The Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE) Africa has bemoaned the fact that only one woman is among the 14 candidates set to contest Zambia’s presidential election next week.
Given Kakuta Mwelwa, an independent candidate, is the only woman in the race and is seeking to become Zambia’s first female president.
WALPE Africa, together with the Pan-African Women’s Political Leaders Movement (PAWLEM), said the figure highlights the persistent underrepresentation of women in political leadership.
“One woman candidate is not equal representation; it is a reminder of how far we still have to go. The journey towards equal representation is far from over,” the organisation said.
Mwelwa is an entrepreneur by background. She founded Shimweo Investments Limited, a business brokerage firm operating across Zambia and the SADC region.
She holds an honorary doctorate in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Business Administration, and serves on the boards of the Shimweo Institute and Tselach Education Agency.
Mwelwa was first elected Member of Parliament for Chiengi constituency in 2016 under the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD), becoming the constituency’s first-ever female MP. She was re-elected in 2021 as the only independent candidate in that election.
In 2019, she was elected to chair the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Advisory Group on Health, reflecting a parliamentary focus on health policy.
WALPE Africa said Mwelwa’s lone candidacy shows how much work remains to achieve inclusive democracy, which it says requires the equal participation and representation of women in political leadership and decision-making.
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