Women’s share of seats in eight East African parliaments
Women held 63.75% of occupied lower-house seats in Rwanda in the 2025 series. Ethiopia stood at 41.91%, Burundi at 39.64% and Tanzania at 39.53%. The comparison uses the lower house where a parliament has two chambers.
Sources checked
Rift & Coast Editorial Team
Parliamentary representationWomen’s share of single or lower chamber seats in 2025
Rwanda63.75%
Ethiopia41.91%
Burundi39.64%
Tanzania39.53%
Uganda34.05%
South Sudan32.36%
Kenya23.39%
Somalia18.98%
All eight countries use the same 0 to 100 percent scale.
The series divides the number of women members by all occupied seats in a single or lower house. It keeps upper houses outside that comparison. The indicator measures parliamentary membership at the reporting point, while an election result records a vote or seat allocation at the election. Source 2Source 3
Rwanda reached its 2025 share before that year
The Rwanda series moved from 25.71% in 2000 to 56.25% in 2010 and 63.75% in 2015. It stood at 61.25% in 2023 and 63.75% in both 2024 and 2025. The trend shows the steps between reporting years. Source 1
Similar current shares can follow different paths
Burundi and Tanzania were just above 39% in 2025. Burundi stood at 36.36% in 2015 and Tanzania at 36.00%. In 2020, the corresponding shares were 38.21% and 36.72%. The annual data help distinguish movement from a single-year ranking. Source 1
Comparisons need a common year and chamber scope
All eight countries have a 2025 value in the extract. Kenya was at 23.39%, South Sudan at 32.36% and Somalia at 18.98%. The table retains all earlier reported figures. Variations in chamber size and vacancies can affect a share even when the numerator changes little. Source 1Source 2