The big test that was May, 19 2009

Electoral body urges no panic over electoral calendar
By Richard Chirombo
The Electoral Commission (EC) has dispelled fears Malawi could miss
out on the May 19, 2009 Parliamentary and Presidential elections date
in the wake of delays to finish the Voters’ Roll verification process
in good time.
With work on the roll barely half-way done, the verification process
is far from being completed- a development that has prompted the EC to
cast its net wide in search of personnel, culminating into
advertisement messages for prospective workers to come forth. It is
intimated that the process could take five days, with prospects for
extension.
EC Spokesperson, Fegus Lipenga, said the development should not scare
voters, as everything was still under control.
“Nothing has changed, in terms of the dates for the elections. In
fact, that is what we are working towards in all our efforts and
preparation. We strongly believe that we will finish the verification
process in good time,” said Lipenga.
Lipenga said everything was going according to plan, though
developments enveloping the issue of voters’ verification could not
have been foreseen. All the same, there was no need to press the panic
baton, he said.
Some political parties have expressed concern over delays to finish
off with the verification process, saying that could affect timing of
the elections.

50-50 gender campaign monitoring, evaluation starts in two weeks’ time
By Richard Chirombo
The Ministry of Women and Child Development, in collaboration with
Civil Society Organizations that were taking part in a project aimed
at ensuring that, at least, half of parliamentary sits after the May
19, 2009 elections are amassed by women (50-50 campaign), have
announced that monitoring and evaluation (M and e) of the campaign
process commences in two weeks’ time.
The campaign was initiated following perceived continued suppression
on Malawian women, especially leadership positions that could
influence over-all national development programmes. The Malawian woman
is said to be disadvantaged by traditional, cultural stereotyping,
poverty and high levels of illiteracy, challenges that have cast women
to the far end of most national processes despite their constituting
over half of the country’s population (52 per cent).
Linley Kamtengeni, the Ministry’s expert on Women, Girls, HIV and
AIDS, said in an exclusive interview in Blantyre M and E was crucial
to successful implementation of future women empowerment projects- a
requisite process if Malawi was to meet Southern African Development
Community and other international protocols on gender and female
empowerment.
She defended the idea to sponsor only women when gender encompassed
both the sexes (male and female), saying while both men and women
faced a fair share of challenges, it were the women who were more
disadvantaged hence the campaign to help them attain positions of
influence in society.
“We can say so far, so good. We have seen most women coming out of
their cocoons to challenge men for political positions, but we can not
fairly say how deep we have gone in up-rooting misconceptions about
women without monitoring and evaluation. That is why we are starting
the process in two weeks’ time,” said Kamtengeni.
The Non-Governmental Organizations Gender Support Network (NGO-GCN), a
network of Malawian civil society organizations that was coordinating
the campaign, confirmed the development. NGO-GCN’s Coordinator, Eunice
Chamgomo, said the process, to start in two weeks time, would help
implementers of the 50-50 campaign to plan forward because campaigning
for women empowerment was an on-going process.
Chamgomo said, while the process could not be of immediate benefits to
women contesting in the May 19, 2009 parliamentary and presidential
elections (due to the time factor to the polls), it could help
Malawians gauge where they could have done better and where they did
better.
“This is a very importance process for us. We are committed to women
empowerment, especially in electoral processes, that we are leaving no
stone unturned. We want to help our women to stand up for their rights
and be counted,” said Chamgomo.