Everyday Heroes: Penda Mbow (Senegal)

Her positions and opinions on sensitive questions pertaining to Senegalese society are sharp and well known. Mbow is a woman of character and action who wants to be considered not simply as a spokesperson for the cause of women, but as someone who has fought to better the condition of all people. Her sense of family has led her to lead several causes. Her atypical path is far from complete.

Born into a family of modest means, Mbow grew up in the Medina, a popular quarter located near the heart of downtown Dakar. Her role models were her father (who was orphaned at a very young age) and her mother, who gave all her attention to raising her progeny. Mbow followed a perfect academic path that led her to secondary studies at the prestigious Lycée Van Vollenhoven (today named Lycée Lamine Gueye), where she earned her Baccalaureate in Literature, which opened for her the doors of the University of Dakar. For her, reading is as essential to her life as eating and drinking.

Mbow’s curiosity led her to observe very closely many of the well-known political figures of the time, Senegalese as well as foreigners, who passed through a popular guest residence in the Medina. She was disgusted by the 1971 water crisis, when the national water company (Société Nationale d’Exploitation des Eaux du Sénégal, or SONES) left all of Dakar without water for 21 days and forced people to fend for themselves. This experience strengthened her resolve to fight for citizens’ rights.

Very early on, thanks to the various scholarships of excellence she earned, Mbow developed a sense of responsibility for helping members of her immediate family and other relatives. She works daily for change at the core of Senegalese society, for the betterment of conditions at all levels but most particularly those where women are concerned. Her advocacy has sometimes placed her in danger. In 1992 she was physically attacked.

Her Viewpoint

Mbow’s fundamental principle is to honor the independent thinking of women, chiefly by increasing their participation in Senegalese political life. Many women have the intellectual and physical means, she says, but they continue to miss opportunities to play an active part in managing society.

“Our society would gain from following the examples of Presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and the French politician Martine Aubry in terms of women’s leadership,” she says. Too often, she adds, the promotion of women in Senegal is accompanied by assaults on their dignity.

Mbow would like someday to leave teaching to take time to develop some of her talents in other domains, but she remains conscious of the fact that she must continue to work to help her society to change.

For this enlightened and knowledgeable spirit, the question of polygamy is basically a false debate. She says that Islam actually discourages this practice, which prevents many members of society from making a greater contribution to developing the national economy. Polygamy also leads to dissension and heartbreak among spouses and heirs to the head of the family. Mbow contends that the State is on its knees before the confréries, or religious brotherhoods, because it does not want to be accountable to its citizens and does not want them to be influenced by more enlightened minds. She maintains that the relationship between the State and the religious brotherhoods needs to be regulated.

Mbow thinks that the evolution of politics in Senegal took a turn in the wrong direction following the 2001 referendum, which strengthened the executive powers and made the president more beholden to certain classes, such as religious leaders. “A radical reform of the Senegalese Republic is necessary,” she says, to restore its value, respect the emblems of the State, strengthen its institutions