Aspiring female councilors in the 2019 Tripartite Elections have been challenged to practice issue based politics if the country is to achieve the 50:50 campaign which advocates for increased women participation in politics and public administration.
Programmes Coordinator for Tovwirane Organization, Cecilia Chivunga made the call Friday in Rumphi during a meeting which was organized by her organization.
She urged the aspiring female councilors to prioritize the needs of their respective communities as the 2019 tripartite polls are approaching.
"Much as we are advocating for good representation of women in positions of influence, there is need for these women to show that they are capable of understanding and prioritizing the needs of the electorate during their political campaigns," Chivunga explained.
Rumphi District Elections Officer, Vitumbiko Nyirongo stressed on the need for the female aspiring councilors to be familiar with the pieces of legislations that govern elections to avoid their male counterparts taking advantage of their ignorance on such legislations.
"I have observed that there is a knowledge gap that should be filled with regard to some of the legislations that governs the electoral process among female aspiring councilors.
"They should be aware of the newly passed political law and other pieces of legislation and should also be updated with current affairs so that they should be relatively knowledgeable." he observed.
Former Councilor for the then Mlongoti Ward (Mayembe), Elizabeth Gondwe echoed said the aspirants should put the needs of the communities they would be representing at heart and that would build the confidence to the electorates.
"Communities are tired with the campaign based on empty promises because they need development that will assist in improving their living standards," she said.
Aspiring Female Councilor for Hewe-Mwazisi Ward, Maggie Nundwe of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) said most communities underrate women capabilities because of the challenges women face such as little support from their political parties and inadequate financial resources.
She added with growing tendency of handouts culture, men use their financial muscle to convince the masses to vote for them which she said has a negative bearing on women vying for leadership positions.
"We are finding it difficult to convince people because some communities would want to get something at the end of the day which we can't manage. Therefore men will always go to communities with handouts and easily convince the people," Nundwe explained.
The Mzimba based Tovwirane organization is implementing a four year project dubbed 'Women Empowered for Leadership' which started in 2016 and is expected to wind up in 2020.
The project aims at increasing women participation in politics and is funded by Hivos from Holland.
Posted by Grace Shaibu on April 24, 2018.