African women’s political leadership

Abstract

In the years just before and after the onset of colonialism, women such as Yaa Asantewaa on the Gold Coast or those in the Women’s War of 1929 in neighboring Nigeria sought to stave off colonial rule and its dictates. During years of nationalist mobilization and liberation struggles, all the more so in instances of delayed independence, women played significant roles in the movements for political independence. But under the many single-party and military regimes of the early postcolonial years in Africa, women’s formal political leadership was largely precluded. With political transitions beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, often in the aftermath of war and conflict, women’s movement mobilization across the continent served to catapult women into positions of political power. This chapter focuses on women’s political leadership in Africa in the post-independence period, including women’s remarkable gains and accomplishments in parliaments and cabinets across the continent and inroads into judiciaries. In many respects, African women are leading the way in women’s global political leadership.