Malawian women’s resurrection manifesto

We, genuine bottom-up Malawian women, cognisant of our genuine desire to promote ourselves, develop ourselves, look after ourselves, and fight for ourselves in all spheres of life;

We, genuine Malawian mothers, sisters, wives and heads of households sat, for two days, at the Zuku Hotel off the Andiamo Highway, here in the State of Balaka, in the Federal Republic of Malawi; assisted by visionary, respecting and loving Malawian men, notably Deputy Apostle Sheikh Jean-LePoisson; who single-pocketedly funded the two-day conference, Deputy Apostle Native Authority Mandela, who clapped hands each time we raised an important issue, and Assistant Deputy Apostle Innocett Mawayawaya (PGQM), who ably took notes and drafted this manifesto;

We, genuine grassroots Malawian women, having thoroughly discussed and overwhelmingly agreed to learn from our sad past, do hereby this Saturday adopt the text below as the Malawian Women’s Resurrection Manifesto, hereinafter also known as the Balaka State Declaration. The manifesto shall be subject to amendment as and when need arises.

Many Malawians are aware by now that many times we, women, have been collectively lambasted as lazy cry-babies, exploitative, parasitic and goalkeeper-like people who are, consequently, virtually unfit for public office. Even worse, some newspaper and radio journalists, observers, columnists and Facebook terrorists have described us as dead, buried and even cremated.

We wish to inform this great nation, this great federal republic, this great Cashgate land and its many great hard working people,that we, genuine Malawian women did not take that myopic envelopmental denigration of women lying down. We can lie down for some but not all activities.

We acknowledge that sometimes we have over-cried in the name of gender equity and equality without ourselves wanting to run for public office. Sometimes our political ambitions have been too lukewarm. We, women, seem to be sending the message that the highest political office a woman can rise to is that of First Lady, as if there is any genuine open competition for it. Rarely do we invest in ourselves and our political dreams. We blame all our failures and suffering on men and the so-called patriarchal social structures as if we have not been party to the promotion of the same. When a fellow woman is subjected to domestic and other forms of violence, we cry aloud, but when a man is killed by our fellow women in similar circumstances, we are mute. Our sisters in the gender domain don’t say anything as if to send the message that it is right for a woman to kill a man and not vice versa. This sends a wrong message to our male counterparts, whose support we dearly need.

We wish to inform our detractors worldwide and our male counterparts in this federal republic that we, Malawian women, will resurrect soon. To achieve this resurrection goal we resolve and promise:

—To work hard

—To work for the positions we strive to be promoted into

—To earn respect through our hard work.