Where are women in Chadema’s top leadership?

By Victoria Lihiru

The recent election for the chairperson and vice-chairpersons within Chadema, the main opposition party in Mainland Tanzania, concluded on January 22, 2025.

During this election, members of the General Assembly faced a choice between Freeman Mbowe, the party leader for 21 years, who promised stability, continuity, and reconciliation, and Tundu Lissu, the party's vice-chair for five years, whose campaign focused on radical leadership, transformation and the redistribution of party resources.

The election, marked by intense and antagonistic campaigns, raised critical questions about the continued absence of women in Chadema’s top six leadership positions.

Tundu Lissu won the election by a narrow margin of 31 votes, with an open vote count observed by members of the General Assembly, invited guests, media, and online followers.

The election results saw two men—John Heche and Said Mzee Said—appointed as deputy party chairpersons for Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, respectively.

Yet, despite high expectations for gender inclusivity, the results underscored a key issue: Chadema’s leadership remains overwhelmingly male-dominated, a trend that has persisted since the party’s formation in 1992.

As an external invited speaker at Chadema’s 2024 Women’s Day celebration, I raised the issue of women in leadership  ithin the party, stressing the need for inclusion at the top levels.

A promise was made that the 2024/2025 internal elections would address this imbalance.

However, the results from the concluded elections reaffirmed the gender disparity, with nowomen elected or nominated to any of the top six positions.

Internal sources indicate that, despite significant encouragement, women were hesitant to run for chairperson and vice-chairperson roles due to the competitive nature of the positions, limited resources, and fear of incumbent candidates, among other factors.

After the election of both a male chairperson and vice-chairperson, hopes for female representation at the top of the party shifted to the newly elected chairperson.

Also read: The importance of having women in leadership roles

Constitutionally, the chairperson has the authority to nominate the Party Secretary and two Deputy Party Secretaries—one for Mainland Tanzania and one for Zanzibar.

However, the list of nominees presented to the governing council for endorsement included only men: John Mnyika as General Secretary, Amani Kolubwa as Deputy General Secretary for Mainland Tanzania, and Ali Ibrahim Juma as Deputy General Secretary for Zanzibar. This effectively closed the door on the potential of having a female among

Chadema’s six top leadership positions.

This male-dominated leadership structure is not unique to Chadema; other Tanzanian political parties, also face challenges with gender representation in top leadership roles.

However, the issue appears particularly pronounced within Chadema. While ACT has two women among its seven top national leaders, and CCM and CUF each have one, Chadema continues to lag behind with no women in its top national leadership positions.

The party’s constitution, while emphasizing democratic values, equality, non-discrimination, and human rights, has a limited approach to women's inclusion.

The constitution establishes wings for women, youth, and elders, with the assumption that women’s issues will be adequately addressed within the women’s wing, Baraza la Wanawake wa Chadema (BAWACHA).

Chadema’s 2019 constitution emphasizes the need for representation from both Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar in key leadership positions, such as vice-national chairpersons and general secretaries.

While some seats are reserved for women within the central committee,women’s representation in Chadema's national decision-making bodies—including the General

Assembly, Governing Council, and National Secretariat—remains disproportionately low.

Whilethe data for this election is yet to be out, after the 2019 internal elections, women made up only

10% of the General Assembly, 8.6% of the members of the Governing Council, 15.6% of the

Central Committee, and 10% of the National Secretariat.

As the new chairperson is set to implement reforms within the party, including introducing leadership term limits for party leaders and for women holding special seats, it is essential that

Chadema also adopts voluntary gender quotas for national leadership positions and decision-making roles at all levels.

The general secretary and two deputy secretaries—are nominated by the chairperson, presenting an opportunity for such reform.

Chadema’s constitution can be amended to guide the chairperson-elect in ensuring that women and young people are nominated in these positions.

Also read: Women leaders urge others to embrace political ambitions

Looking at political party frameworks from other African nations provides insight into how voluntary gender quotas can be implemented.

Kenya’s Jubilee Party mandates that no gender can comprise more than two-thirds of party organs.

In Liberia, the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) requires 40% women in leadership positions.

In Benin, party offices must consist of at least 30% youth and 30% women.

Malawi’s MCP has committed to allocating 33% of seats to women at all levels of the party structure. 

These models demonstrate that voluntary gender quotas, if adopted and effectively implemented, can be a powerful tool in achieving more inclusive leadership structures.

Chadema should also include a commitment to women’s political representation in its 2025 election manifesto.

Unlike ACT and CCM, which included specific provisions regarding women’s political representation in their 2020 manifestos,

Chadema’s 2020 manifesto was silent on this issue.

In addition to adopting voluntary quotas, the issue of low representation of women in political party structures is further compounded by national laws that fail to mandate gender quotas.

While the Political Parties Act of 2019 requires parties to embrace gender and social inclusion principles in electing leaders, it does not set specific numerical targets for gender representation.

Moreover, there are no provisions in the Act for rewarding or penalizing parties for their adherence to these principles.

As a result, the decision of whether to include women in leadership positions remains entirely at the discretion of political parties.

Other countries, have passed laws that require political parties to meet specific gender representation thresholds for leadership roles.

Kenya's law, for instance, mandates that no more than two-thirds of a party’s leadership can be of the same gender.

Ultimately, the underrepresentation of women in political leadership is a systemic issue that requires structural, legislative, and mindset-shifting solutions.

Until national laws on political parties include mandatory gender representation quotas and strong incentives for compliance, and until political parties like Chadema adopt and implement voluntary quotas, the goal of achieving meaningful women’s representation in Tanzanian political parties leadership structures will remain elusive.

Victoria Melkisedeck Lihiru is an Inclusive Governance Consultant and a Senior Lecturer of Law, at the Faculty of Law, of the Open University of Tanzania. She is reachable through [email protected]. Views are her own.