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Illegal mining threatens to destroy Mutare River, AU

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Illegal mining threatens to destroy Mutare River, AU

 

Illegal mining along Mutare River

Felix Matasva

MUTARE – Africa
University (AU) has been challenged to conduct action research to mitigate the
negative impact of illegal small scale mining in Penhalonga, Odzi and Old
Mutare; TellZim News can report.

Chaotic
artisanal gold mining operations are threatening the environment and resettled
farmers are now at great peril due to pollution of Mutare River.

The
river is a source of water for irrigation purposes in Mutasa South constituency
but with high levels of unemployment in the area, all roads seem to lead to
Odzi, Old Mutare and Penhalonga where illegal mining activities are rampant.

As
a result, the presence of gold in this part of the country has become a curse
to many farmers who produce food and cash crops like maize, tobacco, wheat and
potatoes for supply to markets in Mutare city and beyond.

Speaking
at a Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ)-facilitated community reporting press
club discussion in Penhalonga recently, Mutasa South MP Regai Tsunga said universities
were significant institutions that must devise solutions to problems
encountered by the country.

“Institutions
of higher learning must not just identify problems in society but they must
also engage in action research that will provide solutions. AU has already
identified environmental degradation, prostitution, transactional sex among youths
and drug abuse as some of the effects of gold mining in areas surrounding its
campus.

“The
university must then develop alternative solutions and pick out the best that
are progressive in moving our country forward. As much as gold miners are
accruing profits from extraction of natural resources, we must ensure that
there is environmental sustainability.

“An
all stakeholders meeting must therefore be convened in order to find a
sustainable solution to effects of mining for the benefit of AU and Mutasa
South constituency,” said Tsunga.

AU
Dean of Students, George Miti later told TellZim News that the university faced
an existential threat due to reckless mining activities.

“We
believe in engagement as an institution and we engaged artisanal miners
operating close to our campus. We shared knowledge with artisanal miners about
chemicals they use, dangers associated with unprotected pits and reproductive
health issues. While they are trying to eke out an honest living, they are also
endangering the same livelihoods,” said Miti.

He
said AU’s farming operations were now in jeopardy due to pollution of Mutare River
by gold miners in Penhalonga and Old Mutare along Mutare River.

“The
water is no longer safe for crop irrigation as it is too muddy thereby
affecting our pumping system on a daily basis. The farm provides employment to
community members and it produces a lot of major food crops to Manicaland and
the country at large. We fear for the health of our customers as we suspect
that miners are disposing mercury in Mutare River,” said Miti.

Penhalonga
Residents and Ratepayers Trust (PRRT) chairperson Westone Makoni said there was
need for an inter-ministerial taskforce that will intervene in order to rectify
problems induced by mining.

“Redwing
Mine has got a new contractor who has moved a lot of earth at Liverpool. As
residents of Penhalonga, we fear that when the rains come, all that soil will
be deposited into Mutare River. The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) must
intervene before the river gets destroyed,” said Makoni.

 

 

 

 

What is wrong with Chamisa Cdes?

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What is wrong with Chamisa Cdes?

 

VP
Chiwenga where are you? Huya pano blazo iwe. Who do you think you are? What is
wrong with leaders in this country? They all do things which are illegal and
think they can get away with it. Mapombi is here to tell you that nadha pachiputukezi.
VP Chiwenga kana manzi mava health minister hazvina kunzi makuita yamada
nhaika. This country has a constitution and should be followed by everyone.
Where did you get the power to suspend all by-elections? Isu vana Mapombi tanga
tatoti maybe the learned Dr Chiwenga had consulted and his proclamation was
legally binding little did we know that zvaingova zvemusoro waVP Chiwenga.
Hanzi hazviiti General Chiwenga. Zvamakataura zviya hazvina maturo. We want
by-elections and zvenyu zvekuda kuhwanda behind Covid-19 ngazvipere nhaika.
By-elections should be done as per the constitution. Cde Mangwana Pauro why
don’t you tell these guys that the constitution must be followed. Mwonzora said
that constitutions are legal chains we make in our moments of sobriety to bind
us in our moments of madness. VP Chiwenga that was your moment of madness and I
am happy makabatwa musati maenda kure. Chetewo muZim hapana anotevedzera mutemo
even in opposition. Tsvangirai chaiye appointed three vice presidents against
his own party constitution saka Zanu PF inotadza neiwo kuita madiro ajojina.

