureaucracy, legislature and judiciary, but from the inside has the features of patrimonial rule. Leaders derived their personal rule and authority from their power over a specific community, and so patronage networks were developed. Many African states are characterized by weak institutions, and personal rule.

Due to the influence of patriarchy, men continue to be in authority of the state of affairs and make decisions almost exclusively. Indeed, the literature has typified politics in Africa as

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the politics of the ‘Big Man’. This refers to a system in which “personal relationships are more important than formal rules and that a leader’s decisions will always take precedence over the laws that those decisions might contradict” (Posner & Young, 2007, p. 127). Interestingly, the notion of Big Man politics ties personal rule automatically to male figures. The question that remains is what happens if the leader is a women.

2.2 Gender and power in African societies

It has not always been the case that women stay outside of African politics. Foster (1993) explains in her article, that before Africa was colonized, women and men had almost equivalent roles in societies based on agrarian economies. African women were not fully equal to men, but they had more authority in society and influence in decision- making than Europeans had in that time. Through the colonialization of Africa, the societal and cultural structure merged with the Western style of gender roles where men were seen as the cost winners and women had to take care of the household and children. The colonial rulers did not care about the traditional culture and they abolished most of the rights which first belonged to African women. The colonizers appointed only men as government officials and the African men had to support the authority of men over women and limit women’s movements. In addition Forster (1993) argues, boys also got access to higher education and while they had opportunities to learn the European languages, this was not the case for girls. After independence, African men still benefited from their privileged position of higher education, as they were seen as more capable to fulfil political jobs, which resulted in the phenomenon that the staff of governments was full of African men.

The political masculinity of Africa is also explained by Mouchine (2008). He shows that colonialism had developed a patriarchal political system that marginalized the position of women. What was left were masculinized political institutions, for instance the military and the administrative sector were dominated by men. As a consequence, women were banned from participation in political activities.

2.3 Gender barriers that women face as politicians Nowadays, most countries do not forbid women to participate in politics. However, people’s

perceptions with regard to gender roles are still a barrier for women to reach positions of national political leadership. Thomas and Adams (2010) show that academics have divided these barriers into three categories: structural, institutional and cultural barriers. The structural barrier affects the general position of women within social systems, for example: the level of

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education, the poverty level, childcare etc. These factors are human and financial resources which influence whether women are able to enter politics. Secondly, institutional barriers include the political system. The electoral system can have an effect on women’s representation. The electoral system that has a negative impact on women’s representation is first past the post, while closed list proportional representation with a large district magnitude have a more positive impact on women representation. In addition, intuitional policy choices like gender quotas increase as well the representation of women. Besides representation, women may also gain access to ministerial seats, for example via their party or the national leader of the government. Lastly, the cultural barrier refers to the gender ideology about politics. The vision of gender differs across countries, however, the general assumption is that politics is associated with men and masculinity. For example when women reach the political top, they face the gendered prejudices that men are seen as strong and confidential leaders with charisma, and that these masculine aspects are generally more accepted as desirable leadership. Women, on the other hand, are more seen as sensitive and compassionate, which are seen as weak characteristics of leadership.

From the cultural perspective, many African societies are patriarchal and politics and leadership are generally the domain of men. The consequence of this male-controlled society, is that women in Africa hold political leadership with limited experience. This limited experience causes challenges which can lead to limited success of African women at the political apex. According to Hyden (2005), women politicians in Africa (as elsewhere in the world) are still in the minority. African women are successful in increasing their numbers and effectiveness in entering formal politics, but they do not succeed in changing the gender relations and achieve positions at the political top.

Hence while top politicians are generally regarded as powerful in Africa, some scholars doubt that female politicians can fundamentally alter society. In the following sections I investigate whether this is the case for Liberia and Malawi, where female politicians have been able to obtain the highest position of president.

3. Research question and Methods The above literature review has shown that while executive leaders in Africa tend to have a lot of individual power, societies themselves generally marginalize women’s role in the public sphere. This has led me to the following research question: To what extent can female leadership improve the position of women in African societies? I am going to answer this research question by analyzing the cases of Liberia and Malawi. The reason that I have chosen

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these two countries is because they are the only two countries on the African continent which have had a female president as head of state. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Joyce Banda are the only two women who have held presidential status in the African continent. Sirleaf was the first elected female president of Africa, she was democratically elected in 2005 and served for two terms as president till 2018. Banda, who first was the former Vice President of Malawi, became the second female president of Africa in 2012. While she was not democratically elected, through official constitutional provision she became president, because her predecessor Bingu Wa Mutharaki died of a heart attack. Joyce Banda served only for two years as president. Both countries differ in how the female presidents are elected, but they share the common thread of struggles which are faced by female politicians in African patriarchal societies. For both countries I will give a political-historical overview, I show how both women became president, and I compare both cases on their policy and achievements with regard to women empowerment.

To investigate to what extent these female leaders have been able to use their powerful position to improve the situation of women in society more generally I focus on the three structural barriers as laid out by Thomas and Adams (2010): Structural Barriers: For this dimension I will look at several socio-economic indicators of Liberia and Malawi and how they have evolved over time and the policies introduced to improve women’s lives. Institutional Barriers: I will investigate whether female leaders have introduced electoral changes to improve female participation in politics such as gender quota. I will also investigate changes in the percentage of women in parliament and in cabinet. Cultural barriers: I will investigate whether perceptions of citizens in both countries with regard to women and female leaders have become more positive over time by relying on Afrobarometer data.

