By NAKUBIANA SHABONGO? –

THE Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council (NGOCC) has pledged to rally behind female aspiring presidential candidates ahead of the presidential election.
NGOCC chairperson Beatrice Grillo said following the announcement of the election date, the women’s movement would campaign and support the candidates financially and morally.?Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka Ms Grillo said there were a lot of women who had the capacity to govern.
“While we remain non-partisan, as a movement we have taken a position that now is time to put in office a female president.
“Since independence, men have ruled this great nation. We have seen what they have and have not been able to do. The women have supported our men to ascend to leadership of our country and now it is time that we have a female President,” she said.
The NGOCC was not happy that women had continued to be marginalised from participating in the national development process.
It was unacceptable to have only four female Cabinet ministers and 20 female members of Parliament yet Zambia was party to the SADC Gender Protocol which demands 30 per cent women representation in decision making positions.
“Key positions in Government have continued to be dominated by men. This trend needs to be reversed. I would like to call upon women of this country to stand up and support their fellow women,” she said.
She urged all female presidential aspiring candidates to declare their candidature publicly.
Speaking at the same event, opposition Forum for Democracy and Development(FDD) leader, Edith Nawakwi expressed confidence that she would win the republican presidency.
Ms Nawakwi said her party was ready for the election as it had no disputes over leadership and that it had started campaigning.
She implored the media to provide equal coverage of men and women during the process of campaigning.