By IREEN MULENGA
The Zambia National Women’s Lobby has expressed concern over the gender imbalance in the current presidential nomination process.
Association Executive Director Juliet Chibuta said that out of the 19 candidates that have so far filed in their presidential nominations only one female.
Ms Chibuta said that what she saw is a clear indication that the political arena is not women supportive especially in this country.
“The political environment in Zambia is difficult for women to get to the top position because of the challenges that comes with participation in political leadership, for a women to found in that place, it means you should be living a political life,” she said.
She said the other challenge is the high nomination fees by the electoral Commission of Zambia which has made impossible for many candidates not to take party.
Ms Chibuta said the fees imposed by ECZ is too high for most candidates to afford and that was a draw back to those who did have that kind of money to pay.
