Nomads urged to be gender sensitive

Mighty Wanderers FC legend Boniface Maganga has urged the team to entice women to take up leadership positions in the club..
Maganga, who was the vice-chairperson of the team’s electoral college, said this on Sunday after Nomads ushered in a new 12-member executive committee, which has no female member.
In contrast, their arch-rivals Big Bullets recently voted in two female executive committee —Thitha Mandiza as first vice-general secretary and Grace Chenda-Mkandawire as vice-treasurer.
Said Maganga: “It is very unfortunate that we are not implementing the 50-50 campaign. We are not being gender-sensitive.”
Maganga, considered one of the best local goalkeepers of the 1970s, argued that there are many respected female Nomads followers who can play a major role in running the team.
“But the onus is on us to reach out to them to encourage them to consider getting on board,” he said.
Maganga also noted that there were only a few women delegates at both the team’s executive and main supporters’ committee elections.
The last female member who served in the Nomads executive committee was Suzgo Ngwira during the 2004/05 season. She later became chairperson for National Women Football Committee (NWFC).
The Nomads’ main newly elected main supporters committee has only one female member, Olive Kandota while their Central Region committee has Chindikani Munthali.
A number of teams in the top-flight league such as Silver Strikers, Civil Service (Civo) United, Azam Tigers and Blantyre United also do not have female members in their main committees.
Silver’s GS Mike Tembo said they only had one aspirant for the executive committee who did not make it, but was incorporated into the fundraising committee which has two female members.
Civo’s GS Rashid Mtelela said: “As of now we do not have a female member in the executive commitee, but I think it is because we have the football and netball teams and the perception is that women are supposed to run the netball team and men the football side.
“But it is not supposed to be like that. We need to look into that issue seriously.”