Politicians Joyce Chitsulo and Patricia Kaliati have urged women aspiring to contest as members of Parliament (MPs) and ward councillors to be assertive despite resource challenges facing their individual bids.
They made the call in Mzuzu yesterday during a capacity-building training for women aspirants in the Northern Region organised by Oxfam in Malawi in partnership with Women’s Legal Resources Centre (Wolrec) under the gender transformative and inclusive democracy project.
Chitsulo, who is also Deputy Minister of Local Government, said aspirants should deliver messages within their limited resources, as winning in an election is not only about money, but building a strong relationship with voters.
She said: “We know aspirants who have abundant resources, but failed to make it because their relationship with people was poor. If they build that strong relationship and demonstrate that they really want to make a difference, then they can make it.”
Apart from building resilience and staying focused, Chitsulo also encouraged the aspirants to develop viable manifestos that would guide their messages throughout the campaign trail.
On her part, Kaliati advised the hopefuls to avoid promising the moon, but rather focus on what people are demanding, saying manifestos should reflect what communities want.
Addressing the participants, Oxfam in Malawi programme coordinator Sara Kambirinya said the project aims to increase women’s participation in political leadership as figures show low women representation at parliamentary and district council levels.
She said: “During the 2019 elections, we targeted the current cohort and focused on retention. From what we gathered, we did have a success rate of 32 elected women out of the 45 that we had, with 14 others retained. Now we are working with both aspirants and incumbents.
Aspiring councillor for Kasito East Ward in Mzimba North constituency, Bertha Nyirenda, said she has been inspired to be brave and approach the campaign process with the same level of confidence as men.
In the Southern Region, the training engaged aspirants from Phalombe, Mulanje, Nsanje, and Machinga, while in the Northern Region it targeted Mzimba and Rumphi and will wind up next week with contenders in Lilongwe, Mchinji, Dedza, and Salima in the Central Region.
