WHEN HENS BEGIN TO CROW: GENDER AND PARLIAMENTARY POLITICS IN UGANDA. Sylvia Tamale. Boulder: Westview Press, 1999. pp. 272. Cloth: $ 65.00.

The intriguing title of Sylvia Tamale's study, When Hens Begin To Crow, sets the pace for this rich and fascinating study of gender and politics in Uganda. "Wali owulide ensera ekokolima?" ["Have you ever heard a hen crow?"] as Tamale explains, was shouted at a woman candidate during the 1996 Ugandan general elections. "Female chickens do not normally crow. At least popular mythology claims that they cannot. Hence, in many African cultures, a crowing hen is considered an omen of bad tidings that must be expiated through the immediate slaughter of the offending bird…The message was clear: Women have no business standing for political office" (p. 1).

In spite of a historical tradition of political marginalization, women across Africa are increasingly taking their place in the public arena of politics. Whereas in western society, affirmative action for women is more commonly found in education and employment, in Africa positive acts to end historical and systemic discrimination against women have focused largely on constitutional provisions and legislative actions to ensure representation by women in national and/or local political bodies (1). Uganda provides excellent material for a case study on the (re-) emergence of African women's political voice. Uganda has had some notable successes: designated parliamentary seats for women from each of the districts (2) (1995 Constitution); a national machinery for gender (1988) (3) , and a National Gender Policy (1997); one-third women members in Local Council executives (Local Governments Act, 1997); and the first woman vice-president in Africa, Dr. Speciosa Wandire Kazibwe.

The significant contribution of women in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) bush war, the formation and activism of women's NGOs following the 1985 Nairobi UN Conference on Women, and the coalition of women, youth, and disabled delegates during the 1994 Constituent Assembly ensured that the affirmative action policies of the NRM of President Yoweri Museveni (1986) continued under the new constitution. Tamale's study focuses on the beneficiaries of affirmative action, documenting both the successes of and challenges to women parliamentarians in Uganda.

Culture remains the largest obstacle to equitable treatment of women, whether they are politicians or rural agriculturalists. As Tamale states, "… policies such as affirmative action provide the space for women's entry into politics and a potential for change. But the contradictions of implementing such policies under existing patriarchal structures … [means that]… hens may begin crowing but they will continue to lay and hatch from eggs (the old patriarchal order)" (p. 26). Female parliamentarians are subjected to sexual harassment from their colleagues, ridicule in parliamentary debates and the media, the burden of double and triple duty, and the reminder that for most of them their presence in parliament is tokenism.

Although elected as women members of parliament (MP), once in the House they are admonished that they do not represent women per se, but must represent both men and women. Yet they are only heard (and largely ignored) when they debate women's issues. A case in point is the recent passing of the Land Act (1998). MP Miria Matembe lobbied for and succeeded in passing an amendment to include provision for co-ownership by women of the matrimonial residence (a major accomplishment, as women customarily do not own or have rights to land). The Land Act was promulgated, but the amendment was omitted! Likewise, patriarchal opposition to the reform of the Domestic Relations Bill (largely in relation to polygamy) has stalled the passage of that bill through Parliament. In spite of the successes of women in Uganda, tradition dies hard.

Whether the presence of women in politics in Uganda is at the pleasure of the NRM or sustainable in the long run is still open to debate. It is interesting to note that Winnie Byanima (a participant in the bush war and MP in an open seat), although expelled from the Movement Secretariat for openly criticising the Movement on the issue of corruption, is still one of the most widely respected politicians in Uganda. Some have even suggested that she run for president in 2002.

Tamale uses qualitative methods: intensive interviews of 40 female and 15 male legislators (4) ; observation of parliamentary debates, committee meetings, and workshops specifically organized for women parliamentarians; interviews with leaders of prominent women's NGOs and grassroots rural women; and a constituency visit alongside Byanima. Tamale has also extensively mined documentary sources such as Hansard (colonial and post-colonial), Constituent Assembly proceedings, media reports and a wide range of secondary literature. Tamale scrutinizes her material in an analysis that is grounded in the "dialectical relationship between gender, class, ethnicity, religion, imperialism and neocolonialism [that] is especially pertinent for an analysis of gender relations in the African context" (p. 3). Both for newcomers and those who are gender specialists, her introduction and the interweaving in subsequent chapters of the themes developed provide a comprehensive overview in accessible language of gender issues, as well as thoughtful insights and new directions for political analysis on Africa and elsewhere. Those interested in African politics, women's movements, gender relations, or socio-political history will find that Tamale's work provides a wealth of information and analysis.

Endnotes

(1) Affirmative action constitutions or legislation in countries such as Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt, Algeria, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe have resulted in some instances of a greater percentage of women representatives than in many "first world" countries.

(2) Thirty-nine in 1995, increased to 46 with district reorganization. Women, of course, can and have been elected to Parliament in openly contested seats. There are also mandatory seats for Youth and Disabled under the Constitution.

(3) The National Resistance Council established the Ministry of Women in Development in 1988. This became the Ministry of Women in Development, Youth and Culture in 1995 and is currently the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

(4) Interviewees were selected to ensure balance "through geographical region, political inclination, socioeconomic background, age, religion and political experience" (p. 206).

Rosemarie M. McNairn
Department of Womens and Gender Studies
Makerere University, Uganda