ACTIVISTS under a coalition of women and constitution intend to camp at the Constituent Assembly when it commences next month, with a view to guarding their proposals already infused into the Katiba draft.

The move is also aimed at using the opportunity to persuade members of the Constituent Assembly to put in the draft issues they believe have been left out, but touch significantly on gender equality as a foundation for the country's progress.

WOMEN in the country are likely to win overwhelming voters' confidence in the coming General Elections if the findings of a recent survey are anything to go by.

MORE than fifty years after independence, Tanzania is embarking on a Constitutional Review process that will transform the way its people relate and live with each other and also the way the country is governed.

It is also an opportunity for the most discriminated and oppressed segment to spearhead the movement of 'social justice' and 'equality'; an opportunity to right the wrongs of the current state of affairs and to 'raise' the flags of Equality and Equal Rights high.

Zanzibar — WOMEN on Pemba Islands are eagerly waiting for any leadership opportunity to challenge men at any level. Many say the time of fear to compete with men in taking up leadership roles is over!

"We are no longer scared, we are no longer coward. We are ready to take leadership at any level," says Ms Mwanajuma Omar, 35, a housewife in Mjini-ole, north of Pemba. However, Mwanajuma says jealousy among men remains an obstacle to women wishing to get into leadership.

Women groups in Zanzibar have said that more needs to be done to encourage women into politics and leadership roles in rural areas. They argue that low representation leads to continued deprivation of women rights and lack of consideration of women issues from the community to the national level.

GENDER Forum and Constitution (GFC) has urged women to participate fully in the establishment of Ward constitutional councils to be formed shortly. "We as women need to see the extension of gender in the new constitution in order to promote women's rights and gender issues in general".