Malawi: Women Push for a place at the table

No sooner had Mariness Luhanga announced her intention to contest local elections in Mzimba district in northern Malawi, than she was summoned to appear before a village court on allegations of insulting men. 'I knew that some people in the village were not amused by my campaigns and had started to circulate stories that I was disrespectful to male candidates, that I was calling them names,' Luhanga, who wants to stand as a People Development Movement (PDM) candidate in Chapitamuno village told IPS.