Women’s Manifesto Movement has lobbied political parties fielding male presidential candidates to consider picking female running mates to increase women’s representation in the presidential race.
But the call has drawn reservations from political parties who argue that while they support the empowerment of women, the choice of running mate should be based on merit not gender.
To date, 13 presidential aspirants, including four independents, have collected nomination papers from Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) ahead of the September 16 General Election. However, the list has only one woman, former president Joyce Banda who leads People’s Party (PP).
Women’s Manifesto Movement co-convener Lingalireni Mihowa in an interview yesterday blamed the low representation of women in the presidential race on political parties and women’s low financial capacity.
She said political party leadership remains male-dominated, thereby denying women space to compete at the presidential level.
Mihowa, who is also Oxfam in Malawi country director, said political parties that have male presidential candidates should strive to have female running mates to demonstrate a commitment to women empowerment.
She said: “That is the only way. We want tickets that are balanced. We want tickets that are able to recognise that the women are in majority by the way of our demographics, the women are in majority by the way of registered voters.”
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Mihowa also called on voters to prioritise female candidates at all levels—from ward councillors to members of Parliament (MPs) to make up for the imbalance in the presidential race.
But Malawi Congress Party (MCP) deputy publicity secretary Ken Msonda said the issue of running mate has nothing to do with gender. He said identifying a running mate is the prerogative of a presidential candidate.
“To bring in the issue of gender in choosing a running mate doesn’t work and it has never worked anywhere in the world. It is the prerogative of the presidential caondidate,” he said.
Msonda said MCP was committed to women empowerment as evidenced by having two female deputy presidents in Catherine Gotani Hara and Abida Mia.
On his part, UTM Party spokesperson Felix Njawala also said identification of running mate is informed by several factors.
He, however, described the call for female running mates as a good proposal, adding that if those factors point to a woman there is no problem picking a woman as a running mate.
Said Njawala: “We shouldn’t be very much inclined to selecting a woman, or indeed a man, just for the sake of doing it. There must be reasons for that.
“In the UTM Party, men and women are valued the same. So, the determining factors are the ones that decide and not really that we are looking for a man or woman.”
He also said UTM Party has demonstrated its commitment to women empowerment by having women in several senior positions, including as vice-presidents for the Central and Northern regions.
United Democratic Front (UDF) spokesperson Dyson Jangiya welcomed the demand by the Women’s Manifesto Movement to have a female running mate, but said the party is yet to discuss on the issue.
“We have taken note of that and we welcome the call. We agree that if there is need to pick a lady as running mate, that would be a good thing to do,” he said.
He also said UDF is committed to empowering women, adding that the party’s second vice-president is a woman.
Meanwhile, political analysts George Chaima and Chrispin Mphande have said women’s political leadership must be merit based.
In an interview, Chaima said including women in top political positions should not just be about filling the gender gap, but ensuring that those being engaged have capabilities.
He further urged the Women’s Manifesto Movement to put more support towards the only female candidate in the presidential race, Joyce Banda, describing her candidature as a rare opportunity for women to demonstrate that gender equality is working.
On his part, Mphande said women empowerment should be merit-based with candidates demonstrating that they have the capacity to deliver in those positions.
In a separate interview, National Elections Systems Trust executive director Unandi Banda said women have the capability to lead and need to be empowered, urging the Malawi society to embrace women as leaders.
MEC registered 7 162 217 people for the September 16 2025 General Election, with women dominating at 4 093 369, an equivalent of 57.2 percent of the provisional voters’ roll.
