Hundreds of women eye political posts; one the presidency

Hundreds of women in Tanzania are running for seats in parliament as well as local authorities, and one of them has her eyes on the presidency in the 30 October general elections. Last week Anna Claudia Senkoro, 43, became the first Tanzanian woman to collect presidential nomination forms from the National Electoral Commission (NEC). "We are waiting for her to complete the process and on August 20, we will formally announce names of those contesting," Rajab Kiravu, the director of NEC, said. Some political commentators and activists have hailed Senkoro, who is a medical nurse by training, for her decision; although many have given her little chance of success on the ticket of the small and virtually unknown Progress Party of Tanzania. "This is a very good development in the country's political history," Ichikaeli Maro, chairwoman of the Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA), said. Maro is a seasoned gender activist of TAMWA, one of several NGOs that have been campaigning vigorously for women to turn out in large numbers to contest various positions in the October polls. The chairman of the opposition United Democratic Party, John Cheyo, supports Senkoro's decision, saying it has showed the level of increased political maturity in Tanzania. "We need more women to participate in politics," he added. So far, 13 of the 18 registered political parties, among them the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM - Revolutionary Party), have collected presidential candidate forms. Hundreds are running for seats in parliament and for positions in local authorities. Two other women politicians are also in the race as running mates. They are Zanzibari veteran opposition politician Naila Jiddawi, who is on the ticket of the National Council for Construction and Reform, and Rukia Omar Kiota, also a Zanzibari, on the ticket of Tanzania Labour Party. PRESIDENTIAL RUNNING MATE Under Tanzania's election laws a presidential candidate must name a running mate, who automatically becomes the vice-president if the party's candidate wins. The vice-president automatically becomes president for the remaining term should the president die. Kiravu said there were 232 parliamentary constituencies and 2,554 wards in Tanzania but only the ruling CMM had announced a contestant for all constituencies and wards. "We hope to perform very well this year," Omari Mapuri, the CCM publicity secretary, said on Tuesday. Some 30 women attempted to run for parliamentary seats in the constituencies under the CCM ticket, which started the screening process last week through a system of preferential opinion polls. Latest results show that at least eight women are leading the race in various constituencies. About 400 women are also running under the CCM ticket for 30 percent of the seats that are reserved for women in parliament. The screening of parliamentary candidates also started last week. Mapuri said on Tuesday that the screening was now going on at district level and that later in August the CCM National Executive Committee would decide who would represent the party in the elections. Mapuri also said the committee would assess each candidate's academic competence, party loyalty, leadership qualities, and records for graft.