One
thing I want you to understand dear readers is that Zanu PF does not just make
blunders. Everything is perfectly calculated to fit a certain agenda and
unfortunately very few people can see the bigger picture. Chamisa and other
Cdes in the opposition were given a bone to chew on while Zanu PF strategises.
Zanu PF has done its primary elections in many constituencies and is prepping
up for DCC elections but vana Chamisa were busy crying why Chiwenga banned
by-elections indefinitely. Instead of Chamisa and his Cdes focusing on primary
elections they were busy channeling their energy on the banned by-elections. Ko
munoenda seiko kuby-election musina kusvika nekumaprimary. Do primary first and
then cry for by-elections later. Now that Chiwenga anzi haana power rekumisa
by-elections makutanga kuda kufunga about primary elections when Zanu PF is now
focused on by-elections. Baba vebenzi havana mufaro kkkkk. We all know that
Zanu PF will use whatever situation to their advantage and most of you do not
see that Covid-19 is Zanu PF’s trump card. They will use Covid-19 to their
advantage but a lot of people do not see this bigger picture. I want to ask you
dear readers kuti which lockdown level are we on at the moment. Hapana anoziva
and we are living our lives as if everything is normal. The government has to
come clean on which lockdown level we are at so that tigare taziva. Zvinhu
ngazvingova pachena seyokera yamukanya. We last heard that there is a curfew
but no one enforces it anymore. Zanu PF will remind us that there is a lockdown
when it best suits them. Musazoti Mapombi haana kukuudzai.

Mapombi
was happy to see that our beloved leader Cde Dambudzo was here on official
government business. Remember he is the chancellor of all state universities
and this time he came to Masvingo for GZU graduation. How will ED know the
problems faced by Mapombi and a million other Zimbabweans if he is not given
the chance to come face to face with our poverty? The road leading to the GZU
graduation venue was properly patched and widened just to give ED a false
picture kuti aone searikugona kutonga. Hapana zvamuri kugona Cde. You are
destroying the country let Mapombi tell you the truth. These so called people
are lying to you and things are not well in the country. Mapombi was so
infuriated by this cop hanzi anonzi Chipfakacha. Kamukadzi kaya kanoshaya
anoroya zvife. That woman is so disrespectful and corrupt I tell you. She makes
it into the hall of fame for corrupt people in Masvingo. Mapombi saw this
Chipfakacha woman achizvinzwa kuti ndiye ED chaiko. Kushungurudza vabereki vedu
hanzi hamuna face masks. Wakavapa mask dzacho here iwe Chipfakacha. Why do you
find pleasure in tormenting Mapombi’s people? I heard you support Chamisa futi
that is why you are always angry kkkkk. Manje Chamisa haatongi nyika ino bvunza
Job Sikhala. Unongotamburawo sevamwe iwe Chipfakacha saka dzikamisa hana yako.
Leave vabereki vedu alone. What do you benefit by throwing an old man in the
back of a police car yakanzi Gutu and force him to part with $500. Inobvepi
mari yacho. Iwe hautorinawo kana cent in your pocket nxaaah unobhowa iwe
Chipfaks. Our people are hungry and they will faint vakaswera vakaputira
miromo. And to make matters worse the puppies you were with asked for a cut
from some lady so that she could be let free. I am watching you iwe Chipfakacha
Stop It. No to corruption. I once told you and I thought you had repented but
ndiri kuona kuti old habits die hard. Vana Chihuri vakazodzingwa sembwa ramba
uchiita hako mhepo dzako idzodzo. Ndonzi Mapombi ini ndofira kureva. Vanoti
pasi naChipfakacha simudzai maoko kkkkk ndiri kutamba hangu. But hatidi vanhu
vanoita corruption please.