4. Historical political overview: Liberia Liberia is a republic located at the west coast of Africa. Unlike the rest of the continent, Liberia was never colonized by the Europeans. However, Moran (2013) notes that Liberia could be considered a ‘pseudo-colony’ with the United States as mother country. Liberia was officially founded in 1822 by liberated African-Americans. The foundation of Liberia led by the United States was based on individual liberty and it was the intention that black slaves from America and the Caribbean could settle in the West- African country. The slaves who settled in Liberia were called Americo-Liberians and they were the minority of the population (2.5%), the other inhabitants of Liberia consist of native tribes divided into sixteen ethnic groups (Theobald, 2012, p.31). In 1847 the African American settlers declared their independence from the US,

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and Liberia became the first African Republic. They confirmed that they would implement democratic institutions and regulate a constitution in the same way as the United States. However, Liberia was far from a democratic republic. In reality the country was characterized by single party rule by the True Whig Party, led by a minority of Americo-Liberians. Only in 1904, the native Liberians received citizenship after a long period of being politically and economically sidelined.

William Tubman was president of Liberia from 1944 till his death in 1971, his successor was William Tolbert who ruled from 1971 till 1980 when Samuel Doe, a native Liberian started a coup d’état. In 1980, there came an end to 133 years of Americo-Liberian rule. According to Theobald (2012) the regime of Samuel Doe was not progressive because the political, societal and economic situation worsened. Doe became an autocratic and corrupt leader and his rule has been marked with human rights abuses and ethnic conflicts. In 1989, there was again a violent coup d’état under the lead of Charles Taylor and a civil war which led to the death of 200.000 Liberian civilians lasted from 1989 till 1997. After a peace agreement, supervised presidential elections were held in 1997. Former war-lord Charles Taylor won the elections and defeated the other candidate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf . During his second term as president, Taylor made sure that the government and security forces were loyal to him. According to Moran (2013) this personal rule of Taylor harmed Liberia’s national confidence of a peace process. This political instability in combination with the problems the first civil war has left, led a second civil war to break out in 1999. This war lasted until 2003. According to Moran (2013) Liberia is marked through the civil wars in the 1990s with images of child soldiers and, warlord politics fueled by ‘blood diamonds’.

In the summer of 2003 US troops arrived in Liberia and a peace agreement was negotiated. Taylor was forced to step down and he went to Nigeria in exile. In 2003, Liberia had a transnational government and started to prepare the presidential elections of 2005. During Liberia’s transnational period from 2003 till 2005 the position of women was already on the agenda (Thomas and Adams, 2010). The Liberian women’s movement had played an important role in ending the war and later. The women’s movement successfully lobbied for Ruth Perry, who was appointed as the Head of Liberia’s Council of state of Liberia’s transnational government (Adams, 2008). The activists also lobbied for a gender quota and they requested that all political parties needed to include at least 30% of women on their candidate list. This resolution was adopted in 2005 by the National Elections Commission, but it was not enforced in the 2005 legislative elections. Moreover the women’s movement have contributed to the victory of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who has won the presidency in 2005. She was the first female

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president of Liberia but also the first female president of the whole African continent. Sirleaf competed in a two rounds election system, in the first round she received only 19,8% of the votes against 22 other candidates. In the second round she won the elections with 59,4% of the votes against George Weah (Adams, 2008, p. 479).

Sirleaf’s victory can also be explained by the transformational role of conflict itself. Indeed as Adams 2008, Debussher and De Almagro (2016) argue, war can contribute to gender equality and the presence of women in politics because women fulfill the new “role” of men as they become cost winner of the family, and because the violence perpetrated by men leads people to question the rigid gender roles before the war. Sirleaf also made use of this in her campaign as she argued that as a women she was well-suited to combat the major political problems in her country: corruption and militarization.

Thomas & Adams (2010) also quote the slogan of a campaign t-shirt of Johnson Sirleaf proponents: “All the men have failed Liberia – Let’s try a woman” (Thomas & Adams, 2010, p.122). Sirleaf’s background also contributed to her victory, however, as she had substantial policy experience. She worked for Tolbert’s government where she fulfilled the position of Minister of Finance. When Samuel Doe started a coup d’état in 1980, Johnson Sirleaf was briefly imprisoned under his regime. As soon as she was released she fled Liberia and started to work at high positions in multinational cooperation’s and international organizations, like the World Bank, before returning to her country.

5. Historical political overview: Malawi Malawi is a republic located in the south-east of Africa. In 1891, the country was part of the

British Central African Protectorate. Malawi gained its independence in 1964 from its former colonizer. According to Moss Rockefeller and Johnson-Free (2013) the positive aspect of Malawi’s political history is that it is evolutionary instead of revolutionary. This means that there were no abrupt political changes. The shadow side is that Malawi has not escaped Africa’s general phenomenon of political corruption. After independence, Hastings Kamuza Banda (not related to Joyce Banda) became the new leader of Malawi. Kamuza Banda had lived for 20 years in Great Britain where he worked as a medical doctor. In 1958, he returned to Africa and started to organize protests against the British rule. He quickly became a national hero for the people. This image of Kamuza Banda changed soon after independence, however, under the rule of Banda Malawi became a dictatorial regime from 1964 till 1994. In addition, in 1971 he declared himself as President for Life. According to Sturges (1998), during the presidency of Kamuza Banda there were unequal power relations in the participation of women in politics.

