By Draxon Maloya
MZUZU-(MaraviPost)-About 20 women in the northern region vying for parliamentary and local government seats in Malawi’s September 16th elections have accused the Women Legal Resource Centre (WOLREC) of denying them access to funding meant to support their campaigns.
WOLREC and Oxfam are collaborating to provide financial assistance and support to women and youth in Malawi through the WOGIVES project.
The initiative aims to empower women by improving their access to legal aid, resources, and decision-making power.
Some women said could not attend to the said capacity building meetings providing different reasons ranging from medical, academic and lack of resources to travel.
Notably, Catherine Mzumara, UTM Vice President for the Northern regionwho is also an spirant for Mzimba North Constituency and Cidess Kongwani an aspiring ward councillor for Kasito West are among some of the affected candidates.
Mzumara was in China, defending her doctoral thesis during the said WOLREC-Oxfam capacity-building meeting, and has been subsequently denied access to funds.
“I was communicated that my name was on the list of women candidates to access WORLEC funds, but unfortunately, when I went to attend the recent meeting, I was only embarrassed that I didn’t attend the capacity-building meeting,” Mzumara said.
Demonstrating inconsistencies in WOLREC’s disbursement exercise, some women not slated to benefit have received roll-call notifications, suggesting their names still remain in the database, while they were denied funding for missing meetings despite being eligible.
Renowned socio-economic analyst Tiyane Nyirenda has described the development as retrogressive to women’s empowerment efforts.
“This is a shot in the foot for women inclusion in participation in politics. Because we all know that research has shown that access to funds and high amount of fees bars women participation,” Nyirenda said.
WOLREC Executive Director Maggie Kathewera Banda and Oxfarm’s Lingalireni Mihowa were approached for comment but couldn’t provide clear explanations on the matter, referred to Oxfarm’s 50-50 campaign director Sara Chisanje.
Later in a response sent by Sarah Kambilinya, Oxfam’s Project Coordinator clarified that they conducted district-level consultations and trainings, consistently engaging with women, youth, and persons with disabilities who have shown interest to contest.
“Some aspirants reached out late, other contacting Oxfam and WORLEC as recently as last week and could not include them in the process given that the deadline for verification had ended,” said Kambilinya.
She further stated that Oxfarm and WOLREC also made it clear that a last-mile cash transfer would be provided at the appropriate time, aspirants were identified using a consolidated database developed through various interventions, including data from the 50:50 Secretariat and verification meetings with aspirants.
“While we do not know the reasons for their delayed engagement, planning for the last mile cash transfer and its disbursement is based on the existing database that had been available since the beginning of our preparations,” she added.
WOLREC (Women’s Legal Resources Centre) and Oxfam are collaborating to provide financial assistance and support to women and youth in Malawi but the controversy surrounding funding access has raised concerns about the effectiveness and fairness of the project’s implementation.