Taking Over the Boys’ Club, but Not Free of Patriarchy

In 2025, Namibia became the third African country to achieve a gender-balanced cabinet and the first in which women hold the positions of both president and vice-president. Namibia swore in its first woman President, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, in March 2025. She is the second African woman to be directly elected as president, after Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 

On taking office, Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, swore in Lucia Witbooi as her vice-president – also a first for the country. Her 14-member cabinet included  eight women, 57.1 per cent of the total, compared to 42.9 per cent in the previous government.  

Rwanda was the first country to have more than half its Parliament comprising women. Women’s representation in the country’s Chamber of Deputies increased from 61.3 per cent in 2018 to 63.8 per cent in 2024. According to the Constitution, at least 30 per cent of lawmakers in the lower house must be women, but they have managed to double that.

There are proven positive outcomes of women’s representation in Parliament. In Rwanda, estimated access to healthcare grew from 31% in 2003 to 95% in 2010, while  over 82% of women had access to health insurance coverage in 2020. The maternal mortality ratio fell from 1160 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 248 in 2017, and to 149 in 2025. 

Women in top positions of political power are assumed to have positive effects for society, but this is not always a given. For example, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a brutal Emergency in India in the 1970s and cracked down on a variety of freedoms.

Since coming to power, Nandi-Ndaitwah has initiated reforms to increase the number of women in government but has adopted a strict stance against abortion, which is banned in Namibia except in exceptional circumstances. Gay marriage is also illegal.

In Tanzania, less than six months after Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in as its first woman president in 2021, the country’s most famous cartoonist, Gado depicted her in a military general’s uniform under the title “Dictatoress.” Hassan, who was vice-president, took over as president in 2021 after the sudden death of the incumbent John Magufuli who was known for his policies of repression and censorship. Hassan had signalled she would ease these tendencies as president. She was also praised for steering the country during the COVID-19 pandemic and introducing the doctrine of 4R– reconciliation, resilience, rebuilding and reform. However, hopes were swiftly grounded with arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of critics. In 2025, Hassan returned as President following a landslide victory in a disputed election that prompted deadly protests across the country. The elections turned violent and two main opposition challengers were barred from running. International observers expressed concern over the lack of transparency and widespread turmoil that reportedly left hundreds of people dead and injured. Election observers from southern African regional body SADC, of which Tanzania is a member, said that in most areas, “voters could not express their democratic will.” Rights groups, including Amnesty International, cited a pattern of enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings in Tanzania ahead of the polls.

Liberian politician Ellen John Sirleaf was Africa’s first democratically elected head of state, becoming President in 2005. Although she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for “her non-violent efforts to promote peace and her struggle for women’s rights,” her record  has been mixed. Sirleaf implemented one of the most comprehensive anti-rape laws in Africa and established a fast-track court to deal with gender-based violence. She is also known for her handling of the Ebola epidemic. However, she has been called out for failing to promote enough women in politics and not stopping female genital mutilation. She has also faced allegations of nepotism and corruption.

Women are certainly needed in politics as heads of states, as Prime Ministers, Cabinet ministers and more, but they are obviously not removed from the pulls and pressures of politics. Despite improvement in their representation in Africa, the odds continue to be stacked against women aspiring to political leadership.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025 states that ministerial and parliamentary representation has improved in sub-Saharan Africa. Women held 40.2 percent of ministerial roles and 37.7 percent of parliamentary seats, up from under 20% in both categories in 2006. However, there is wide disparity in the 36 economies surveyed as a part of the region with women in ministerial positions constituting  45.5% in Ethiopia and just 8% in Mauritius. Rwanda was the only economy in the region to achieve full parliamentary parity, with South Africa (81%) and Cape Verde (80%) close behind.

In many countries, women are still not contesting the top positions but have to settle for second best. A range of factors, including the threat of physical and online violence, and deep patriarchal mores, hold them back. 

The decision by political parties in Malawi to field female running mates in the Presidential election has generated debate about the implications for gender inclusion. While some view this as a step in the right direction, critics say that women are yet to be presidential candidates and have only been chosen as running mates, which places them in a subordinate position. Joyca Banda has been an exception. She became Malawi’s first woman president in 2012, stepping up from vice president after the death of president Bingu wa Mutharika. However, Banda had to leave the country after losing the 2014 presidential election and facing scrutiny over a corruption scandal. She returned to Malawi after four years in exile. Banda was the only female presidential candidate in Malawi who contested the 2025 elections which she lost. 

To be clear, women in political power should not be subjected to gendered expectations of virtue and goodness, no more or less than men. Notwithstanding this, more women in policymaking has shown to help advance legislation on crucial issues, such as health, education, childcare and infrastructure. This also serves as an inspiration for girls to pursue higher education and career opportunities. Ultimately, the case for women’s representation is a matter of justice and equity.

Urvashi Sarkar is an independent journalist. 

Edited by Shalini Umachandran