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For instance, during his dictatorship between 1966 and 1992, he appointed only three women as minister out of 72. Furthermore, the only role Kamuza Banda offered to women was through the ‘League of Malawi Women’ where women had to entertain the president, and dance traditional dances for him at political events. Moss Rockefeller and Johnson-Free note that he also influenced the cultural dimension to put a dress code rule that outlawed fashion of western sexual liberalism, for example miniskirts and long hair.

Kumuza Banda was deposed in 1993, and his successor Elson Bakili Muluzi served for two terms of five years (1994-2004). Muluzi tried to propose a constitutional amendment so that he could rule for a third term, but this attempt failed. Eventually, demonstrations forced Muluzi to step down, and Muluzi’s nominated successor Bingu wa Mutharika, won the presidential elections of 2004. The first term of Mutharika was quite successful in developing Malawi economically, nevertheless during the re-election for his second term in 2009 he faced a new challenge because of the growing political awareness of women activists groups (Rockefeller & Johnson-Freese, 2013). Mutharika reacted on this, and he appointed Joyce Banda as his running mate and as minister of foreign affairs in his cabinet.

Joyce Banda was popular under the people of Malawi because of her activism for women and children. According to Gilman (2017), Banda build on the image of ‘a mother’ concerned about the welfare of ‘all her children’ – all Malawians. Banda played a key role in Mutharika’s re-election but after the elections he saw that Banda’s growing popularity was a threat to his own position. Another problem that Mutharika faced besides Banda’s popularity, was that he was constitutionally obstructed to rule for a third period as president. He wanted to make sure that if he could not be president that power would remain in his family, so he wanted to install his brother. Mutharika knew that there was a chance that he would go to prison if he left office and a non-related person became president. While Banda said that she did not had an intention to become president, Mutharika did not believe her. He tried to set Joyce Banda apart and he even started a smear campaign against her where he also set up the state media against her. Besides this Mutharika used other strategies to isolate Banda. When Banda missed a National Governing Council Meeting he tried to use her absence as a reason so that she could be legislatively removed from her position. In addition, in August 2010 he tried to remove her from her position of Safe Motherhood Goodwill Ambassador at the African Union. Lastly, he banished Banda because she was advocating against the line of the party’s agenda. As a reaction Banda founded her own People’s Party in 2011. According to Moss Rockefeller & Johnson-Freese (2013, p.278): “The campaign against Banda created a culture of fear among female politicians in Malawi.”

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In April 2012, Bingu wa Mutharika died of an heart attack. According to the constitutional law of Malawi the vice president needs to take over the power when the incumbent president is no longer able to govern the country. The cabinet of Mutharika sought for an opportunity to block Banda from becoming president. However, Banda received support and protection from the civil society and the army when she became president. Joyce Banda was not democratically elected, but due to Malawi’s constitutional laws she became the first female president of Malawi and the second female president of the African continent. Joyce Banda gained much international support from western political leaders because they were hopeful that she would break with the authoritarian rule. Gabay (2014) notes that: “Meanwhile, Freedom House placed Malawi on an ‘upward trend arrow’ thanks to the peaceful transfer of power from Mutharika to Banda” (Gabay, 2014, p.375).

Joyce Banda had very little time to demonstrate how she could fulfill her role as female president. She only served for two years from April, 2012 till May 20, 2014. Banda was defeated in the presidential election of May 20, she received only 20.2% of the votes. The winner was Peter Mutharika, the younger brother of former president Bingu wa Matharika, he received 36.4% of the total votes. The other big running candidates were Lazuras Chakwere (27,8%) and Atupele Muluzi (13,7%) (Wikipedia, 2019).

6. Libera: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as female head of state

To investigate to what extent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been able to use her powerful position to improve the situation of women in society, I focus on the three structural barriers as laid out by Thomas and Adams (2010). First of all Structural Barriers: for this dimension I will look at several socio-economic indicators for instance, rates of girl education compared to men and boys, gender protection in the rule of law. Especially in Liberia, sexual violence laws are important because this was a big problem during the civil war, and it still is. Secondly, Institutional Barriers: I will investigate whether Sirleaf has introduced electoral changes to improve female participation in politics such. I investigate changes in the percentage of women in parliament and in cabinet. Thirdly, Cultural barriers: I will investigate whether perceptions of citizens in Liberia with regard to female leaders and the trust of the citizens in the president.

6.1. Structural barriers: socio-economic indicators

When Ellen Johnson started officially as president in 2006, Liberia faced enormous challenges. In that time Libera was one of the poorest countries of the world with a per capita income of just $100 (Scully, 2016). On top of that, the country had experienced a long civil war and

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economic and political misery. The transnational government of Liberia had developed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia (TRC) in 2005. The purpose of TRC was to promote national peace, provide security, documenting human rights abuses, focus on women and children and most importantly identify the root causes of the civil war and publish a written report to the government. This TRC also contributed to reducing structural barriers to women’s position in society.

