50:50 Campaign registers 800 female aspirants

Government and other stakeholders promoting the 50:50 Campaign have expressed satisfaction with the number of women registering to contest in the May 21 2019 Tripartite Elections, saying it is raising hope for the success of the campaign.

At a meeting between the 50:50 Campaign Management Agency and female aspiring candidates in Mzuzu yesterday, ActionAid executive director Grace Malera said so far, the campaign has registered about 800 female aspirants and more are expected to register.

She said out of the 800, about 260 are aspiring members of Parliament (MPs) while the rest are aspiring councillors.

“What is more encouraging is that females with physical challenges are also registering. We have a number of them who have shown interest,”she said.

However, Principal Secretary for Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Esmie Kainja lamented victimisation of women in the primary elections, saying it is not giving a good picture as far as promoting the welfare of women is concerned.

She said her Ministry is now engaging political parties to ensure that they promote the campaign.

Kainja also appealed to women to support each other and be bold.

Catherine Gotani Hara, who won the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) primary elections in Mzimba North East Constituency, lamented lack of financial support for women.

She said financial resources give men an upper hand in elections. Gotani suggested that the campaign should provide financial resources to women for them to compete fairly with men.n