TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE RE-OPENING OF NOMINATIONS FOR PARTY’S PRESIDENCY AND APPLY – MRS. HACHILONDE URGES WOMEN
Lusaka, Monday, 2nd January, 2023
Patriotic Front-PF- Deputy National Women’s Chairperson Kavumbu Hakachima Hachilonde has urged women in the former ruling party to take advantage of the re-opening of nominations for the Party’s Presidency and apply.
In an audio, Mrs. Hachilonde said despite the fees for both women and the youths remaining too prohibitive, encouraged bonafide women to be courageous and apply for the party presidency saying an opportunity has presented itself.
The PF Deputy National Women’s Chairperson says she would want to see more women vying for the party presidency ahead of the General Conference slated for March, 2023.
Mrs. Hachilonde who believes that women are politically trustworthy says it would be prudent for Zambians in the near future to try a female President.
She says women are not only never-failing but also have an ability to understand and share the feelings of other people, affirming that those are good attributes needed for a leader in a democratic country like Zambia.
The PF recently re-opened nominations for the party’s Presidency ahead of the General Conference slated for March this year without some affirmative action put in place to ameliorate the prohibitive and nonrefundable nomination fees for both women and the youths.
And before the re-opening of nominations for the Party’s Presidency, Mrs. Hachilonde was quoted in some online publications expressing concern that Women were not in the race, saying it would be better to give the elective general conference an ample time to allow women to participate.
Mrs. Hachilonde who is also Party Member of the Central Committee (MCC) by then believed that women did not file in because of challenges with resources, affirming that the extension would allow those interested like a named female lawmaker to source some funds.
Meanwhile, according to some publication by the British Council, low levels of female political representation in Zambia are considered to undermine the quality of the country’s democracy.
Key barriers to women’s political participation include the structure of the current legal framework, a political culture embedded with patriarchal values and norms that are unsupportive to female candidates, and a lack of personal wealth or access to resources to fund campaigns.
