APM for women empowerment
President Peter Mutharika says Malawi needs to craft constitutional provisions which will ensure that more women become members of Parliament (MPs) and secure other key decision-making positions in national development.
Mutharika was speaking at a news conference at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Tuesday where a government statement was read out, outlining his participation at the two-day 24th session of the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from where he returned on February 1.
The summit was held under the theme ‘Year of Women Empowerment and Development Towards Africa’s Agenda 2063’.
Mutharika said although he was congratulated by many eminent leaders on his substantive paper on innovation, successes and challenges on women’s empowerment in Malawi, he was concerned that the number of women who made it to Parliament dwindled during the May 20 Tripartite Elections last year.
He said in Uganda and Rwanda, women are assured of parliamentary seats and other top posts because of constitutional structures that make certain openings for women-only contests.
On some queries such as his government’s failure to table the Access to Information (ATI) Bill during the current Mid-Term Budget Review Meeting of Parliament, as promised earlier, Mutharika asked for patience, promising that the bill in question will see the light of day, along with many other important bills that may not be presented during this session.
