(2018) 2 African Human Rights Yearbook 133 Since reaching independence from the 1950s to the early 1990s many African governments have reformed their constitutions and laws in order to address the historical marginalisation of women in mainstream governance structures and decision-making organs. In Namibia, the first of such reforms came about long before the passage of the Women’s Rights Protocol, with the birth of its independence constitution, which amongst others, introduced affirmative action measures in favour of women.4 Since then, incremental progress has been made, and of late more and more women have been able to penetrate political spaces. Despite the growth in numbers of women in these spaces in Namibia, many women still remain subordinate and are excluded in major decision-making processes in State structures involving both domestic and foreign policies. This is so despite the often uneven impact of these policies on women in general. The silence and invisibility of Namibian women also characterize those bodies and processes that determine their political and legal fate.5 While in international circles there has emerged a growing recognition of the important role of women in public political spaces, and despite the cumbersome legal framework aimed at women’s integration in these processes, State compliance with domestic and international normative frameworks remains a major challenge. This is also the case in Namibia. Accordingly, an inquiry of the status of women in political and decision-making structures in Namibia is needed. Firstly, such an evaluation would be crucial in determining what factors either affect the growth or regression of women in political spaces in Namibia. This is because, historically, the growth of women in political spaces has not always been a constant. Instead, it has always varied, with gains made in some years, and regression in others. It may thus be indispensable to question why there has been an uneven tide in the growth of women in these spaces, and what accounts for such trends and practices. Secondly, by questioning and analysing the status of women within these spaces, we question the patriarchal nature of the State and take cognisance of the historical fact that women in Namibia, as in many parts of the global South, still remain politically marginalised and suppressed. This article discusses the status of women in political and decisionmaking processes in Namibia with reference to article 9 of the Women’s Rights Protocol. In a sense thus, the paper is a reflection on the gains made, challenges remaining, and prospects for women’s political emancipation in governance structures and processes in Namibia. In my use and understanding of ‘political participation’ in this context, I am guided by the framework suggested by the CEDAW Committee in 3 4 5 H Charlesworth ‘Worlding women in international law’ in B D’Costa & K Lee-Koo (eds) Gender and global politics in the Asia-Pacific (2009) 19-39. See art 23 of the Namibian Constitution (as amended). See art 23 of the Namibian Constitution (as amended). In Namibia, for example, until the late 2000s women were entirely isolated from the judicial arm of government, and although progress has been made since then, their continued exclusion from the Supreme Court — the country’s highest judicial organ — remains a matter of concern. Mavis Gibson, a Zimbabwean national was the only women to serve in the Namibian judiciary in the early 1990s.