Women in Politics - Women of Rubies

In Career Gems January 14, 2020 By Editor

CARDI B: I THINK I WANT TO BE A POLITICIAN

Female rapper Cardi B is desiring to become a politician. She has made several statements about her passion to be in the Congress, making decisions about how good she will be good at it.

“I love government. I’m obsessed with presidents. I’m obsessed to know how the system works.” According to an earlier interview she had.

“I think I want to be a politician, I really love government even tho I don’t agree with government How are you trying to go against a country and possibly start a war when this country lacks patriotism? I barely see people claiming they love been American.

She happens to be a regular critic of Donald Trump, and she condemned the U.S strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, and then, threatened to move to Nigeria.

“I do feel like if I go back to school and focus up I can be part of Congress. I deadass have sooo much ideas that make sense.I just need a couple of years of school and I can shake the table.”

Some of her fans even praised her opinion on social media. One said, “No need to go back to school if you don’t want to, you can learn plenty from folks already fighting in movements, and read up on your own or with others. You’ll be great,” said a twitter user.

In Career Gems August 19, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

RWANDA; THE MODEL AFRICAN COUNTRY WHERE WOMEN ARE IN THE MAJORITY OF THE PARLIAMENT

On the occasion of International Women’s Day (IWD) celebrated this March 8 around the world, several voices are rising to claim better places for women. In most countries, it is difficult to find a parity. But in Africa, there is one exception: Rwanda.

With more than 61% of women in the Chamber of Deputies, the country is at the top of the world rankings. A country that remains a model in several fields.

But in the case of women’s representation in the Assembly, it is a reference case. While they already had a respectable place in some key institutions, women saw their numbers increase in recent elections in 2013.

Of the 80 seats in the Rwandan Parliament, 51 are occupied by women. Since 2008, Rwanda has been at the top of the IPU (Interparliamentary Union) world ranking of women in national parliaments.

An important place reserved for women which is the fruit of several initiatives taken for decades. After the 1994 genocide that killed 800,000 people, several laws that have been adopted, go in favor of parity.

For illustration, the new Constitution adopted in 2003 establishes as a fundamental principle the equality between men and women with “the attribution of at least 30% of the posts to the women in the decision-making institutions of the State”.

Since then, the electoral system has been respected to the letter with 24 seats reserved for women. These are chosen, in theory, on non-partisan bases, by colleges and councils at the local and national levels.

Despite prejudices, it must be recognized that it was the Rwandan women themselves who had to struggle to win.

In Editor's Choice April 28, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

MOVITA JOHNSON-HARRELL MAKES HISTORY AS FIRST MUSLIM WOMAN TO BE ELECTED AS STATE REPRESENTATIVE IN PENNSYLVANIA

Democrat Movita Johnson-Harrell made history by becoming the first Muslim woman to be elected as a state representative in Pennsylvania, reports Philly Mag.

Serving as a former interim supervisor of Victim Services for Philadelphia’s District Attorney’s Office, Johnson-Harrell won 66 percent of the votes in a special election Tuesday night for the 190^th District seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Her platform focused on several key issues including socioeconomic opportunity, education reform and gun violence prevention, which is an issue she was personally impacted by when she lost her son to gun violence a few years ago. That tragedy led her to create a nonprofit organization in her son’s name called the CHARLES Foundation, which pushes for more gun violence prevention in local Philadelphia communities.

n January, when she announced her bid to run, the West Philly native told Philly Mag, “I’m running because I care about my community – I don’t need a job. Many people enter politics looking for a career, money, power, fame – I’ll be personally taking a $20,000 pay cut if I become the next state representative.”

After coming away with the victory Tuesday night, Johnson-Harrell wrote on Facebook that she is “honored to be the first Muslim woman elected to the Pennsylvania legislature.”

“We ran a race of integrity and class even with the slander and politics,” she added. “This win is bittersweet. My seat rests on the grave of my son Charles Johnson. I will fight to protect our communities and tackle this multilayered problem.”

With her win, Johnson-Harrell will replace former Rep. Vanessa Lowery-Brown, who won the seat this past November but resigned following her conviction on bribery and other charges. In her race, Johnson-Harrell defeated community advocate Amen Brown, activist and clergywoman Pamela K. Williams and Republican candidate Michael Harvey.

In Career Gems February 9, 2019 By Editor

82 WOMEN ARE CONTESTING FOR VARIOUS POLITICAL POSITIONS IN KWARA STATE

Eighty-two women are contesting for various elective posts in Kwara in the forthcoming polls.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Administrative Secretary in Kwara, Mr Martins Boris Chiroma said this on Friday in Ilorin.

He spoke at a Town Hall meeting with Women Groups and Gender Focus Civil Society Organisations.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the town hall meeting was organised by International Women Communication Center (IWCC) in collaboration with INEC.

According to the Administrative Secretary, a total of 528 candidates are jostling for 34 positions in the state.

He said out of 35 candidates contesting for the governorship post, only two are women, and out of the 57 Senatorial candidates, seven are female.