According to Scully (2016), the Liberian TRC was important to raise awareness about the experience of sexual violence among women and children and was in line with some aims of Johnson Sirleaf’s new policy: assure education for women and children to protect them from sexual abuse. One of the first policies she wanted to change was to implement a law that prescribes sentences for rapists. She already started to develop this law before her campaign in 2005. The rape law was passed by the parliament and the farthest the legislature would go was a sentence of seven years. Besides that, she installed Criminal Court E, which deals especially with cases based on gender violence and the high numbers of rape among girls and women. With this court, Johnson Sirleaf wanted to give the message to her citizens that violence against women will be punished through legal procedures.

The banning of female genital mutilation (FGM) has proven more difficult, however, as noted by However, according to Pailey and Williams (2017). In 2016, there was a proposal for a new law to address domestic violence, which included FMG. In 2017, the House of Representatives passed the bill, but they had all references to FMG removed, because they could not prohibit the ‘cultural traditions’. Nonetheless in January 2018, one week before Sirleaf left the office as president, she signed Executive Order No. 92 banning female genital mutilation for girls under the age of 18, however this law is only temporary because the ban will laps expire if it is not included in the national legislation.

Sirleaf argued that sexual freedom and education are linked. She noted that when girls have access to education, the chance is less that girls get married at a young age and it would lower the level of teenage pregnancy. In 2011, Johnson Sirleaf implemented the Education Reform act which guarantees free education till the ninth grade.

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Table 1. Education

2006 2008 2009 2011 2014 2015 2016 Children out of school,

female (% of female primary school age)

64,7% 58,6% 61,4% 60,1% 62,8% 63,6% -

Children out of school, male (% of male primary school age)

64,9% 56,0% 58,2% 57,9% 60,8% 61,6% -

Share of youth not in education, employment or training, female (% of female youth population)

- - - - 22,8% 20,0% 16,7%

Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of male youth population)

- - - - 12,0% 9,6% 8,9%

Source: World Development Indicator

Table 1 shows percentages about education, the female population is compared with the male population. For the category ‘Children out of school’ male as well female the average percentage is from 2006 till 2016 around the 60%. This means that the percentage of primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in primary or secondary school, has almost not decreased during Sirleaf’s presidency and is still very high. The bigger category, ‘share of youth not in education, employment or training’ is for both genders lower than the average 60% not in education. This category is about is the proportion of young people who are not in education, employment, or training to the population of the corresponding age group: youth (ages 15 to 24); persons ages 15 to 29; or both age groups (World Development Bank). Nonetheless, this percentage is in 2016 much lower for men (8,9%) than for women (16,7%), but as compared to 2014 women appear to have made most advances.

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Table 2. Gender in the rule of law

2009 2013 2017

Mothers are guaranteed an equivalent position after maternity leave (1= yes; 0= no)

0 0 1

Nonpregnant and nonnursing women can do the same jobs as men (1=yes; 0=no)

1 1 1

Legislation exists on domestic violence (1=yes; 0=no) 0 0 0 Law mandates nondiscrimination based on gender

in hiring (1=yes; 0 = no)

0 0 1

Law mandates paid or unpaid maternity leave (1=yes; 0=no)

1 1 1

Law mandates equal remuneration for females and males for work of equal value (1=yes; 0=no)

0 0 1

Source: World Development Indicator

In table 2 there is an overview of laws in relation to gender. It is interesting to look at this, because if the legal system provides laws for gender equality than it positively impact the position of women in society. According to the data of the World Development Indicators, there are three legislative changes, all three are changed or adjusted in 2017. The first law is ‘mothers are guaranteed an equivalent position after maternity leave’, this means that employers of women returning from maternity leave are legally obligated to provide them with an equivalent position after maternity leave. The second law that is changed or adjusted mandates nondiscrimination based on gender in hiring. The law specifically prevents or penalizes gender-based discrimination in the hiring process. A law like this may prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of gender but be silent about whether job applicants are protected from discrimination. The last law mandates equal remuneration for females and males for work of equal value.

6.2. Institutional barriers: participation in politics

During the transitional government period from 2003 to 2005, women’s movements in Liberia have tried to implement a gender quota. This quota stated that: “each political party shall ensure that 30% of the candidates nominated for public elective offices by that political party shall be women” (Thomas and Adams, 2010, p.113). However, this quota was not enforced during the

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2005 legislation elections and women made only limited gains. Thomas & Adams (2010) show that Liberian women have not yet been able to increase women’s political representation in the legislature (12,5% in the lower house and 16,7% in the upper house) as in other African post conflict states such as Rwanda (48,8%), Mozambique (34,8%), South Africa (32,8%), Burundi (30,5%), Tanzania (30,4%) and Uganda (29,8%). According to the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (2019) , Liberia has a bicameral parliament with legislated quotas for the single/lower house. The electoral law is implemented in 2014 and says that a political party needs to make sure that the governing body and its list of candidates has no less than 30% of its members from each gender (The New Elections Law 2014, article 4.5: 1-b, 1-c). The world bank indicator: ‘proportion of seats held by women in national parliament (%)’ provides the following data:

