Women make up 52 percent of Uganda’s population however the same dominance is not felt in political representation; however a slight improvement is reported.
According to the Women’s Democracy Network in Uganda released a report saying there has been an improvement of women’s participation in the 2016 general elections. Women nominated to contest for parliamentary seats increasing from 23 against 609 men in 2011 to 83 women against 1223 men in 2016.
Out of the seven candidates vying for the Presidential seat there is only one woman.
Women in politics get negative attitude from the public and experience a big challenge in accessing funds for campaigning. According to the Women’s Democracy Network, Maureen Kyalya, the only female candidate delayed her campaigns for 3 weeks due to lack of funds.
Maureen Kyalya, recently returned from the United Kingdom after failing to win woman MP seat in 2011 in Jinja. The 41 year old, was given a government position, coordinating the National Poverty Alleviation Programme before leaving for the UK. Maureen a lawyer by profession, is the daughter of the late Kanobe Kyalya, a former Democratic Party stalwart and mayor of Jinja municipality in the 1980s. Her mother, Irene Wekiya once represented Jinja in Parliament and is currently Uganda’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.
