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| Nehanda Women |
22 March 2009
By Bridget Tapuwa
As we join the rest of the world in celebrating International Women’s Day (8/3), I find it vital that I spare time to reflect on its meaning in the context of a Zimbabwean woman. More so, given that in Zimbabwe, women make up 52% of the total population.
Since the Zimbabwean Government promulgated and adopted the Zimbabwean National Gender Policy in March 2004, expectations were high that this would usher in a new era in addressing gender inequality in Zimbabwe. I recall, back then, attending some women empowerment workshops run by the then, UN funded, Women In Politics and Decision Making Project (WIPDM), where discussions centered around the suggestions that women had better rise above political party affiliations and vote for any female Parliamentary candidates.
Most women were and are still of the perspective that upon juxtaposing the male and female leadership and management styles, the woman’s is much more ‘careful and concrete’. The woman, being a mama, is generally warm, kind, and caring. Of cause this is not to necessarily shield the hard hearted careless and reckless women in our communities, who are also known to abuse their offices. They do exist and should not find cover from the discussions surrounding gender inequality.
It was partly against the background and thinking outlined that, back then, some Zanu pf women like Joyce Mujuru, and Flora Bhuka among others bounced back as Parliamentarians. These women were contesting against males from other political parties and possibly won most of their votes from the woman. This assertion does not necessarily imply that the writer is dismissing all the violence and intimidation that accompanied these Zanu pf women’s election campaigns.
And then to follow, was the ascendancy of Mujuru taking up one of the Vice Presidential portfolios for Zimbabwe. With the ascendancy of Mujuru onto the Vice Presidential tower, expectations were high that she would act with the then Minister for Gender issues, Oppah Muchinguri to champion women’s issues. Endless issues which include; health, food security, gender violence.
And the woman had also wrongly assumed that the occupation by Flora Bhuka in her previous Ministerial land portfolio in the President’s Office would result in capable single women easily acquiring farms too.
Noted is that despite the elevation of some women into political decision making positions, they have done very little if any to champion and address the problems bedeviling the Zimbabwean woman at grass root level.
All these female incumbents to the Ministerial portfolios opted to prioritize their beauty and advancement of their wardrobes. They did this at the expense of the advancement of the welfare of the vulnerable woman who placed them into office through her voting power. And in fact what makes the gender discussions in Zimbabwe a mockery is that the majority of the people especially those at grass root level do not even know that Zimbabwe has a National Gender Policy Document.
The woman at grass root level is not consulted on most of the issues concerning her, yet from time to time we have heard women claiming to be speaking on behalf of the Zimbabwean women. Most Zimbabwean female leaders have manipulated the plight of the vulnerable Zimbabwean woman, in sourcing donor funding or in advancing their popularity. Their failure to plough back through alleviating the plight of these vulnerable women is very frustrating.
This leads us to the question; is it necessarily the number of women occupying political decision making positions which matters when it comes to championing women’s issues, or it is more to do with how these few will place their priorities and how they will liaise with the other relevant stakeholders such as WOZA?
With these questions in our minds, as Zimbabwean women we wait to see whether or not the new crop of female Ministers under the new Government of National Unity has the commitment, will and zeal to champion our issues, something the female Zanu pf Ministers dismally failed to do.
The writer, Bridget Tapuwa is based in Belgium and she can be reached at britavoice@gmail.com
Nehanda Radio: Serving Zimbabwe since June 2006
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