Table 3. Proportion of seats held by women in Liberia in lower house / single chamber Year Proportion of seats

held by women in lower house or single chamber (%) Women in lower house / single chamber Total seats in lower house / single chamber 2004 5,3% - - 2005 12,5% - - 2006 12,5% - - 2007 12,5% - 2008 12,5% 8 64 2009 12,5% - - 2010 12,5% 8 64 2011 9,6% - - 2012 9,6% 7 73 2013 11,0% - - 2014 11,0% 8 73 2015 11,0% 8 73 2016 11,0% - - 2017 12,3% 9 73 2018 12,3% - -

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Table 3 shows that in 2004, only 5,3% of the national parliament seats were held by women. When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won the presidential elections in 2005, this percentage almost doubled to 12,5%. During her first term as president the 12,5% remains quite stable, with a small drop in 2011 with 9,6% of the seats. During her second term in 2012, 11% of the national parliament seats were held by women, this is a little bit lower than in her first term. The total number of seats in the lower house of Liberia is 73. In the end of Sirleaf’s presidency there are

only 9 women who have a seat, compared to the total number this is not a big number. Table 4. shows the proportion of seats held by women in the upper house. During Sirleaf’s

presidency this percentage drops from 16,7% in 2008 to 10% in 2017. So the proportion of seats held by women did not grow during her presidency, instead the percentage decreased.

Table 4. Proportion of seats held by women in Liberia in upper house / senate Year Proportion of seats

held by women in upper house / senate or (%) Women in upper house / senate Total seats in upper house / senate 2008 16,7% 5 30 2010 16,7% 5 30 2012 13,3% 4 30 2014 13,3% 4 30 2015 10,0% 3 30 2017 10,0% 3 30 2019 10,0% 3 30

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Table 5. Percentage of women in ministerial positions in Liberia Year Percentage of women

in ministerial positions (%)

Number of women Total ministers

2008 20,0% 4 20 2010 30,4% 7 23 2012 22,7% 5 22 2014 21,1% 4 19 2015 20,0% 4 20 2017 15,8% 3 19 2019 10,0% 3 30

Source: Inter-parliamentary Union

According to Adams and Scherperheel (2019) it is even more important to look at the number of women in cabinet, because the state power of many African states is in the executive branch instead of the national parliament. Table 5 gives the percentage of women in ministerial positions in Liberia. In 2019, when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is not president anymore, the number of women in a ministerial position dropped compared to the total number of ministers. During Sirleaf’s presidency the percentage of women in a ministerial position is the highest in 2010 (30,4%) and the lowest at the end of her presidency in 2017 (15,8%). According to these numbers, the position of women in the executive branch has not improved in Liberia, but the situation deteriorated.

Neajai & Williams (2017) argue that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has done too less or too late for women empowerment in politics. For instance there is a drop in the number of women elected to the national legislature. In 2005 there were 13 women elected and this decreased to 8 women elected to the national legislature. Furthermore in high position political appointments she also did not improve the political status of women. For example in 2009, during a by-election to replace a deceased female senator, female politicians petitioned Sirleaf to support a women in her party. Instead of supporting this women, Sirleaf started to campaign for a man. In 2010, the Liberian Women’s Legislative Caucus had proposed a Gender Equity in Politics act. The intention of this act was that at least 30% women had to fulfill the leadership of political parties. Sirleaf did not show support for this act and the act was also never ratified. Pailey and

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Harris (2017) note that: “A diluted version of the proposed act was incorporated into a 2014 elections law amendment that encourages political parties and coalitions to ‘endeavor’ to ensure that 30% or more of their governing body compositions and lists of candidates are women” (Pailey and Harris, p.330). Furthermore, in 2016 there was another attempt to install another act, namely the ‘Affirmative Action for Equitable Participation and Representation Act’. The aim of this act was that it would reserve five seats for women in special legislative constituencies. However, the act was almost immediately rejected by male legislators, because according to them the act was not in line with the constitution. After the rejection, Sirleaf showed little resistance. On top of that, Neajai & Williams (2017) also point out that Sirleaf is accused of nepotism, because she had given top positions in government to three of her sons.

6.3. Cultural barriers: perceptions of the citizens

Following Thomas and Adams (2010) for the cultural barriers, I investigate the perceptions of citizens in Liberia with regard to women and female leaders have become more positive over time by relying on the Afrobarometer.

Source: Afrobarometer R4, R5, R6, R7

Figure 1 shows the results of the following survey question of the Afrobarometer (Round 5, Round 6 and Round 7): men only as leasers vs. women leaders. Specifically, the citizens have to make a choose between statement 1: “Men make better political leaders than women, and

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

R5 (2011-2013) Agree that women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as

men

R7 (2016-2018) Agree that women should have the same chance of being elected to politicial office as

men

Figure 1 - the perception of Liberian citizens to male and

female political leaders (2011-2018)

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should be elected rather than women. Or statement 2: “Women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as men” (Afrobarometer). The percentage of: ‘agree that women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as men’ remains relatively high for the male respondents: R5: 76,8%, R6: 52,1%, R7: 56,8% as well as the female respondents: R5: 81,7%, R6: 60,4% and R7: 63,8%. However, over time, the percentage of both genders who agree with the statement ‘women should have the same chance of being elected as men’ decreased, from R5 to R6 almost with 20%. According to figure 1, the perception of Liberians with regard to women as female leader decreases during Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s presidency.

