Lessons from Uganda’s first female vice-president

After four excruciating years of President Donald Trump, the 3 November election is for many a chance to reset expectations of what being presidential should be.

Given that Trump has consistently attacked sexual and reproductive rights, both in the US and around the world, the election is particularly significant for defenders of women’s human rights.

It is also interesting for women political candidates, who have typically had a hard time getting ahead in US politics. Most prominently, Kamala Harris is running as the vice-presidential nominee for the Democrats, four years after Hillary

Clinton’s unsuccessful presidential bid. As a woman of colour, she represents two marginalised groups.

But even if the Democrats are elected, it is far too early to celebrate.

Women have often been used to consolidate power in authoritarian regimes.

Uganda appointed its first female vice-president in 1994. Dr Specioza Wandira Kazibwe was a surgeon who served till 2003.

A woman on the ticket appealed to voters who were slowly embracing women’s rights in public life. President Yoweri Museveni managed to capture the zeitgeist, and gained accolades and deals from various powers that he used to consolidate and retain power. He is now in his 35th year in office.

So US voters should remember that getting a historic first isn’t enough. A single marginalised voice in a position of power doesn’t necessarily shift power towards those groups.

Even so, inspirational appointments broaden political imaginations. Should the Democrats win, it will take work and vigilance to make Harris’s appointment count.

When we celebrated Kazibwe’s appointment in 1994, we had no idea that the country would stagnate on women’s rights for decades to come. The moment counts only when there’s continued pressure on the powers that be to deliver real change.