LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)—The main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Salima North West Constituency, Dr. Jessie Kabwira has retained the Malawi Parliamentary Committee on Women Caucus chairpersonship.Dr. Kabwira beat Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Phalombe North MP Anna Kachiko with 23 to two votes casted during the committee’s elections held on last Friday.
The re-election comes barely a month after Kabwira was unanimously elected as the Chairperson for Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)’s Parliamentary Women Caucus after beating other two contestants from South Africa and Tanzania.
Kabwira’s re-election means that she remains the SADC Parliamentary Women Caucus chairperson.
Ironically, her re-election also comes just a month after MCP demoted her in Malawi Parliament sitting arrangement from position one to 79.
Addressing a news conference on Saturday, in the capital Lilongwe, Kabwira expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support gotten from all political parties to retain the position.
The Salima North West legislator says the conduct which other fellow lawmakers shown demonstrates their confidence and trust they have on her without looking into party colours.
She therefore assured all female MPs and the entire nation of total commitment of advocating for laws, policies which are gender sensitive.
“My retainship of this position means a lot for the nation and SADC. It just demonstrates how trust worth I am to my fellow women with leadership. Malawi fellow lawmakers have thought beyond party colors which need to be encouraged for the development of this country.
“The main task in the next two years of my leadership is to make sure that all the 32 female lawmakers retain their positions come 2019 general elections. I will fight tooth and nail that electoral laws, polices put equal chances for women and men to compete public positions.
“Women all over the world have proven to be best administrator, caretakers who initiate developmental works without taking sides of party politics, ethnics. The only challenge is lack resources including finances, education and cultural values the society holds on women,” says Kabwira.
The MCP Spokesperson disclosed that all is set for the committee to roll out mass sensitization campaign in all constituencies on Marriage, Divorce and Relations Act.
She says the campaign aims at popularizing the law after one year it was assented into the country’s statues whose main contentious issue in the law is the marriage age which is now 18 from 16.