Phalombe District Council gender officer James Gubudu says traditional leaders are crucial in promoting women’s participation in the September 16 General Election.
He said this on Monday after meeting traditional leaders and chairpersons of area development committees in the district.
“Traditional leaders live with the people; hence, very easy for them to lobby for women’s support,” said Gubudu.
Traditional leaders have promised to be in the forefront encouraging women to take part in elections and empower them to win their positions.”
In her remarks, Paramount Chief Kaduya said traditional leaders will love to see more women take up leadership positions as councillors or legislators.
She said: “As traditional leaders, we welcome the initiative. We will urge women aspirants not to feel discouraged. As you know, we have only two women in political positions—a councillor and a member of Parliament out of the 15 positions available.”
NGO-GCN member Anthony Mkupira said traditional leaders are custodians of culture which has partly been blamed for hindering women from taking part in politics; hence, they should join the initiative to support women aspirants.
“We want traditional leaders to encourage women to contest in the elections,” he said.
With support from UN Women, the NGO-GCN is implementing a Political Empowerment for Women in Malawi Project in the district
