By Prof. Ruth Meena
General observations:
- Women candidates are glaringly invisible on front page news coverage. This is a powerful message to the electorate with regards to the positioning of women in political spaces
- Women concerns as expressed in various campaign messages: All the presidential candidates have not explicitly expressed their positions with regards to women’s specific issues or gender related commitments. The 11 priority areas of Ukawa candidate do not include any women focused issues. Similarly, the CCM presidential candidate did not raise any gender related or women specific issue. Even though they both request women to vote for them since they believe they are going to bring some changes in the current situation.
- The womenspecific issues are deemed to be subsumed in the social services agendas which all candidates seem to be addressing. Invariably all candidates are making some commitments toward improving health, education, water and roads. And for the UKAWA candidate, poverty is the number one enemy. the fact that poverty in this country has both a rural and a woman’s face is not captured as a campaign message. The language used by the presidential candidates is gender neutral. The presidential candidates who dominated news coverage in the two days of this report were those from CCM and UKAWA.
- The only candidate who has expressed women specific issues in this week’s campaign is the running mate of the CCM candidate. In her recent campaigns she affirmed that she was going to support the principle of 50/50, and that if her party wins, she is going to transform the position of VP from a symbolic position to a more substantive position with special mandates paying special attention to women specific issues such as the 50/50, women’s maternal health and measures to reduce infant mortality rates. She made it clear that if her party wins she was not going to be a symbolic Vice president and that she considers her position as strategic for pushing through women’s agenda (Nipashe Oct 5th 2015 pg. 15)
- Very few female candidates were covered in the two days’ media observation. The profile of Hon Janister Mhagama was well captured in Habari Leo, which emulates her as a role model of women leadership. Despite her various leadership positions in the government she had been able to be in touch with her constituency and supported economic empowerment activities for women and men. An ACT Wazalendo candidate committed to prioritize advocacy for girl child on issues of early marriage priorities.
- Two female candidates on a special seats ticket were given a chance to spell out their agenda during a rally of CCM’s presidential candidate. They both pleaded voters to vote for their presidential and parliamentary candidates since this was the only ticket to their appointment to the parliament!
1.Use of Language:
In one of his rallies, the CCM presidential candidate used spitefullanguage indirectly questioning the health fitness of the Ukawa candidate. He warns voters not to choose a defected car (gari bovu) which implies a sick person as the health status of the UKAWA candidate has been a target for campaign. Interestingly there was no retaliatory messages from the other candidate.
2.Use of current state power to solicit votes:
In a live broadcast the CCM presidential candidate promised the Moshi residents that he was going to offer them tarmac road if they choose him and further claimed that since he was still a minister responsible for transport he had powers to divert funds from this year’s budget to immediately start the work. To my opinion this was abuse of his power.
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