Occasional Paper

Women Participation in Party Politics during the Multiparty Era in Africa: The case of Tanzania

“In this report, an attempt has been made to provide recommendations for addressing the existing gender imbalances other than affirmative action and the institution of quota systems. In fact, there are several direct measures that could be implemented to deal with the qualitative aspects. These include reviewing the design of the electoral systems within political parties to make them more gender sensitive. For instance, one of the requirements to qualify for the presidency is the payment of 1.000.00 shillings. This constitutes an almost insurmountable obstacle to most women due to their low economic status. Likewise, there is need to mainstream gender in the party process and procedures used for nominating candidates to both parliamentary and presidential positions.”