New Heritage Party president Chishala Kateka noted with dismay the trend of the Republican President’s appointments that are highly skewed against women.
Ms. Kateka said When Ministers were appointed, she noted the fact that only four (4) of the thirty (30) Cabinet Ministers are female, out of the nominated Members of Parliament, only two (2) are female and only one (1) out of ten (10) Provincial Ministers is female.
“With the appointment of District Commissioners, we have again seen a similar trend of very few females being appointed to this position,” She said.
She stated that Zambia is not short of qualified women who would meet the criteria for appointments to key public leadership positions and therefore she can only conclude that this systematic exclusion of women in these key roles is deliberate.
“Our appeal to the Republican President is that more qualified females be appointed to strategic key decision-making positions, as they are well able and capable to deliver in those roles as they have been, and ever increasingly critical to economic and social development despite historic and current odds being heavily weighted against them,” She said.