Source: Afrobarometer R4, R5, R6, R7.

In figure 2 the results of the perception if Liberians trust the president (yes) are shown. Till round 5, the percentage of both men and women is relatively high, around 60%, that they trust the president. From round 6, this percentages drops with almost 50%. During R6 the percentage of male respondents who trust the president is 28,8% and for female respondents this is 31,2%. So during Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s presidency there is a drop in the trust of the president in the period of 2014-2015, but in the end this percentage is increasing again. This could have affected the previously reported question. Indeed, the way a female political leader is perceived may have implications for women in general in a positive and a negative sense.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 R4 (2008-2009) Yes, I trust the president R5(2011-2013) Yes, I trust the president R6 (2014-2015) Yes, I trust the president R7 (2016-2018) Yes, I trust the president

Figure 2 - the perceptions of Liberians: do you trust the

president? (2008-2018)

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7. Malawi: Joyce Banda as female head of state To investigate to what extent Joyce Banda has been able to use her position as president to improve the situation of women in Malawi, I use almost the same structure as for the case of Liberia. With the barriers laid out by Thomas and Adams (2010) I start with the structural barriers, I focus on maternal health, literacy and women empowerment. For the institutional barriers I look at changes in the percentage of women in the lower camber and ministerial positions. Lastly, the cultural barriers: where focus on the perceptions of the citizens of Malawi in the way how they see female leaders and if they trust the president.

7.1 Structural barriers: socio-economic indicators

Moss Rockefeller and Johnson-Free (2013) laid out the economic situation of Malawi, before Joyce Banda became president. According to the UN 2009 Human Development Index Malawi ranked 171st out of 187 countries, and 74% of the population lives below the poverty line, they live on less than $1,25 per day. Moreover, “women represent 70% of the rural poor” (Mbilizi, 2013, p.1). This makes Malawi one of the poorest countries in the world. Lalthapersad-Pillay (2019) notes that Joyce Banda as a grassroots women’s activist understood that economic empowerment of women is essential for effective family planning. Maternal health is a big problem in Malawi and as soon as Banda entered office she made this a focus of her administration. She put a Presidential Initiative on Maternal Health and Save Motherhood, this initiative consist out of three pillars: “changing behavior and attitudes, building clinics and structuring maternal waiting homes in the rural areas so pregnant women would be close to medical care when it was time to deliver” (Lalthapersad-Pilay, 2019, p.5). The administration of Banda build 150 ‘maternal waiting homes’. Moreover, almost 1000 new community midwives had been trained by 2014. The job of the midwives was to guide the expecting mothers during their pregnancy and give them information about giving birth. During Banda’s presidency the initiative showed a reduction in the maternal mortality ratio from 675 deaths per 100.000 live births in 2012 to 460 deaths per 100.000 live births in 2014. Moreover, in her third month as president, she launched another presidential initiative on Poverty and Hunger Reduction. This initiative is a poverty alleviation program, that included especially rural women.

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Source: World Development Indicators

Figure 3 gives the results of the World Development Indicator literacy rate, it is about people who can both read and write. In general the literacy rate of male respondents is higher than female respondents, with almost 20%. In 2014, at the end of Banda’s presidency the literacy rate for females increased just with a small percentage. In 2010 the literacy rate for females was: 51,3% and in 2014: 55,1%. Source: Afrobarometer 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

2010 - Literacy rate (age 15 and above)

Figure 3 - Literacy rate in Malawi age 15 and above

male female 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

R4 (2008-2009) Very badly R4 (2008-2009) Very well R5 (2011-2013) Very badly R5 (2011-2013) Very well

Figure 4 - perception of Malawians: is your government

handeling women empowerment? (2008-2013)

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Figure 4 provides the perceptions of Malawians about how they look at how the government handles women empowerment. For both genders, the respondents answer that the situation according women empowerment is in general very well instead of very badly. When Joyce Banda becomes president in 2012, the percentage for the category very badly decreases. For male respondents this percentage was in R4: 20,7% and in R5: 11,5%. For female respondents this was in R4: 29,9% and in R5: 14,6%.

7.2. Institutional barriers: participation in politics

The Republic of Malawi has an unicameral parliament, but there are no legislative gender quotas implemented. The parliament uses voluntary party quotas. The United Democratic Front (UDF), aims to have 25% of its parliamentary seats held by women, according to their party constitution. The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) aims to have 33% of the seat to women of all levels of the party structure. According to the party constitution of MCP, the party ensures that women occupy 30% or more of all decision policy and managerial positions of the government (International IDEA Institute for democracy and electoral assistance, 2019). The world bank indicator: ‘proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) gives the following data:

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Table 6. Proportion of seats held by women in Malawi in lower house / single chamber

Year Proportion of seats

held by women in lower or single house (%) Women in lower house / single chamber Total seats in lower house / single chamber 2008 13,0% 25 193 2009 20,8% - - 2010 20,8% 40 192 2011 22,3% - - 2012 22,3% 43 193 2013 22,3% - - 2014 22,3% 43 193 2015 16,7% 32 192 2016 16,7% - - 2017 16,7% 32 192 2018 16,7% - - 2019 16,7% 32 192

Source: Afrobarometer and Inter-parliamentary Union

According to table 6, the proportion of seats held by women in the lower or single house reached the highest rate of 22,3% during Banda’s presidency from 2012 till 2014. In 2015 the percentage decreases to 16,7%.

