Parliamentary candidate for Thyolo South West Constituency Flaviour Kaliati has attributed the fall of female candidates in primary elections to failure by organisations to release funding in time.
Kaliati said this on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 50-50 Women Campaign activities the Pan African Civic Educators Network (Pacenet) conducted to drum up support for female candidates in the district.
Kaliati, an independent who is facing Dr Allan Chiyembekeza of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said many female candidates have been affected by the late disbursement of resources by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) implementing the 50-50 Campaign for women representation in politics and decision-making positions.
“I believe that if we were given the resources in good time, these resources could have boosted our campaign before the primary elections, thereby increasing our chances of beating our male rivals. T-shirts play a big role in a political campaign, but there is none until today,” she said.
Pacenet executive director Steven Duwa said he is equally concerned by the delay in disbursing funding to female candidates.
But Duwa said Pacenet was waiting for conclusion of the nomination process to determine the number of candidates who would need assistance.
He assured the candidates that disbursement of resources will begin soon.
Pacenet is implementing the campaign in Thyolo, Mulanje, Machinga, Dedza and Chiradzulu with funding from the Royal Norwegian Embassy through the NGO-Gender Coordination Network (NGOGCN).
