In The Gambia, women represent more than half of the population (50.5%) according to a 2013 Population and Housing Census by the Gambia Bureau of Statistics. Women also form the majority of registered voters by about 58%. Despite this, the political arena in the country is largely dominated by men. Women are also underrepresented in relevant positions within political parties and the civil service. For instance, out of the 16 registered political parties, none has a woman party leader. Most women are active in political parties as supporters, mobilizers, and voters – not decision-makers. Pull her down syndrome Despite winning the mayoral seat in Banjul, Rohey Malick Lowe still recalled the bullying, stereotypes and the “pull her down syndrome” she went through during her campaign for election to the mayoral seat. The “pull her down syndrome”, also referred to as the “PHD”, is a term that refers to the act of women bringing each other down. More generally, women castigate and mudsling other women who are striving for representation or success in a male dominated world, instead of standing by and supporting their fellow women. Lowe said the insults and harassment that were directed at her made her strong and strengthened her resolve to become the first female mayor of Banjul, Gambia’s capital city. Mayor Lowe was a successful businessperson before travelling to Swiss where she did her studies. These challenges and other major obstacles are what women face in their attempt at full political participation. According to studies, it is a complex issue as it can be traced back to a number of institutional, historical, socio-economic as well as cultural factors. Household responsibilities, low self-esteem, illiteracy, few role models and lower expectations were also found as the key reasons that stop women from participating in politics. Financial constraints But it is not only about the lack of support from fellow women that is militating against their political participation and chance at holding decision-making positions, a lack of finance is also a problem. In the 2018 local government election, Ndumbeh Sallah of the Gambia Democratic Congress contested against three men for the Sabiji ward councillorship seat under the Latrikunda Sabiji constituency. She lost after securing only 444 votes out of a total number of votes of 3307. “One of my biggest challenges during the campaign was financial constraints, a lack of a proper campaign team and mobilisation techniques,” she said. For that election, Sallah was all by herself, with no coaching or mentor to tell her what to do or not to do and how she could win the minds of voters. This needs to change, she said. "There should be enough advocacy for both women and men, to change the mentality of cultural and traditional beliefs about women because Gambian women are determined,” she said. “I think if we have proper advocacy, at least, we would have equal representation for women." For the fact that she was the only female contesting in the ward, she complained that she was also bullied and harassed by her male opponents as well as her fellow women during the process. “They were seeing me as someone who did not know what to do because for them they thought that women can’t hold a political position. I also received a lot of insults from them, especially on social media,” she recalled. Ndumbeh Sallah, Gambia Democratic Congress (Photo downloaded from Ndumbeh’s Facebook handle)Sallah was not the only female candidate who faced financial constraints, a sign that political parties are not financially supporting women candidates as they would for the men. Women must support women Fatou Janneh ran on a PDOIS ticket for the Kunkujang Keitaya ward in the Old Yundum constituency during the councillorship election. Janneh, who lost with 9.06% of the votes, said her party sponsored her, but the funds were ‘not enough’. But she is still determined to contest again. “When I lost, I just took it in good faith and know that there is always a chance and hope for continuity. It motivated me to stand firm in politics and ready to tackle the coming challenges and strategize ways to win the coming elections,” she said. However, Janneh said women must support their fellow women if they want to achieve equal representation and to hold places in decision-making processes.Fatou Janneh , PDOIS (Photo downloaded from Fatou’s Facebook handle) Despite women representing a larger percent of the electorates; their numerical strength has not, however, been reflected in the number of women in governance and leadership positions at both national and local levels. For twenty years, only three pro-women laws have been passed by the National Assembly- the Women’s Act of 2010, the Domestic Violence Act 2013, and the Sexual Offences Act 2013. Yet, women remain politically marginalised. Political parties exploit women Activist Tabu Njie-Sarr blames the low representation of women in the political arena on patriarchal society. “We live in a patriarchal society. Socio-cultural barriers do not encourage women to lead,” she said. Njie-Sarr, who is also the coordinator of the CSO Gender Platform, said that “violence or threats of violence often serve as obstacles to women’s political participation. Such violence takes a variety of forms including character defamation, harassment, insults, sexual violence, and assault.” She added that there is a need for proactive laws that will ensure women are well represented in decision-making processes. “Even in political parties, women are exploited because they’re only relegated to cooking, clapping and dancing and we see this as exploitation because by the time decisions are made these women are already tired [and would not even have a seat on the table],” she observed. She also called for affirmative actions through the National Assembly and political parties to ensure a 30% quota system for women representation. The Gambia has not introduced the quota system in meeting the 30 per cent target for women’s political participation and representation in the National Assembly and public positions respectively in line with the AU Solemn Declaration. This becomes more relevant in the political arena and decision-making at all levels, where women are not legally barred from participating effectively on an equal footing with men, but may not be able to do so due to cultural biases in favour of men, and stereotypical perception of the role of women - as noted in the 2012 study on Women’s Political Participation and Representation in The Gambia. In the 2017 elections for the National Assembly, 53 seats were up for grab, and all went to the men except three (3) for women. One was returned unopposed and three others were nominated. Female representation in the National Assembly is less than 11 % and falls far below the 50% and 30% recommended by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Inclusive decision-making processes The Gambia domesticated the CEDAW, which it ratified in 1993, into a Women’s Law in 2010, and ratified the Maputo Protocol (...on the Rights of Women in Africa). However, women have yet to fully realise the political rights provided by these instruments. At the cabinet level, there are only four women among 23 ministers. The challenge of inequality in politics does not stop there; it runs down to the local leadership level where women constitute only eight out of the 120 councillors in the country. Essa Njie, a political science lecturer at the University of The Gambia, said women’s participation is important in many ways because “it promotes inclusive decision-making processes.” He added participation in decision-making is also a form of empowering women. He said for there to be equal representation, the laws should be strengthened and provide the legal framework that would allow equal representation for women. This should start with the Constitution and the Women’s Act, which would lead to affirmative actions. “We need a quota system in the Constitution which would allow political parties to put certain percentages of women when it comes to decision-making processes like the parliamentary and local government elections,” Njie suggested.
