Kigali: Benedicta Lasi, Esq., Chair of the Africa Governance Centre, has urged African political leaders and institutions to reconsider the history of women's public authority and the systems that continue to determine access to leadership across the continent. She made the call while facilitating a foundation session on 'Historical Traditions of African Women's Authority' at the African Academy for Women in Political Leadership in Kigali.
According to Ghana Web, the Academy is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), and the African School of Governance (ASG), which serves as the implementing partner. The session formed part of the opening module, 'Reclaiming Power: African Women's Authority and Political Sovereignty.' Lasi opened with the question that shaped the session: 'Where did women's political authority go?' She invited participants to look beyond the familiar record of queens and resistance heroines and examine the institutions that enabled women to select rulers, represent constituencies, regulate economic life, negotiate peace, command political communities, and sanction the abuse of power.
The presentation approached political authority through five tests: office, jurisdiction, legitimacy, sanction, and transmission. This method placed each historical figure within the political structure that gave her actions public consequence. A title carried weight where it conferred recognized powers, access to resources, and responsibility to a community. In Akan and Asante political systems, queen mothers held responsibilities connected to lineage, succession, counsel, adjudication, and the legitimacy of the stool. Lasi situated Yaa Asantewaa's leadership during the War of the Golden Stool within that constitutional setting, showing how her resistance drew strength from an office that already placed senior women within the making and defense of political order.
The session also examined the political memory of Amina of Zazzau; the Kandakes of Nubia; Ethiopian traditions associated with Makeda and later empresses and regents; Queen Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba; Igbo women's councils and market networks; and the Rain Queen, regency, and female chieftaincy traditions of Southern Africa. The Kandakes of Kush provided some of the clearest evidence of women exercising sovereign, military, and diplomatic authority in ancient Africa. Amanirenas led Kush during conflict with Rome and helped secure a settlement that preserved Meroitic autonomy.
A central part of the session traced the effect of colonial state-building on these arrangements. European administrations sought identifiable officials through whom they could collect taxes, mobilize labor, enforce orders, and manage local populations. Political systems that had distributed authority among rulers, queen mothers, lineage leaders, women's councils, market institutions, and ritual custodians were often compressed into administrative hierarchies centered on recognized chiefs and colonial courts. Official recognition, salaries, courts, and administrative resources frequently flowed towards male officeholders.
Connecting the history to contemporary politics, Lasi referred to the Africa Governance Centre's continuing research and engagements on women's participation and representation. The Centre's work points to political parties as the institutions with the greatest influence over the leadership pipeline. Parties decide who reaches the ballot, who receives financial and organizational backing, who gains visibility, who enters internal decision-making, and who is prepared for future leadership. These decisions shape the composition of parliaments and governments long before election day.
The session concluded with exchanges among members of the Academy's inaugural cohort. Participants shared traditions from their countries, considered the historical changes that weakened particular institutions, and discussed how older sources of legitimacy could inform democratic leadership. Their reflections were organized under three headings: historical strengths, structural barriers, and leadership opportunities. The discussion identified political parties, constitutional reform, local government, community leadership, economic organization, and electoral systems as important sites for strengthening women's public authority.
The African Academy for Women in Political Leadership is a continental program jointly advanced by UNDP, the African Union Commission, the African Women Leaders Network, and the African School of Governance. ASG serves as the implementing partner. The Academy combines residential and virtual learning, mentorship, and peer exchange to strengthen women's capacity to lead, govern, and shape reform agendas across Africa.