50:50 Campaigner reduced to logistics body

The 50:50 Campaign Management Agency says its work has been reduced to handling  logistics and administration for female aspirants.

The agency’s team leader Viwemi Chavula said this in Mzuzu on Friday during a meeting with some members of Association for Women in Media (Awome) from the Northern Region.

He said in the last two months, the agency spent its time collecting details for funds transfer from aspirants. He, however, said most of them are giving out wrong information.

The 50:50 Campaign is offering 15 percent support towards female aspirants contesting in the forth coming tripartite elections.

“It takes a few weeks for the problems to be rectified; hence, our work has been reduced to handling these basic issues,” said Chavula.

He said as such, the agency has missing details of 105 female local government candidates and it is putting in a lot of effort to sort the issues.

Chavula said the development is worrisome and shows lack of preparedness because the aspirants were supposed to have such information handy.

But despite the setback, he encouraged female journalists to write more positive stories to promote women participation in politics.

One of the participants, Patricia Mtungila encouraged fellow journalists to be vibrant in covering women’s activities to promote their representatives.

Speaking during a similar meeting in Blantyre on Thursday, Awome interim president Edyth Kambalame also encouraged journalists to utilise the agency as a resource in promoting women’s participation in politics for the benefit of the country.