Feature African Women


As guerilla fighters and much more, women played a pivotal role in the anti-colonial liberation struggles which shook Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. Women were promised emancipation during the struggle, but although Africa now has an elected female president in Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, the promises of post-independence gender equality have largely failed to materialise, reports Santorri Chamley.


Broken promises


in Mozambique, ZANU and ZAPU in Zimbabwe, SWAPO in Namibia, and the PAIGC in Cape Verde are just six of the na- tionalist movements in Africa under whose patriotic banner thousands of women played their part in the independence war effort. They experienced the same hardships and dangers as their male compatriots. Women not only took on dangerous


W


tasks as armed combatants, they also per- formed important duties in the background. Tis included producing food for the rebel soldiers and nursing them back to health when they were wounded in action. Women also bore the brunt of the sexual violence unleashed by both warring parties. In Kenya, hundreds of mostly Kikuyu


women were recruited into the Land Free- dom Army (LFA), popularly known as the Mau Mau, formed by patriotic militants, including Dedan Kimathi after the arrest of Jomo Kenyatta and other nationalist leaders. In Guinea Bissau, a young woman called Titina Silla was among the most notable female freedom fighters in the pro- tracted struggle for independence against Portugal (1962-1974). In a gutsy attempt to stop the Portuguese from trampling on the most basic human rights of her fellow Guineans, Silla joined the armed strug- gle initiated by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). She was 30 years old when she


86 | June 2011 New African


OMEN PLAYED A PIVOTAL role in the liberation strug- gles in Africa. The African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, FRELIMO


was killed in an ambush while travelling to the funeral of her more famous compatriot and co-founder of PAIGC, Amilcar Cabral. In South Africa, a surprising march by


20,000 women to the Union Buildings in the capital Pretoria on 9 August 1956 represented one of the high points of a se- ries of women-led campaigns against the apartheid regime. One of the participants was Ellen Ngezi,


a nurse living with her young family in Port Elizabeth. She joined the Black People’s Convention (BPC), and the Black Commu- nity Programme (BCP) in which the activ- ist Steve Biko was involved. Her husband, Patrick, a key player in the anti-apartheid movement, was imprisoned with Biko. After Biko’s death, Ellen, who is current-


ly a staff nurse in London, volunteered with Black Sash, a non-violent, predominantly white women’s resistance organisation, on her days off. Founded in 1955 by Jean Sin- clair, its members wore striking black sashes as a mark of mourning and protest against the succession of unjust apartheid laws. Tey demonstrated against Pass Laws and the arbitrary arrest and harrasment of non- whites, especially black men undergoing detention without trial. “When the men were detained, women


had to hold the fort and become bread- winners,” says Ellen Ngezi. “Even when our men were released, the regime made sure they would never be employed again. When my husband Patrick was released from prison after Steve Biko’s death, I had to support him and our young family.” From Algeria to Zimbabwe, Ellen and


millions of other African women were as- sured that independence would bring new and just societies, free from exploitation and discrimination. A hit parade of infectious popular songs and powerful liberation war recruitment posters attest to these promises. But although Africa now has an elected fe- male president in Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, the promises of post-independence gender equality have largely failed to ma- terialise. According to a report by the United


Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), many African governments are failing to protect the rights of women and advance gender equality, especially in key social, economic and political sectors. Te African Women’s Report: Measuring Gender Inequality in Africa: Experiences and Lessons from the African Gender and Development Index says many African governments will miss their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to promote gender equality by 2015. Largely using data from national min-


istries in 12 African countries, including Ethiopia and South Africa, the report says women are still facing an uphill struggle when it comes to political participation,


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100