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Introduction to the Special Issue: Women, Leadership, and Peace in Africa
(African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review,, 2017) Cheeseman, Nic; Onditi, Francis; D'Alessandro, Cristina
Are women empowered enough to make peace in Africa? Despite over two decades of multiparty politics, the answer appears to be “no,” if we start by looking at the formal political realm. In general, women remain marginalized within African political systems. To date, there have only been three female presidents (i.e., not including “acting” presidents) on the continent since the reintroduction of multiparty politics in the early 1990s: Ellen Sirleaf Johnson in Liberia, Joyce Banda in Malawi, and Bibi Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim in Mauritius. Of these three, only two—Sirleaf Johnson and Gurib-Fakim—secured their position by winning an election (Joyce Banda assumed power after Bingu wa Mutharika died in office and lost the next general election). In many countries, the picture at the legislative level is similarly bleak. In 2015, there were many countries in Africa in which women made up less than 10% of members of parliament. For example, that year only 5.6% of the Nigerian legislature was female (Tripp forthcoming).