The government has blamed Botswana’s first-past-the-post electoral system for the country’s persistently low representation of women in Parliament.
The admission is contained in Botswana’s National Report on the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) submitted to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
According to the report, women occupied only 8.7 percent of seats in the National Assembly following the 2024 general elections. The report says only three of the six women sitting in the National Assembly were elected during the 2024 elections, while the other three were specially appointed.
The government says Botswana currently has no legislative quotas requiring political parties to ensure a minimum level of female representation in the National Assembly, although some political parties have adopted voluntary quotas.
The government also links the poor representation partly to the electoral system.
‘The low representation of women may be attributed to Botswana’s first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system,’ the report states.
It says the system has been criticised for limitations in promoting popular representation, inclusiveness and consensus-building, which it identifies as key indicators of a robust democracy. The government consequently recommends that Botswana critically consider electoral reforms, arguing that the current system has failed to deliver equal representation for women, youth, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
‘Noting that the employed electoral system of First Past the Post has not yielded the desired results of equal representation for Women, Youth, Persons with Disabilities and other Vulnerable populations; there is need to critically consider electoral reforms that reflect Batswana’s core values of inclusion,’ the report says.
It further calls for attention to power relations arising from the patriarchal structure of Botswana society. The report says electoral reform should be people-driven and reflect the interests of citizens, arguing that greater fairness and inclusivity would strengthen the rule of law, participatory democracy, transparency and accountability.
Botswana’s poor political representation of women is also reflected at local government level. Following the 2024 elections, women held 116 of 762 council seats, representing approximately 15 percent of elected local government positions.
The report contrasts Botswana’s performance with the 2024 Global Gender Gap Index, which ranked Botswana 125th, with a score of 0.088 on the political empowerment measure cited in the report.
Mozambique, meanwhile, was ranked the highest African country at eighth globally, with a score of 0.542, while Iceland ranked first globally with 0.972 points.
Despite the political representation gap, the report points to significant progress in women’s representation in senior public-sector positions.
In 2024, women accounted for 40 percent of Permanent Secretaries, 48 percent of Directors and 64 percent of Magistrates. Botswana also recorded several firsts, including its first female President of the Court of Appeal, first female Permanent Secretary to the President, who was deputised by a woman, and its first female Commissioner of Police.
Within the judiciary, women accounted for 19 percent of judges and 69 percent of magistrates in 2022, according to the report.
Women’s representation on the Independent Electoral Commission has also increased substantially. Women now account for 50 percent of electoral commissioners, or three of the six commissioners, compared with one of seven, or 14.3 percent, in 2011.
The government says it continues to work with civil society and other stakeholders to build the capacity of women seeking political office.
For the 2024/2025 financial year, US$3.46 million was allocated for political party funding to strengthen democratic principles. However, the report acknowledges that the funding was not gender-disaggregated, meaning it was not specifically tracked according to its benefit to women and men.
The report suggests that while women have made significant advances in professional and public-sector leadership, their presence in elected political institutions remains considerably lower.