A Dissertation Submitted in Partial fulfillment of the Requirements for Award of the Degree of Master of Public Administration (MPA) of Mzumbe University.
Evidence provides that attaining gender equality is an important aspect for a country’s economic, social, cultural and political development. Women exclusion brings the opposite since by doing so a country misses talents from women. This dissertation identifies the causes of gender inequality in Rombo district with the following objectives: i) to determine the current status of gender inequality in Rombo district, ii) to investigate the causes of gender inequality in Rombo district and iii) to identify strategies to end gender inequality. The study has adopted a case study design where 50 respondents were involved in which Social Dominance and Liberal Feminist theories were used to explain the nature of gender inequality and the approaches to overcome the problem. Data were collected using semi structured interview in which the collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis which is a descriptive method that looks on the meanings (themes) and concepts of variables and their relationships. Findings reveal that gender inequality is high in Rombo district largely caused by patriarchal Chagga culture, lack of education, excessive consumption of alcohol, religion and poverty. The results further reveal that areas that are mostly affected include ownership of property particularly land, decision making, health relations and gender roles. However, contrary to findings in most studies this study did not find any remarkable inequalities in education between boys and girls. The study further found that the government has put in place strategies to overcome the problem but the strategies have not been very effective. Due to undesirable outcomes brought by gender inequality this study suggests for more government actions which include legal reforms. The study further calls for joint stakeholders and multi ministerial approach to deal with the problem.