NGOCC disappointed for sidelining women from contesting Kabwata sit

The Non-Governmental Gender Organisations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC) is disappointed with political parties contesting the Kabwata parliamentary by-election for not adopting women candidates.

NGOCC executive director Engwase Mwale says the exclusion of women from participating in the governance of the country negates democracy, adding that this discrimination must be stopped now.

Ms Mwale says women cannot be reduced to mere spectators and cheer leaders in the governance of the own country.

She states that it is high time that political parties and the Zambian government started actualizing Zambia’s commitment to gender equality at all levels as espoused in various regional and international treaties that the country has ratified.

Ms Mwale notes that it is becoming abundantly clear that the exclusion of women from the governance process by political parties is deliberate and systemic, further entrenching patriarchy in society.

She says the NGOCC is therefore demanding for a law that will compel political parties to adopt women in order to narrow the widening gender inequalities in the political spheres and other sectors.