Chisomo Ngulube Writes

The 2019 Parliamentary, Presidential and Local Government elections will be remembered for the heightened campaign to see more women elected into higher office, through the 50-50 Campaign. While some progress was made on the parliamentary and local government fronts, attempts to see more women in the highest office of President were thwarted, as the only woman who had intended to contest, former president Joyce Banda withdrew her candidature to support the Malawi Congress Party. News that the May 21, 2019 presidential election results had been nullified by the courts offered a new window of opportunity for women who constitute over 52 percent of Malawians to actively participate. But when the final list of nine  political party and possible independent candidates for the July 21 election was released by the Malawi Electoral Commission, women were conspicuously missing. It means no woman will make it onto the ballot paper as a presidential candidate.

She was born to Yao parents in the late 50s and consequently grew up in the early 60s. The prevailing expectation from family and peers at the time was that she would find a suitor just after puberty.

Campaigners for more female inclusion in positions of power have lamented the failure by some female political stalwarts to retain their Parliamentary seats. Preliminary results show that UTM General Secretary Patricia Kaliati who has served as Parliamentarian for Mulanje West since 1999 is among the unconfirmed casualties that also include former Minister of Gender and Democratic Progressive Party candidate for Dowa Central Jean Kalilani, former Malawi Congress Party spokesperson Jessie Kabwila, former first lady Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri, outspoken Dedza East former MCP MP Juliana Lunguzi and DPP secretary general Grezelder Jeffrey.

Malawians will vote in Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections in a few days time. Figures released by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) show that 55 out of the every 100 voters in the Southern African country’s May 21 Tripartite Elections will be women. In fact, in some areas such as the lake shore district of Mangochi, the number of women registered to vote far outweighs that of men as they comprise nearly 62 out of every 100 registered voters. Malawi 2018 Census figures that show that 51 percent of Malawians are women. The figures make women an important constituent of the electoral and governance process, although women remain at the peripheral even globally in terms of partaking of what is on the table; women are also remain grossly underrepresented in positions of influence including in the political sphere, prompting gender equality proponents to agitate for women’s inclusion.