On the House of Representatives list, out of 83 candidates, only 10 are female, he said.

Chiroma said out of 353 House of Assembly candidates, only 63 are female.

The Administrative Secretary expressed concern over the low level of participation of women in politics in the state.

With this statistics, you will all agree with me that our womenfolk will have to buckle up, Chiroma said.

According to him, the town hall was to give an up-date of the Commissions state of preparedness towards the 2019 elections and the need for women to actively participate.

It is important at this juncture to re-assure this august gathering and through you to the generality of Kwarans that the Commission is set to conduct free and credible elections, the Administrative Secretary said.

Chiroma told the women that a total of 1,130, 266 PVCs have been collected by their owners, remaining 277, 134 to be collected.

The Executive Director, IWCC, Dr Limota Goroso Giwa, in her paper: Women participation and the 2019 General Election: Rationale and Challenges said the challenge of women in the state is fear of unknown.

The challenge we have in Kwara State towards this 2019 general election is the fear of unknown.

We are also afraid of thuggery, hooliganism, vote buying, vote apathy, insecurity of life and property and inability to vote for political candidates of your choice, Goroso said.

She appealed to women as mothers and wives to advice their children and husbands against any act of thuggery and violence during the elections.

Goroso added that IWCC was committed to peaceful elections in the country.

We recognise the fact that violence against women during elections is a threat to the integrity of the electoral process.

It can affect womens participation as voters and as candidates seeking for elective positions, the IWCC boss said.

Another resource person, Hajia Salmat-Iyabode Muhammad appealed to women to vote according to their conscience.

Presenting her paper titled:Issues and priorities for the 2019 General Elections, Muhammad said women should vote for candidates of their choice without intimidation.

Muhammad, a lawyer and chairperson of Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA), also advised women to look at the manifesto of political parties to know the best party to vote for.

She also advised women to look at the antecedent of candidates before voting for them.

Credit: Pulse News

In Career Gems January 10, 2019 By Editor

MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, KHADIJAH IBRAHIM RESIGNS TO RUN FOR HOUSE OF REPS SEAT

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khadijah Ibrahim has tendered her letter of resignation.

Punch reports that the minister intends to run for the House of Representatives seat of the Damaturu/Tarmuwa/Gujba/Gulani Federal Constituency in Yobe State.

The minister who is married to Senator and former Yobe State Governor Bukar Abba-Ibrahim had in 2018 run in the primaries and defeated her son-in-law Mohammed Bukar-Ibrahim.

Credit: Bella Naija

In Career Gems January 3, 2019 By Editor

SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN DECLARES HER INTENTION TO RUN FOR PRESIDENCY AGAINST DONALD TRUMP IN 2020

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat representing Massachusetts has announced that she has established a presidential campaign exploratory committee to kick off her plan to run for office come 2020.

“In our country, if you work hard and play by the rules, you ought to be able to take care of yourself and the people you love,” the Democratic senator from Massachusetts says at the start of the new, 4 1/2 video.

“No matter where you live in America or no matter where your family came from in the world, you deserve a path to opportunity,” Warren continues in the new political video. “That’s the America I am fighting for, and that is why today I am launching an exploratory committee for president.”

A former Harvard law professor and champion of consumer protection, Warren has long been on the shortlist of potential 2020 Democratic candidates. Her fundraising prowess and popularity in progressive circles has left many in Washington referring to her as one of a few early front-runners as well, though more than two dozen other Democrats are also rumoured to be considering presidential runs.

Warren’s staff told ABC News the senator will be filing the paperwork for her exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission Monday and revamping her political and campaign website.

There is only a passing reference to President Donald Trump and his administration in Warren’s new video. Pictures of past and current White House advisers play over Warren’s voice saying, “The whole same is propped up by an echo chamber of fear and hate designed to distract and divide us. If we organize together, if we fight together, if we persist together, we can win,” Warren ends the video, making a subtle reference to a moment on the Senate floor in 2017 that went viral.

Credit: LIB

In Career Gems December 26, 2018 By Editor

2019 ELECTION: 112 WOMEN TO CONTEST STATE ASSEMBLY SEAT IN OYO STATE

No fewer than 112 women are among the candidates to contest the 32 seats in the Oyo State House of Assembly election come 2019, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Investigation conducted by NAN in Ibadan on Monday revealed that 511 males will join their female contestants from various respective political parties to contest the state Assembly seats.

A total of 49 political parties fielded candidates for the assembly seats.

Mr Mutiu Agboke, the Resident Electoral Commissioner(REC) in the state, told NAN that the final list of the candidates for the State Assembly and governorship election would be published on Jan 31,2019.

”This is in line with Section 34 of the Electoral Activities 2010 (as amended),“he said.

Agboke urged all the candidates and leaders of the respective political parties to prevail on their party members/supporters to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

He disclosed that the State had 2,954,720 registered voters, ”but 927,225 PVCs uncollected are still in the custody of INEC.