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Table 7. Percentage of women in ministerial positions in Malawi Year Percentage of women

in ministerial positions (%)

Number of women Total ministers

2008 23,8% 5 21 2010 27,3% 6 22 2012 21,1% 4 19 2014 32,0% 8 25 2015 11,1% 2 18 2017 22,2% 4 18 2019 16,7% 3 18

Source: Inter-parliamentary Union

Table 7 provides the results of the percentage of women in ministerial positions in Malawi. According to Adams and Scherperheel (2019), the state power is centered in the cabinet and during Banda’s presidency the percentage of women who are in ministerial positions increased from 21,1% in 2012 to 32,0% in 2014. When Peter Mutharika becomes president in 2015 the percentage of women in ministerial positions fall down to 11,1%. In the lower house of Malawi as well as the ministerial positions, both categories have peaked during the presidency of Joyce Banda, and according to these tables, improved the political position of women in Malawi. However, Gilman (2017) notes that Banda, after her presidency left the country. Her own founded people’s party (PP) was in 2016 still dominated by male politicians. “Having had a women as the founder and top leader of the party had not increased opportunities for other women to serve at the higher echelons of the party” (Gilman, 2017, p.48).

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7.3. Cultural barriers: perceptions of the citizens

Figure 5 shows the results of the following survey question of the Afrobarometer (Round 5, Round 6 and Round 7): men only as leaders vs. women leaders. The presidency of Joyce Banda includes round 5 and round 6 (2012 to 2014). From round 5 till round 6 there is a decrease in the percentage of both male and female respondents who agree with the statement that women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as men. For male respondents this percentage is 78,7% in R5 and 61,2% in R6. For female respondents 76,8% in R5 and 60,4% in R6. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

men

Figure 5 - the perception of Malawian citizens to male and

female political leaders (2011-2018)

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Figure 6 shows the results of the perception if Malawians trust the president (yes). During Joyce Banda presidency (2012-2014), which includes round 5 and round 6, the percentage of people who trust the president decreases for almost 50%. For male respondents this percentage is R5: 59,8%, R6: 26,3% and for female respondents R5: 54,3% and R6: 31,6%. Since at 20 May 2014 Peter Mutharika becomes the new president of Malawi, it is hard to say if the trust for the president applies to Joyce Banda or Peter Mutharika during round 6. The same situation is applies to round 5, in 2012 Banda becomes president, but R5 also includes the year 2011, when Bingu wa Muthraki was president of Malawi.

8. Conclusion

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Joyce Banda of Malawi present two particular examples of female leaders in government decision making who held presidential responsibility and authority. Their profiles highlight both the different contexts and pathways taken in their countries to improve the position of women in African societies. Liberia, came from far and Sirleaf faced enormous challenges after the civil war period. However, she has created a period of peace and stability compared to her predecessors. Sirleaf especially handled the structural barriers very well, which include women’s positions within different social systems. Sirleaf

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 R4 (2008-2009) Yes, I trust the president R5 (2011-2013) Yes, I trust the president R6 (2014-2015) Yes, I trust the president R7 (2016-2018) Yes, I trust the president

Figure 6 - the perceptions of Malawians: do you trust the

president? (2008-2018)

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implemented the rape law and installed Criminal Court E, which deals with cases based on gender violence and rape to protect girls and women. Furthermore, in her last week as president, she implemented a law that banned female genital mutilation. However, the improvement of the political situation of women in Liberia was less successful during Sirleaf’s presidency. The proportion of seats held by women for the lower house as well as for the upper house did not grow during her presidency, but instead the percentage decreased. The decreasing situation also applies for the percentage of women in ministerial positions.

Joyce Banda had only two years to demonstrate how she could fulfill her role as female president. In line with the case of Liberia, Joyce Banda also made progress to tackle some of the structural barriers. Banda’s policy is most known for her commitment to reduce maternal mortality. The deeper aspect behind the reduce of the MMR represents the need to ensure gender equity and women’s rights. In her two years as president, Joyce Banda has reduced the MMR by 30%. In addition, she improved the political position of women in the lower house and also in the cabinet. However, her own founded People’s Party is still dominated by men.

It is hard to draw a conclusion for the improvement of the cultural barriers for both cases. In Libera as well as in Malawi, there is a decrease in the perception of citizens with the statement: ‘women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as men’ and for ‘trust the president’. However, it needs to be acknowledged that the change of cultural norms in a male dominated society is a slow progress and does not change immediately. Furthermore, the way a female political leader is perceived may have implications for women and men in general in a positive and a negative sense. Gender will remain an important factor in shaping the beliefs about politics and political leadership.

