THE Patriotic Front will pay nomination fees for popular women candidates who will be adopted on the party ticket, deputy secretary general Mumbi Phiri has said.
Mrs Phiri reiterated that the party will adopt at least 40 percent women and a good number of youths in a bid to increase female and young people’s participation in politics.
Speaking during a discussion forum organised by the Zambia National Women’s Lobby, ahead of International Women’s Day, Mrs Phiri said her party wants to cushion the challenges women politicians are likely to face ahead of the August 11 elections due to hiked nomination fees by the Electoral Commission of Zambia.
She said “the hiked nomination fees are likely to hamper women’s participation in politics, especially in this year’s elections.”
The Electoral Commission of Zambia recently announced an upward revision of presidential nomination fees from K10,000 to K75,000, while those for parliamentary candidates have been increased from K5,000 to K10,000.
And Alliance for Democracy and Development secretary general Mwangala Mbangweta reiterated calls to reduce nomination fees because of the potential to hamper women’s participation in this year’s elections.
Mrs Mbangweta also noted that the grade 12 qualification requirement will equally affect women as the educated ones are reluctant to join politics.
“We are likely to see many women councillors failing to retain their seats due to the grade 12 qualification requirement and hiked nomination fees,” she said.
And speaking at the same function, Transparency International Zambia executive director Lee Habasonda expressed concern over the time political parties conduct their planning and strategic meetings and its negative effect on women’s participation.
Mr Habasonda said most political parties conduct their strategic and planning meetings in the night and that most husbands cannot allow their wives to attend.
“We are appealing to political parties to desist from conducting their businesses in the night. Which man would allow his wife to attend a meeting in the night? Let us do the planning during the day,” he said.
Mr Habasonda has, however, commended the PF for their proposal to adopt more women and youth candidates in the forthcoming elections.
Meanwhile, PF vice-chairperson for elections Kelvin Bwalya has called on women countrywide to take advantage of the 40 percent reserved for them in the ruling party to seek elective office and occupy key decision-making positions in the country, MELODY MUPETA reports in Kitwe.
Mr Bwalya said in an interview in Kalulushi on Saturday that women play a vital role in national economic development and that the PF government wants to continue working with them in steering the country forward.
He said the ruling party has so far come up with various empowerment and sensitisation programmes to motivate women to actively take up leading roles.
Mr Bwalya said he remains committed to ensuring that more women are adopted to contest the parliamentary and mayoral seats in the August 11 general elections.
“Women have the ability to be leaders but they need to be encouraged and empowered, no wonder our Government is doing its best to see more women in leading roles,” he said.
popular women?? if PF is empowering women why not pay for all women,,,, popular women can also be hookers ,, just saying
She said “the hiked nomination fees are likely to hamper women’s participation in politics, especially in this year’s elections.”
And PF claims to be a pro-poor party. How can PF preside over such a hike in nomination fees. This is a sign that PF pronounced things with little or no understanding of what they are saying. A pro-poor party would not have been part to the increase in fees. PF does not mean well for this country at all, hence their appetite to borrow in the morning and evening every day for fun.
What do you expect? PF has made millions of Zambians pathetically poor, esp. women who have been Stay Home Mothers.
As a patrilineal state, most women are vulnerable & unemployed. The candidatures’ cost to increase the fees was exegetically mortified by PF to the collaboration of ECZ.
Moreover, elections are budgeted for. Education is the KEY!
Dear poor stay home mothers, please on 11th August make NO mistake, go on PF’s THROATS!
Vote Wisely by discarding
#on their THROATS #
The Skeleton Key
~206~
HAHAHAHA! “Popular women can also be hookers”…Love it!
Popular simply means good enough to be adopted to stand.
Bamumbi things will not be easy. forget about women or youths it will just cost you. lets go for pipo who can win. Adopting pipo for the sake of gender will cost PF. Remember in 2011 we voted for sata not ishi nkonto in the names of MPs. Leave popular candidates becoz of gender they will join other parties and you will cry like RB
They will cry come 2011 if the think the just because you are a woman and popular you can win an election
a popular person should naturally attract support. Go for the unpopular ones and support them. Nkandu luo, dora siliya, jean kapata, young sister to kaseba, are popular but are loaded already.
Nothing that will contest on PF ticket will win. People are so upset with high cost of living that has escalated in just 1 year of ECL’s reign. Extrapolate this to 5 years if ECL wins in August, we will suffer five times more than we are now by 2021 when we vote again. Just prepare to peacefully exit all of you PF failures
How can pf vacate when they are winning. These false hopes are the ones which will make you to riot because of disblief. Upnd under HH can’t win elections in Zambia. Replace him and you prove me right.
My humble contribution is about the required Grade 12 qualification to contest any elective office. This requirement is not discriminatory at all! To get any job worth it, from Security Guard, Maids, Garden boys and up-wards every employer asks for Grade 12 qualification. In the civil service where I served and retired after 32 years of diligent valuable career, every post from Office Orderly, Typist up to Secretary to the Cabinet has a requirement to have grade 12 qualification. Besides, all contestants for elective office would end up earning salaries and allowances from the Public Treasury, and ought to qualify at least up to Grade 12 to merit such incomes. Just like any job mentioned above and hundred others, requires applicants to have at least Grade 12 qualification. This is not a…
Where are they getting the funds from? In Zambia it seems money is never a problem for a party in power.
After seeing poor response from applicants for PF adoption, you resort to enticing them with nomination fees, well you can pay for them but surely being voted for is something else.Kuyabebele