Hard efforts to increase the number of women contesting in Malawi’s first-ever tripartite elections have turned futile after a small number of Muslim women were signed as candidates to represent the religious minority in the southern African nation.

“We tried to take our message to all women irrespective of religious boundaries on the benefits of assuming leadership and representative roles in society,” Emma Kaliya, National Chairperson of Gender Support Network told OnIslam.net.

“The response was quite overwhelming. It therefore defeats our mission and frustrates our efforts to note that there is low participation of Muslim women in the polls.”

With funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Kaliya’s organization has championed what is dubbed “50-50 Campaign”, an initiative mooted to increase the number of women participating in the elections.

Working on the initiative, the organization has observed that factors ranging from cultural to religious have contributed to the low numbers of Muslim women contesting in the polls.

“In some parts of the country, culture has got much influence on how women should conduct themselves and the same time, religion has also its own share of influence. Both culture and religion to a certain extent have contributed to how much the society treats women. We can’t rule out the influence of both in this regard,” she said.

“A good number of women in the councils and in parliament would accord women an opportunity to challenge and change pieces of legislation and some cultural norms which impinge on their rights. This development therefore is very unsatisfactory and regrettable”, said Kaliya.

In a changing world, women were supported to be active in new aspects of their country’s building.

“The world is changing and we should be moving with change. Our women ought to be active in matters which directly affect them,” Kaliya said.

“They shouldn’t wait for men to fight for them all the time. Elections are an important aspect of national building, there is therefore need to take part whenever an opportunity avails itself.”

Malawians will be going to the polls for a record four times since the nation reverted to pluralistic politics in 1993.

Tomorrow’s poll will be the first time for the country to hold tripartite elections. The electorate will be electing president, parliamentarians and councilors as well.

No Support

For some candidates, the small numbers of Muslim women in the polls was a result of lack of financial support and sound education.

“Politics is an undertaking which requires a huge investment. Scores of women are disadvantaged economically,” Mwalone Jangiya, a Muslim woman who is contesting to reclaim her parliamentary seat in the Muslim dominated region of the south, told OnIslam.net.

“And to make matters worse, there are no organizations within the Muslim community in the country which can support women to make a career in politics. Women could have the will to go into politics, but they are discouraged, because they have no money.

According to Mwalone, a teacher by profession, lack of proper education has also limited chances for Muslim women.

“At the same time, lack of proper education has been a limiting to most of the women desiring to take part in competitive politics. For so long, education for women has been neglected among Muslim communities in the country,” she said.

“Most of the Muslim women are not educated for them to run for a political office. Neglect of education for the girl child is working against us in our endeavors to achieve certain things in life,” Mwalone, added.

“This development should serve as a lesson that unless we invest in the education for girls, we should not dream of achieving much in our societies. It is high time that we did something towards the education for women in the Muslim communities.”

In Tuesday’s elections, about 415 women will be contesting with only 50 of them are Muslims.

In the 2009 elections, only 3 Muslim had made it to the country’s 193 –National Assembly, against hordes of Christian women.

On his part, President of the Muslim Forum for Democracy and Development (MUSFORD), Alhaj Sheikh Jafari Kawinga, whose organization was accredited by the country electoral body, Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to conduct civic and voter education attributed the development to “negativity associated with Malawi politics.”

“Malawi politics has always been associated with all sorts of bad things such as cheating and character assassination,” Kawinga told OnIslam.net.

“This kind of negativity has been barring women to come forward. Even women from other faith groups have not been coming forward in large numbers. Most of the women wouldn’t risk their reputations for a career in politics. They instead chose to be mere spectators, while leaving it to men.

“However, during the time we were conducting civic and voter education, we have been encouraging women to hugely participate in politics. We did our part. But I hope that with time, we will have scores of women in politics. We don’t have to despair. Only time will tell,” said Kawinga.

About 7 million eligible voters will be electing president, legislators and councilors to serve the country for the next five years.

“Unless women are part of the decision making process, it would be a tall order for them to expect something working in their favor. We need to get involved, otherwise, we will remain at the receiving end of everything,” said Kaliya.

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