CCJP project supports women candidates

Karonga district gender and development officer Ireen Mwenilupembe has commended the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) of Karonga Diocese for launching a project to support women candidates ahead of the 2025 General Elections.

Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, she said the Enhancing the Participation of Women in the 2025 Tripartite Polls project will enable more women to attain political positions.

Mwenilupembe said they will work with CCJP to achieve the goal.

She said: “We will provide necessary technical support to the project for the community to understand the merit of voting for female candidates.

“In the end, the district will have a good representation of women at parliamentary and local government levels.”

In a separate interview, Karonga diocese monitoring and evaluation officer Simeon Bwinga said the project is geared to bridge the political gap that has been there since 1994, where the district only produced two female members of Parliament.

Currently, the district has no female parliamentarian, but has only one female councillor out of 10 wards.

“It was noted that as a country, we have not done well when it comes to sending female candidates to Parliament. The 2019 elections managed to send 44 women to the 193-member House with Karonga sending not even one.

“Our goal is to enhance the participation of women in the 2025 General Elections through civic education and increased engagement in a participatory process.”

Edna Msiska, a resident at Karonga Boma, said she expected the project to encourage political parties to field female candidates in parliamentary and local government elections.

“We have tried men and seen what they are capable of doing. It is time to try women,” he said.

CCJP will implement the project in Khwawa and Uliwa wards in Senior Chief Wasambo in the district with financial support from the United Nations Development Programme.