Women’s quota as a strategy for women’s empowerment in politics: a review of the zimbabwean parliamentary systems.

The purpose of the research article is to examine the effectiveness of the women’s quota proportional representation and participation of men and women in the Parliament of Zimbabwe. Women’s quota is a policy stance used to reserve parliamentary seats for women in order to observe equitable gender balance in parliament. It is not peculiar to Zimbabwe alone but is practised in many political settings throughout the world. The study was carried out using a qualitative research methodology approach for the intention of having in-depth interviews of both female and male parliamentarians as well as key informants. This was complimented by the researcher’s observation of one live parliament session. The study was guided by the Intersectionality Theory augmenting the findings which established that women parliamentarians appointed through the quota experience some exclusion including from the Community Development Fund. They equally are exposed to mockery during debates and other gender insensitive behaviours. Therefore, the study concludes that Zimbabwe’s parliamentary quota system has indeed increased the presence of women in politics but recommends that the selection criteria of beneficiaries be standardised. It is further suggested that the quota beneficiaries should serve a stipulated term to make way for others’ empowerment.