Winnie Byanyima, Director of the UNDP Gender Team, Bureau for Development Policy, was elected three times to the Uganda legislature and was a founder of the Assembly’s women’s caucus. Before joining UNDP, Ms. Byanyima served as Director, Women, Gender and Development Directorate of the African Union Commission. She was also a founding member and first chair of the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE), a national NGO. Ms. Byanyima has served on many expert and advisory panels and as a consultant of the UNDP, UNIFEM and other UN agencies. She is a member of the Executive Board of the African Capacity Building Foundation and the International Centre for Research on Women. Recently, she was a member of the UN Millennium Development Goals Task Force on Education and Gender Equality. Ms Byanyima has authored several publications on issues of gender and governance, including a handbook she co-authored for the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) entitled “Parliaments, the Budget Process and Gender,” and “A Rising Tide,” a biography of prominent Ugandan women politicians and activists. Ms. Byanyima holds an M.Sc. and a B.Sc. in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering from Manchester University (UK).

iKNOW Politics: Ms. Byanyima, can you please tell our readers a little bit about yourself? What was your background prior to becoming a Member of Parliament for Mbarara Municipality in Western Uganda? What were your motivations for joining politics? 

I joined politics long before I stood for parliamentary elections in Uganda. My family has a long history in Ugandan politics and I have been an activist for most of my life. I left Uganda during the dictatorship of Idi Amin, as I could not accept what was going on in the country. I became a refugee and got involved in student political organizations while I was in exile. I always had a passion for justice. That was what led me to exile and to human and women’s rights activism and it is what directs my work till today.

When I graduated from the university with an Engineering degree, I considered pursuing a PhD in fluid mechanics. But by that time, a civil war had already begun in my country, so, I decided to return home to join the struggle against dictatorship. I got a job with an airline company, while I worked clandestinely to support the growing resistance. Of course, my family and friends wanted me to be safe and were worried for me. But my family knew that I was unstoppable and supported me where they could.

iKNOW Politics: What were some campaign tools and techniques that helped you succeed in your election campaigns?

I used non-traditional techniques in my campaign that questioned and exposed the old political culture and norms in my country. I reached out to poor people in their communities and homes, going door to door. While other politicians shunned those who lived in the slum areas, I visited women in their kitchens everywhere and listened to them.

My techniques were criticized by other politicians who felt that I had an unfair advantage. Opponents demanded that I stop my visits to households. The political arena was dominated by middle class men who believed that leadership was their birth right and who had constructed campaigns on their own terms. The poor found the politicians in designated areas where they were addressed at rallies and then returned to their slums. I stuck to my outreach strategies and continued visiting women in their little kitchens and gardens under the sun while they did their chores – speaking and listening to them about their struggles. This excited women and made them feel that they had power through voting.

iKNOW Politics: How does being a female political leader and activist impact your leadership style and decision making?

My leadership style is different because I am a feminist. I am deliberate in my decisions and in politics. I work to undermine patriarchy and to introduce an alternative concept of power. As a politician, I gave and showed respect to my constituents. From a feminist standpoint, I valued the work and contribution of poor women.

I used methods of campaigning that stripped men of their traditional power and showed voters that I was capable of winning. I worked to show that power belonged to the people. I raised women’s issues on the campaign platform and when elected in parliament. When I sensed that men felt threatened by my message, I took time to explain how women’s rights benefit families and whole communities using local examples. I reached out to the people to reassure them that I was powerful and capable enough to win and make changes to make lives better for women, men and children. I did not compromise on women’s rights.

iKNOW Politics: What would you say is the key to your success in political life?

I do not see myself as successful – the journey is still long. What I dream for my country, for Africa, for its poor and struggling women are still far from being achieved. In Uganda, millions of women and girls, men and boys are still trapped in camps, they are victims of a senseless war that has gone on for more than twenty years and could have been avoided. Women still walk miles and miles to fetch water and firewood to cook.

They die during childbirth, malaria, HIV and other preventable diseases afflict them. Scarce resources from aid budgets are diverted by greedy leaders. There is still a lot of work to do to end wars, fight poverty, improve governance, and unleash the potential of African women and men to live their lives fully. I have been able to keep focused on issues of justice for the poor and voiceless – that may be what I can call my success. I never get tired or to divert from the causes I have believed in all my life.

iKNOW Politics: What advice can you give other women leaders and candidates trying to succeed in their political careers?

Politics is not just a career, it is a calling. A politician should have a cause and believe in it firmly. You need to have a cause and persistently work to fulfill it. If a woman leader is passionate about equality and women’s rights, like I am, (not all women believe in this cause and we should accept that too) she should pursue the cause within a broader agenda for justice in order to build winning alliances.

Women candidates face problems in mobilizing resources. Fundraising is difficult for most candidates but more so for women. I would advise women to articulate their agendas very clearly and to be consistent, because it helps to raise money. A candidate gets financial backing for the issues she raises and the potential she has to address them through the political process. It is also important to have an organized way for fundraising and to distance oneself from directly managing money.

For example, I always had someone who managed my funds and collected any donations that I received during my campaigns. This way, people knew that I did not use the money for my personal benefit. More importantly, women should be very active in fighting against corruption and bribery in elections. Women should be at the forefront in calling for reform of electoral laws to restrict the use of money in elections because women, more than men, face this barrier. Campaign finance is a serious barrier for young people too.

iKNOW Politics: iKNOW Politics is a global platform aimed at supporting women in political life. How do you think we can make it relevant to all women around the world?

I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised by the numbers of women and men accessing the site around the world. While I had expected women to use the internet in accessing business opportunities, I wondered if they would be interested in using it as a tool to reach out to others about politics. However, it is important to recognize that technology comes with its own culture as well and that access to technology is different in every country. It is important to respect the cultures of poor people and avoid cultural dominance.

iKNOW Politics: If a female candidate runs for presidency in Uganda, what do you think her chances will be and what obstacles will she need to overcome?

It is possible for a woman to win in a free and fair election. I believe that I could win a presidential election if I decided to run. The issue is that the elections are not fair and they are monetized and militarized in Uganda. It is possible to overcome the financial hurdle. The partisan use of the military in elections by the incumbent President poses a serious problem to any other candidate, whether woman or man.

I am a founding member of the party that is trying to de-militarize Uganda’s politics and to bring the country back on a democratic path. VA: Thank you very much for sharing your personal insights and stories with us and especially about your path to politics and pursuit of social justice. We know this interview will be inspiring and useful to the iKNOW Politics members worldwide.