Veteran VJ Mwaanga Pledges to Champion Increased Women’s Participation in Politics

During the meeting, Dr. Mwaanga, bemoaned the under-representation of women in politics in Zambia.

“Over the years I have been very concerned with the under-representation of women in politics despite making up about 53 percent of voters.While there was a higher number of women serving as Permanent Secretaries and High Commissioners under the current government, there was still a lot of work to be done as numbers were still very low especially at parliamentary and local government levels. During MMD we had reached about 24 percent in Parliament, but the numbers have gone down. We only have bout 26 female MPs out of 156 seats and about 141 Councillors out of 1 800 seats. This is not acceptable!”

Dr. Mwaanga also shared some of the reasons why some women remained fewer than the men in politics.

“I remember at one time when I served in under the Movement for Multi-Party democracy (MMD), about 143 women applied for adoption but we only remained with 37 because the others had withdrawn because of family reasons. Others feared to contest seats because of social advances by men” he said

And Ms. Katebe thanked Dr. Mwaanga for the time he created to meet the women and share his vast knowledge on Zambia’s history and particularly, on women’s participation. She said they had met him to listen to him more and benefit from his experience in state craft and request him to be a flag bearer for increased women’s participation in politics.

“Really, we do not have much to tell you other than to listen to you and learn from your rich history. In this vein, we would like to in invite you to be our champion in the campaign dubbed “Her Time is Now” aimed at increasing the numbers of women in politics” She said

And NGOCC Executive Director, Ms Anne Mbewe Anamela added that “the campaign is also targeting a review of Zambia’s legal and policy framework to allow Mixed Member Proportional Representation in the Constitution”

The veteran politician was humbled by the gesture to invite him to be an ambassador for this very important campaign.

“I am honoured to be part of this campaign, and I am more than ready to work with you to ensure we have more women in politics” he said.

In the NGOCC team was also Ms. Sharon Williams, Executive Director for Women in Law and Southern Africa, Ms. Mandy Manda, Executive Director for National Legal Aid Clinic for WomenMs. Besa Mwansa, Executive Director for Young women in Action, Ms. Chilufya Bwalya, National Coordinator for Zambia National Association of Women with Disabilities and Ms. Salome Sikananu representing the Zambia National Women’s Lobby.  Ms. Ireen Malama Mukete, Programs Manager and Mr. Samuel C.C Mwanakatwe, Acting Coordinator for Communication, completed the delegation.

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