SILENCES IN WOMEN DISCOURSE

Pat, thanks for mindblowing ideas and they enrich my brain greatly.

African culture stereotype a woman at a larger extent compared to western world.This is our culture. When two men greet each other one would say, 'watoto hawajambo'? meaning including a wife.In Europe & America a man would inquire, how is your other half? this is a big damned different.

In Africa handful women see the limelight of higher education compared to men .
What an african woman seek as she climbs education ladder is to step in the world controlled by men. Men controls the universe. According to latest Forbes magazine, out of 1011 global billionares, only 89 are women and among those 89 only 14 obtained wealth out of their own, while the rest inherited.

Women that ascend to elite class are transformed into a world controlled by men, and in fact they become men minus biological nature. These tiny number drive big and fancy cars,build gated mansions,designate their offices in high street, shoulder to shoulder with biological men seat in the executive boardrooms, and sleep in five star hotels. Yet as you indicated their problem differs extensively with their mates in Kashozi, Kishimundu or Tandahimba. Do they walk miles to fetch water? No, Do they struggle to send their kids to school? No, Are they beaten by men, categorically Nope. In fact we call these women sugar mammies, we live with them and they offer us 'heineken' in exchange for romance.

Then what follows is that a struggle for women self-empowerment becomes top-to-down exercise. Women belonging to elite group such as Mama Salma Kikwete, Mama Ananilea Nkya and Mama Anna Mkapa simply starts petty pressure groups ( NGOs) cosmettically suggesting to create 'fursa sawa kwa wote'.As described by Issa Shivji in his fine book, Silences in NGO discourse, The role and future of NGOs in Africa; you can not fight injustices and inequality by becoming a stakeholder.Powerful women sit down with the devil and discuss the pright of vulnerable folks in the village, this is unrealistic and demeaning.

Shivji argues that these elite group should be a watchdog and not part of the hegemony. Their cause( shuga mammies) should be that of pressure groups not mates in coktail parties at Movenpick. They should not be part of policymakers but criticizers, radicals. We ( wanaharakati) are expecting these tiny number of powerful women to go to the length of walking naked in protest of the injustices and inequality issues such as right to education, right to maternial health, killing of albino etc etc.These women occupying mostly special seat( God knows how they got those seats in the first place, perhaps after being mistress) in our parliament should stand up and say NO to big rise of their salaries and instead fight for the good pay of teachers.

One example to illustrate numbness and laziness of these elite group. I was expecting the likes of Mama Mkapa, Getrude Mongela, or Ananilea Nkya to protest outside American Embassy when Washington performed airstrikes to Baghdad. Does this mean they believed deep in their heart that America was right? What about the fate of the poor kids and mothers in Iraq? We know that these women oppose unjust war. Why SILENCE? This is simply because most of these women NGO's are funded by international organisations such as USAID, ( the very American dog).

Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of The Earth strongly and categorically throws punches to the elite class writing that this group is unprepared,lacks practical link between them and mass of the people, they are lazy and cowardice at the decisive moment of the struggle. Few years as America was clearing a mess created by a war in Iraq , elite women were rejoicing as Mr Bush was giving some 'makombo' ($750m) to fight malaria in Tanzania. Prof. Mwesiga Balegu, A university don from University of Dar Es Salaam while interviwed by BBC said that this amount is only a drop in the sea as compared to the cost of maintaining war in Iraq.

Once officiating the World' Women day in Tabora last week, President of Tanzania Jakaya Kikwete urged women to seek higher political posts saying 'wanaweza kuwa viongozi wa juu wakitaka'. He went on to say that very soon he will increase a number of women in high court department. As indicated earlier on, these fewer women are awaiting to turn into a world controlled by men and sustain the status quo.

Until the struggle ascends from the bottom; everthing will turn into tragic mishap.

I am out.(florian)