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Trócaire goes behind the scenes at Sierra Leone’s House of Parliament to meet the inspiring women behind the new Gender Equality Women’s Empowerment Act
Veronica Sesay, SLPP MP and Chair of the Women’s Caucus in Sierra Leone’s Parliament with the GEWE ACT 2023. Ms Sesay was instrumental in the passing of the Act. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
“The first time we brought the gender bill to our male colleagues in parliament, they immediately said no. They said they will throw it out,” Veronica Sesay, an SLPP Member of Parliament (MP) says from her office in the House of Parliament in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
“In Parliament, there are 146 MPs, and only 19 of us are women. We knew how important a gender equality act would be to the women of Sierra Leone so we had to keep trying.”
In November 2022, the GEWE Act was passed, stating that 30 percent of candidates for elected positions “shall” be women and 30 percent of presidential appointees “may” be women. Currently, just 13 percent of politicians in parliament are women. Local and national elections are to be held in Sierra Leone in June 2023.
The Act also improved women’s access to finance, extended maternity leave, introduced equal pay and stipulated a 30 percent female quota of staff in private companies with more than 25 employees.
The Act has been hailed by campaigners as “monumental” for the women of Sierra Leone who are routinely discriminated against and at risk of gender-based violence. Sierra Leone was ranked 182nd out of 189 countries on the UN’s 2020 Gender Development Index. One in 20 Sierra Leonean women will die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth, according to the UN.
With funding from Irish Aid, Trócaire and partners (Campaign for Good Governance, Association for the Wellbeing of Rural Communities and Development, Women’s Forum for Human Rights and Democracy, Social Enterprise Development, Network Movement for Justice and Development) have been campaigning for the passing of the GEWE Act for the past four years and have worked closely with the MPs to draft the law.
The organisations also trained women to become empowered and know their political rights and developed an election manifesto to support women who are running for election.
Haja Yapate Sankoh, Salamatu Baba Kamara, Onita Mariatu Koroma and Zainab Mariama Fofaneh from the Port Loko District in Sierra Leone are running for councillor positions in the June 2023 local elections. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
“Getting the bill passed as a law was very challenging. Male MPs had an issue with the wording ‘safe seats for women’ and the extension of maternity leave so we had to change a lot of words,” Sesay says.
“There was political will for change and President Julius Maada Bio was on our side. We decided our best tactic was not to challenge the men, but cajole them. We changed words in the bill and went back to them. I cooked food and invited them to my office. They came and ate the food, drank my water, and then I started to lobby them and sensitise them to the bill asking them not to forget its importance. It is very easy to persuade men, there are so many ways,” Sesay says.
Emilia Lolloh Tongi, the first woman in Sierra Leone to stand as an independent MP in the 2018 general election, was also instrumental in drafting the GEWE Act. She agrees with Sesay that their best plan was to work with the men, not against.
Emilia Lolloh Tongi, became the first woman in Sierra Leone to stand as an independent MP in the 2018 general election. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
“The men weren’t going to accept safe seats for women because they weren’t going to give up their seats. They have an ego that they should always be in parliament. We pampered them, we talked to them and we convinced them in time that they will also benefit from having more empowered wives and daughters.”
Catherine Zainab Tarawally, an opposition APC MP and Chairperson of the Gender Committee in parliament, who worked on the GEWE Act, says she is often faced with sexism and intimidation in parliament.
Catherine Zainab Tarawally, an opposition APC MP in the Sierra Leone Parliament. Tarawally was a vital player in the GEWE Act 2023. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
“At the start, the male MPs didn’t respect me. When I would speak up and challenge the men, they would say I was being rude. In time they saw my abilities and saw that I was very capable and intelligent. They then began to respect me as a leader. The GEWE Act will change things for women in politics,” Tarawally says.
Sesay, who is also Chair of the Women’s Caucus in Sierra Leone’s Parliament, and fondly known as “mama of the house” says that investing in women is the best way to develop a country.
“We are the teachers, the caregivers, the nurturers. Women are innately more peaceful and less corrupt than men. We’ve never seen a woman lead a country into war. There will be a female president of Sierra Leone very soon.”
Salamatu Osmatu Koroma, Mary Tarawalie, Alimatu H Kamara, Marion Fola Musu Kamara, Momunatu Fousad Kamara who are running for election in June 2023 in Western Area Rural, Sierra Leone. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
“It is time,” Tongi adds. “We are no longer going to beg to lead in Sierra Leone. The law is now in black and white and we will make sure we are heard.”
“The results of the general election in June will be interesting. Let’s wait and see what happens. But it will be historic that’s for sure.”
Tarawally thanked the people of Ireland who helped fund the GEWE Act through Trócaire and Irish Aid.
“The Irish taxpayers’ money brought the women and supportive men together to achieve this law. It is because of the generosity of the Irish people that women in Sierra Leone will succeed in politics and have a voice in the future of our country.”
