Women have proved they're better leaders

Team leader asking employee about report [Courtesy]

Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture and society.

Since 1987, it has been observed annually in the month of March. It is with no small measure of irony that Kenyan women become the focus of attention this month, albeit, in negative ways.

Two women were murdered. One, just before she testified in a corruption case after unearthing audit anomalies in her course of work. The other, killed after a date that went South and not before she had been horrendously tortured!

Even more shocking than these heinous crimes is society’s callous indifference. Where one would have expected outrage over the murder of a civil servant, there has been tacit resignation, as if to suggest that it is not an uncommon fate for hard-working public officers of high ethical and moral probity.

And in the worst form of confirmation bias, some on social media have suggested that the second victim got her just desserts for dating a relative stranger. They have cast aspersions on her character and dressing as if it is a crime punishable by death to be outgoing.

Yet when one considers societies that nurture their women, those that elevate them to their rightful place beside men, they realise a correlation with stable, progressive countries. For instance, during the first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, countries led by women had significantly better outcomes.

This is because they showed greater prescience, locking down earlier and suffering half as many deaths on average as those led by men. The analysis of 194 countries, published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the World Economic Forum, suggests the difference is real and “may be explained by the proactive and coordinated policy responses” adopted by female leaders.

What makes women better global leaders? Supriya Garikipati, a developmental economist at Liverpool University says, “women leaders react more quickly and decisively in the face of potential fatalities” and that “though they are more willing to take risks in the domain of the economy, they are risk averse with regard to lives”. A simpler explanation is that women are not afraid to roll up their sleeves to get to work.

Consider the case of Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania. As an NGO leader, before she joined politics, she made several road trips from Tanzania to Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. This was because, rather than take a plane trip, which she was entitled to, she chose to lead by example, travelling in the same buses as her delegation that could not afford costly plane tickets.

Or consider the example of Sheila Keino, Malawi Country Director of African Fertiliser and Agribusiness Partnership. More often than not, she will be found in the countryside donning gumboots and overalls in the place of heels and business suits, as she demonstrates practically how fertiliser should be distributed and used.

These examples demonstrate that what women need is not gratuitous positions on the lower end of the totem pole. Rather, they need a fair chance at the same opportunities available to men. And that when opportunity opens doors to women, their hard work and grit propel them to the head of the room.

Toxic masculinity

It debunks the myth that women at the top only get there by cunning and extending sexual favours to earn their place at the table. It certainly dispels the misogynist view that sexually objectifies women and partly responsible for the violence meted on them.

African society can do a lot to aid the ascension of women to leadership. It can start by rebuffing the toxic masculinity that defends the perpetuators of violence against women. Such behaviour should be so stigmatised as to become instinctively abhorrent to would-be offenders. There can be no tolerance of violence or safe spaces literally and figuratively for abusers.

Second, women should see affirmative action as a means to an end, not an end in itself. Suluhu joined politics on the strength of special parliamentary seats for women. She used this as a stepping-stone to a wider constituency office, fighting alongside male competitors. She is now president of Tanzania. Keino has this month been recognised as one of “Women in leadership, achieving an equal future in a Covid-19 world.” She deserves the merit!

 Mr Khafafa is a Public Policy Analyst