Opinion
Analysis
Gender
inequality in health politics
Earlier in the week, CCBRT Disability Hospital opened a ward specifically to
care for women suffering from VVF, Vesico-Vagina Fistula.
A problem causing, apart from discomfort, embarrassment since a hole between the
bladder and the vagina causes the woman to leak urine constantly, it is
important that women are offered the necessary treatment. In a statement, CCBRT
writes: “She feels dirty, she smells bad, she is unable to take part in normal
social life, at home, within the community or at work”.
Disabilities, diseases and symptoms that only affect women have for long been
neglected by society. It is not only a problem confined to Tanzania or Africa
but a global phenomenon.
There is no secret that health risks affecting women have been neglected.
Certain issues are not talked about and as a result, funding for research is
more difficult to get for example.
This state of affairs is not so strange or peculiar if one takes into account
that we live in a society where power is structured in a way that favours men
and discriminates women. Men are seen as more capable of being in charge and
therefore have more say and influence in issues and decision making.
Whether direct or indirect, the decisions that are taken are more favourable to
men. Issues that concerns women are therefore more unlikely to get heard.
Looking at the country’s health politics through a feminist perspective is very
illuminating if one is to understand why there is big news when a ward caring
for a disability that only affects women opens.
In similar vein, one can look at the way the HIV/AIDS issue is tackled. The fact
that the virus is spread through rape within marriages is not talked about in
society and little if any support is given to women who are offers for marital
rape. The reason is that it is the woman who is the victim and not the man.
Many health issues concerning women are taboo to talk about. Take for instance
female genital mutilation. Despite numerous campaigns, there is still a lot of
secrecy surrounding the practise.
Having a woman Minister for Health is obviously not enough to cater for gender
equality in health policies. There remains a lot to be done if we are to reach a
balanced approach to health issues.
We cannot
afford performance to go down
The National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA) last week released the
Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations (ACSEE) results.
This time around there was no leakages at all of the exam papers. This is indeed
good news for NECTA which recently has been marred with scandalous leakages
leading to the resignation of a top official. We have a reason to congratulate
them for keeping a vigilant eye.
We sincerely hope that the examination leakages which happened in the past are a
lesson learnt. Examination leakages and cheating are blows to academic
excellence; therefore it is the duty of every Tanzanian to condemn and assist in
preventing such problems.
From the ACSEE examination results we are told that the quality of performance
has slightly dropped compared to last year. It is widely thought that the reason
for this is the changes in curricula, forcing students to adapt to changes.
However this remains to be preliminary speculations.
Zanzibar schools recorded the worst performance compared to other schools. The
decline in quality of performance from 92.21 to 77.97 per cent signals weakness.
Something must be done to avert possible consequences that the students may
experience in the future.
Tanzania today suffers a lot from labour unemployment. Preference is first given
to skilled and educated people. It is very disappointing to see secondary school
students, whose future is still unknown, fail their examinations in big numbers.
Those who pass their ACSEE examinations and apply to higher learning
institutions in the country have to be accepted. This is a big challenge for the
government through the Ministry of Education and Culture.
We remain hopeful that any eventual problems can be overcome so that more
schools perform better.
Experience shows that good performance is often confined to Christian seminar
schools and some government schools. Other schools should learn from the
experience of those that perform well.
Autonomy of NEC is
crucial
By Evarist Kagaruki
A fortnight ago, the Registrar of Political Parties, John Tendwa
directed the ruling party, CCM, to stop the exercise of introducing its Union
and Zanzibar presidential candidates in the forthcoming general elections,
saying the move amounted to premature campaigning. He clarified, however, that
it was okay if the candidates were introduced during internal party meetings,
and not at public rallies. Apparently, the directive did not go down well with
the party authorities.
CCM Publicity Secretary, who is also Minister for Home Affairs, Ramadhani Mapuri
made a rebuttal. He issued a terse statement in which he told the Registrar to
shut up and mind his own business, that is, registering political parties. Such
response was indeed intimidating.
Mapuri said that what his party was doing was “right” and purely its internal
affair and Tendwa had nothing to do with it. He pointed out that the Registrar
had overstepped his mandate, as the responsibility over election matters lay
with the National Electoral Commission (NEC). He insisted that CCM would stick
to its time-table and introduce the presidential candidates country-wide, and
that no one (implying that not even the NEC?) would stop them. This kind of
reaction was not well received by the general public and was open to different
interpretations.
NEC, for its part, issued a clarification on the issue. It cautioned all
political parties to abide by the election law and refrain from premature
campaigns. It stated also that it was wrong for public institutions to conduct
themselves in a manner that tends to favour one political party against the
others. The message was loud and clear.
It is not my intention to delve into the functions of NEC and the Registrar of
Political Parties, but suffice it to say that, although the latter does not have
the powers to censure a political party for any electoral misconduct, he has got
the right to speak up and express his concerns whenever it is observed that a
certain political party is behaving contrary to the election law. After all, the
Registrar’s functions are not limited to registering and (if need be)
de-registering political parties; they go far beyond that. He oversees the
conduct of the political parties on a day-to-day basis, and this includes the
election period.
Perhaps the mistake of Tendwa was that he publicly censured CCM over what most
people saw as the party’s premature campaigning, even if the basic intention was
to introduce its presidential candidates to the party faithful. One could say –
and rightly so – that the office of the Registrar usurped the powers of the NEC,
which, everybody agrees, was wrong.
But why, some people may also ask, did the NEC not say anything until Tendwa’s
candid observation and reproof of the ruling party had become a matter of
controversy? Wasn’t the Commission supposed to take action immediately after CUF
had started introducing its Union and Zanzibar presidential candidates at public
rallies? These two pertinent questions, of course, expose Tendwa’s second
mistake: saying to CCM what he didn’t say to CUF on the same issue of “premature
campaigning”. This sounded like “double standards”!
Having said that, it is important to stress that the NEC is an autonomous and
neutral body with the mandate to oversee the elections in the country. This
entails ensuring there is a level playing field among all the political parties
taking part in the elections, and seeing to it that these elections are
transparent, free and fair. In fulfilling this responsibility, the electoral
commission should be more vigilant and prompt in addressing situations which
might indicate that a political party is going astray (violating the election
law) during the electoral process. That, in my view, is how the Commission,
which is made up of eminent persons, would continue to win the confidence and
trust of the Tanzanian electorate.