The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe says it is closely monitoring reports that men are issuing threats to female aspirants in Nkhotakota.
At a political leaders’ engagement meeting in Nkhotakota on Friday last week, a Malawi Congress Party (MCP) aspiring Member of Parliament for Nkhotakota North Constituency, Dorothy Chikonje, complained that she is being subjected to ridicule and insults from male aspirants.
Chikonje said since she expressed her interest to contest, men have been calling her names.
“I have suffered the worst insults and abusive words from male aspirants and their supporters. In their wisdom, I have no moral high ground to contest against men unless I am a prostitute,” she said.
CCJP Acting Archdiocesan Secretary Fletcher Mbewe said insults, intimidation and violence against women have no place in a democratic setup like that of Malawi.
He said his organization will devise mechanisms for curbing violence against women in elections. He also called upon representatives of all political parties in Malawi to ensure that women are accorded the opportunity to access their right to participate fully and equally in politics and public life.
“It is sad that while women’s participation in political activities has steadily grown over the last few years, the frequency and degree of violent responses to their presence in politics is also increasing. Women continue to face multiple challenges in taking up positions in political and public life despite gains in women’s political activity,” he said.
“I wish to implore all the political parties in Malawi, security agencies, media and civic society to collaborate in condemning this abusive behavior against female aspirants. Let this be a responsibility of all of us to call out and condemn the casual use of aggression and threat of physical violence to silence women’s voices in politics,” said Mbewe.
CCJP is implementing the “Enhancing the Participation of Women in the 2025 Malawi General Elections” Project with financial support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Currently, out of the 193 legislators in the Malawi Parliament, only 40 are women.