Yet, it would be a wrong assumption to suggest that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Joyce Banda achieved more as presidents because of being a woman. Their approaches to tackle down the structural barriers could be seen as women’s leadership qualities, because they fight especially for gender equality. This type of female leadership contributes to the transformation of male dominated societies, which start to improve the situation of the most vulnerable women. The institutional barriers and the cultural barriers were harder to change. Even though Sirleaf and Banda are in a high position of authority as president, they were not able to drastically change the political and cultural systems. The case of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Joyce Banda raises questions for future research on female leadership in Africa. The complex context of gender influences, needs more research to identify the specific political factors of female leadership. When this is identified, it will be easier to conclude about what it means for African women to have a female president.

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Appendix

Figure 1 – the perception of Liberian citizens to male and female political leaders Men only as leaders versus women leaders is ok (Figure 1)

Category Total Male Female

Agree very strongly with 1 (Men) 13,7% 15,8% 11,7%

Agree with 1 (Men) 6, 1% 6,4 % 5,8%

Agree with 2 (Women) 33,9% 31,9% 35,9%

Agree very strongly with 2 (Women)

45,4% 44,9% 45,9%

Agree with neither 0,6% 0,8% 0,4%

Don’t know 0,2% 0,1% 0,3%

(N) 1197 (100%) 594 (100%) 603 (100%)

Source: Afrobarometer R5 2011/2013 (Liberia)

Men only as leaders versus women leaders is ok (Figure 1)

Agree with 1 (Men) 14,1% 13,2% 15,0%

Agree with 2 (Women) 29,2% 29,3% 29,0%

27,1% 22,8% 31,4%

Agree with neither 0,5% 0,6% 0,4%

Don’t know 0,3% 0,1% 0,4%

(N) 1198 (100%) 599 (100%) 599 (100%)

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Men only as leaders versus women leaders is ok (Figure 1)

Agree with 1 (Men) 12,8% 11,8% 13,8%

Agree with 2 (Women) 16,2% 16,3% 16,2%

44,0% 40,5% 47,6%

Agree with neither 0,3% - 0,5%

Don’t know 0,1% - 0,1%

(N) 1198 (100%) 602 (100%) 596 (100%)

Figure 2 – the perception of Liberians: do you trust the president (2008-2018)

How much do you trust each of the following, or haven’t you heard enough about them to say? The president. (Figure 2)

Not at all 13,5% 12,7% 14,3%

Just a little 27,8% 25,4% 30,1%

Somewhat 13,8% 13,2% 14,4%

A lot 45,0% 48,8% 41,2%

(N) 1186 (100%) 595 (100%) 591 (100%)

Not at all 11,3% 11,0% 11,6%

Just a little 27,5% 26,9% 28,1%

Somewhat 13,6% 13,5% 13,6%

A lot 46,1% 47,7% 44,5%

Don’t know; haven’t heard enough 1,5% 0,8% 2,2%

(N) 1186 (100%) 595 (100%) 591 (100%)

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Not at all 31,5% 32,7% 30,3%

Just a little 37,5% 38,0% 37,0%

Somewhat 16,0% 16,9% 15,0%

A lot 14,1% 11,9% 16,2%

(N) 1199 (100%) 600 (100%) 599 (100%)

Not at all 13,2% 9,7% 16,6%

Just a little 31,9% 30,1% 33,8%

Somewhat 12,3% 12,9% 11,6%

A lot 42,2% 46,6% 37,8%

(N) 1200 (100%) 602 (100%) 598 (100%)

Figure 3 – Literacy rate in Malawi age 15 and above

2010 2014 2015 Literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above) 51,3% 55,1% 55,2% Literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) 72,1% 76,0% 69,8% Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) 61,3% 65,1% 62,1% Source: World Development Indicator

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Figure 4 – perception of Malawians: is your government handling women empowerment? How well or badly would you say the current government is handling the following matters, or haven’t heard enough to say? Empowering women. (Figure 4)

Very Badly 11,1% 7,8% 14,6%

Fairly Badly 14,1% 12,9% 15,3%

Fairly Well 37,9% 40,2%% 35,5%

Very Well 36,9% 39,1% 34,6%

(N) 1128 (100%) 576 (100%) 551 (100%)

Source: Afrobarometer R4 2008/2009 (Malawi)

How well or badly would you say the current government is handling the following matters, or haven’t heard enough to say? Empowering women. (Figure 4)

Very Badly 6,4% 4,8% 8,0%

Fairly Badly 6,7% 6,7% 6,6%

Fairly Well 30,4% 30,2% 30,5%

Very Well 41,4% 44,4% 38,3%

(N) 2404 (100%) 1197 (100%) 1207 (100%)

Source: Afrobarometer R5 2011/2013 (Malawi)

Figure 5 – the perception of Malawian citizens to male and female political leaders (2011-2018) Men only as leaders versus women leaders is ok (Figure 5)

Agree very strongly with 1 (Men) 15,0% 14,9% 15,1%

Agree with 1 (Men) 5,8% 5,5% 6,2%

Agree with 2 (Women) 11,4% 12,3% 10,6%

Agree very strongly with 2 (Women) 66,3% 66,4% 66,2%

Agree with neither 0,8% 0,9% 0,8%

Don’t know 0,5% 0,1% 1,0%

(N) 2407 (100%) 1197 (100%) 1210 (100%)