”The commission has just received another batch of 103,737 PVCs for voters that sought transfer, replacement of lost and defaced PVCs.”

He urged those concerned to visit INEC offices where they registered for collection but stressed that there would be no collection of PVCs by proxy.

The REC promised not to leave any stone unturned in improving the electoral proceedings for a successful polls in 2019.

Credit: Pulse News

In Interviews&profile December 3, 2018 By Editor

PROFILE| MEET SALOME ZURABISHVILI, THE FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA

66-year-old Salome Zurabishvili has emerged as the first female President of Georgia.

Ms Zurabishvili was born in Paris in the year 1952 after her parents fled Georgia in 1921 to escape the Bolshevik regime.

She attended some of the most prestigious French schools, such as Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), and began a master’s program at Columbia University in New York in the academic year of 1972–1973.

Career

Zurabishvili abandoned her studies and joined the French foreign service in 1974, becoming a career diplomat with jobs in Rome, the United Nations, Brussels, Washington, etc. The first time Zurabishvili visited Georgia was in 1986 during a break from her job at the French Embassy in Washington.

In 2003, she was posted to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, as ambassador. The following year, President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia nominated her as Minister of Foreign Affairs making her the first female to be appointed to this post in Georgia.

Political career

In November 2005 Zurabishvili set up the organization Salome Zurabishvili’s Movement. In January 2006 she announced the establishment of a new political party Georgia’s Way, criticizing the country’s “de facto one-party system.”

On 12 November 2010, Zurabishvili announced her withdrawal from the leadership of Georgia’s Way. She was succeeded by Kakha Seturidze.

After a two-year leave from politics, she publicly endorsed Georgian Dream ahead of the 2013 presidential elections. Shortly after, Georgia’s Central Election Commission refused to register her as a presidential candidate due to her dual Georgian-French citizenship.

In August 2018, Zurabishvili announced that she would participate in Georgian presidential elections. Zurabishvili won the 2nd round of the 2018 Georgian presidential election, becoming President elect. She will be inaugurated as the first female President of Georgia on 16 December 2018.

Personal life

Salome Zurabishvili was married to the Georgian journalist Janri Kashia (1940–2012). She has two children, Ketevan and Teimuraz, from her first marriage.

Credit: Fab Woman

In self development November 23, 2018 By Editor

MEET THE FIVE FRIENDS WHO WERE BRIDESMAIDS IN EACH OTHER’S WEDDING AND ARE NOW U.S STATE SENATORS

Kerry Donovan, Tammy Story, Faith Winter, Jessie Danielson and Brittany Pettersen, “The Fab Five,” are all longtime friends, serving as bridesmaids in each other’s weddings, and now they’ve all been elected as state senators in Colorado.

The women supported each other during their campaign, Winter shared while speaking to People. She said:

Through the campaign, the five of us were very supportive of each other. We had several text chains where we would check in with one another and see how we were doing.”

If a particularly bad ad or piece of mail came out. We would reassure each other on the text chain, “Have you seen the mail? It’s so awful, how are you doing?”

Danielson shared that the wins were “pretty amazing,” and her and her friends “were all in it together.”

Donovan discussed how it was important to have friends who were going through the same struggles, who could relate with the difficult parts of the journey.

Our families are incredibly supportive, but it’s not their name on the thousands of pieces of mail going out or on the TV. So being able to talk to them, and they are going through the exact same thing, it was so supportive.

Photo Credit: People

Credit: BN

In Career Gems November 12, 2018 By Editor

4 WOMEN AMONG 28 CANDIDATES TO CONTEST IN ADAMAWA GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that two other women have also been cleared by INEC to run for the position of deputy governor.

The women cleared to run for governor are: Lami Musa of People’s Party of Nigeria (PPN), Na’ama Bulama of Progressive People Alliance (PPA), Rukayya Audu of Action People’s Party (APP) and Elizabeth Isa of Change Advocacy Party (CAP).

Those cleared to run for the position of deputy governor are: Hadiza Mohammedof Democratic Alternative (DA) and Rashida Balarabe of Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD).

Other candidates for the governorship seat are incumbent Gov. Muhammed Bindow of All progressives Congress (APC) and former Adamawa Assembly Speaker and acting Governor, Umaru Fintiri who is Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer.

Others are serving Senator of Adamawa Central Senatorial District who defected from APC to African Democratic Congress (ADC), Abdul-Azeez Nyako is the candidate of ADC, while former House of Representatives member for Gombi/Hong federal constituency is the candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Bappare Umaru, an Islamic Cleric who is the Imam of Jamaatul Nasril Islam (JNI) Friday Mosque in Jimeta area of Yola town, is the candidate of KOWA party and a Christian cleric, Rev. Eric Theman is the candidate of MRDD.

NAN reports that this is the highest number of governorship candidates ever recorded in Adamawa since inception of democracy, a development many say is a positive one and a pointer that people are becoming more interested in participating in politics.

Credit: NAN, Pulse News