The Gambia is seeing a significant rise in the number of new Covid-19 cases, though the number of covid-related deaths have significantly reduced. Experts have warned that the relaxed nature of observing covid-19 safety protocols before, during and after the presidential elections may are the factor behind the increase in the number of new infections. Massive political rallies were held across the country in November, ahead of the December 4 election, and thereafter, gatherings that are more public were held with little or no covid safety measures. According to health experts, the trend is expected to continue with massive political rallies expected ahead of the parliamentary elections in April this year. It could be recalled that when covid-19 was discovered in the country in March 2020, all public gatherings were suspended to prevent the spread of disease but it is not practised now. The national situational reports from 1 November 2021 to December 16 indicated that 11, 426 new tests were carried out, 80 new cases, 36 recoveries, and 2 deaths were recorded in the Gambia. As of 1 November, the Gambia registered 9, 973 total confirmed cases, 14 active cases, 9, 618 recoveries, 1 new death, and 341 total confirmed deaths. However, as of 31 December 2021, 206 new cases were registered as the fourth wave of covid infections kicked in. Since then, a record 952 new cases have been reported by the Ministry of Health between the 1st and 8th of January 2022. Following the first positive covid case on 17 March 2020, President Adama Barrow-led government suspended all public gatherings; temporarily closed educational institutions and houses of worship; reduced the normal capacity of commercial vehicles and reduced the operational hours of markets. However, at some point in 2020, most of the COVID-19 regulations such as the ban on public gatherings was lifted due to minimised cases; but later in 2021, the Gambia experienced a second wave of the deadly disease. Despite that, public gatherings such as political rallies continued to be held. Despite the low records, Health authorities expect another wave in January 2022. United Democratic Party rally in Bakoteh on December 2, 2021 (Photo: Kerr Fatou) In a Foroyaa newspaper report, the Director of Health Services at the Ministry of Health said on 30 November 2021, that the Gambia is expecting another wave of Covid-19 in January 2022. Gibril Gando Baldeh, senior risk communication and community engagement at health communication unit, Directorate of Health Promotion and Education officer at Ministry of Health (MOH) said the Gambia has just entered its fourth wave of the pandemic and the ministry is aware of the threat, as there is already a sharp rise in cases. “This January, we have seen a sharp rise in cases. Meaning, from three to two (cases) which we were used to reporting in the beginning of December 2021… but coming one month down, we have started seeing a rapid rise in cases and this is alarming,” he expressed. In fighting other covid-19 variants, he said there is still need to use the same strategies that were used before such as the social distancing, hand washing, wearing of face mask, amongst others, to prevent the spread of the virus. However, Baldeh further said: “If the new (fourth) wave is similar to the first wave where we had almost hundred deaths in one month, more than five thousand cases in three months, it would force us to go in to more strict measures and ensuring that anybody who goes against these regulations would be dealt with according to law.” He added that it is obligatory to wear a facemask and adhere to covid-19 measures. He urged everyone to adhere to COVID-19 safety measures and take the jab to prevent widespread the spread of the virus. In a recent publication by the Point newspaper, Omar Sey, former minister of Health of The Gambia said if preventive measures are not put in place in political rallies, more COVID-19 cases could be registered. He justified that overcrowding is one of the factors of spreading the virus among people. “We all know that one thing that spreads the disease is overcrowding because someone may have the virus without symptoms and the person would be shouting while droplets coming from his or her mouth. This is the danger we have because some people do not know their health status,” he said. The former health minister said political rallies cannot be stopped in a year of election, but there is a need for political leaders to work with public health officials at the grassroots to make sure COVID-19 safety precautions are adhered to at all political rallies. He said political leaders should have containers of water with hand sanitizers for supporters at entrances of all political rallies and encourage their supporters to wear face masks properly and regularly to avoid spreading the disease. “The most difficult thing is social distance but they have to be encouraged to distance and avoid hand shaking. That can help in containing the virus,” he advised. Red Cross volunteers stretching a covid-19 corpse for burial in The Gambia(Photo: The Chronicle, The Gambia) Mr. Sey, who was the health minister of The Gambia when Ebola knocked some West African countries, advised the ministry through public health officials to use risk communication, community engagement and involvement strategy in every region. “Let politicians work with public health officials at the regional level to put health measures in place,” he told The Point. He advised the public to adhere to the Ministry of Health and World Health Organization recommendations and to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, a young feminist leader Amanita Jaiteh said women can minimize physical activities and always wear face masks to protect themselves. She encouraged women to participate in online campaigns on digital platforms when they have the access. The young feminist added that for women and children to be protected during this time, there is a need to invest in personal protective equipment for the women and girls by the government. Red Cross volunteers stretching a covid-19 corpse for burial in The Gambia (Photo: The Chronicle, The Gambia) “Political parties can consider hosting rallies in smaller groups at different intervals...,” she suggested. Jaiteh urged the awareness of women and girls to be raised about the dangers of the covid-19 pandemic to stay alert.