Vanhu
veMDC nhasi ndinemi. What is this talk about participating kuCongress yaKhupe?
Chii chiri kuitika kuna Chamisa can someone balance me here quickly. Chamisa
said he wants nothing to do with Khupe and team but now Mapombi akunzwa kuti
Chamisa is rallying his people to go to the congress. What is going on? Am I
the only one lost here? Munoda kuenda kucongress kupi imi makati mava neparty
yenyu inonzi MDC Alliance. This congress is only for those who believe in Khupe
and Mwonzora. Vanu vaChamisa please stay away from the Khupe congress. You said
you are not part of their team saka please don’t show us your hypocrisy by
vacillating and wavering. We know you do not have any strategy and all you are
good at is complain and complain. ED has failed and we need to look up to
Chamisa as part of the solution not the problem. My brother Nero you need to
look at the people surrounding you and do a serious introspection on whether
they want you to lead this country or not. I like Job Sikhala because he is a sharp
shooter and he is right. Popularity does not take you the state house shamwari.
I do not remember the last time Zanu PF was popular but they are ruling us.
Kutonga kwaro kkkkk. This politics of populism does not bring about the
intended results trust me Nero. Listen to Sikhala. Do not say I did not warn
you because right now Zanu PF has managed to keep you busy and forget that
there is an election coming in 2023. You are busy fighting with Mwonzora and
Khupe and Zanu PF is busy consolidating its power kumamisha uko. Pamberi
nepfumvudza kkkkkk. Hanzi inonzi dhiga udye but Mapombi would like to call it
dhiga ufe. Munofira mahara muchichera makomba enyu ayo hapeno henyu. Mapombi
anozivei hake munongomuti mupengo but this pfumvudza thing has been practiced a
long back but Zanu PF makes it sound like they have launched something out of
this planet.

 Zanu PF does not have any bright ideas.
Angabvepi mazano pana Chinamasa paya kkkk. That man is next to useless. Hapana
chinoziikanwa other than kungohakira zvaasingazivi. I have said enough regai
zvangu ndinokanga maputi angu for lunch but before I go I want to tell VP
Mohadi kuti musadaro Cde muri munhu wekuziva. I saw you on TV muchipa imwe
chembere iri confined to a wheelchair stand kuNemanwa uko munoti inovakwa nei.
That old lady does not even have a single cent to her name and you give her a
stand. Munoda adii nayo? Zavakangofanana with these useless MPs vanopa vanhu
day old chicks voti itai projects but do not supply the feed. The feed is more
expensive than the chicks. Maticha muriko here uko, rambai makadzvanya kkkkk.
Regai ndinokanga hangu maputi angu for lunch. Mboko imboko.

Refugees expect US$36k from fish farming

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Refugees expect US$36k from fish farming

 

A fish pond at Tongogara Refugee Camp


Stephen
Ephraem

CHIPINGE – Refugees and asylum seekers
at Tongogara Refugee Camp in Chipinge are expected to make US$36 000 from a
fish farming project which was initiated by World Vision.

The fish farming project is under World Vision’s livelihood
intervention programme.

Speaking to delegates during a tour of Tongogara
Refugee Camp recently, World Vision staff Joel Bizure said he expected the
project to help improve the lives of beneficiaries.

“The fishery project was initiated to support 50 fish
farmers who will continuously receive training through World Vision in
partnership with Agriculture and Extension Services (Agritex) and Veterinary Services.

“Fish farmers are expected to produce 12 000 fish per
cycle. Mature fish shall be sold at six months according to weight between 1kg
and 2kg while fingerlings below 70 will be kept as breeding stock used for fish
production.

“Fish will be weighed and sold according to the
weights and standards that meet the market requirements and they will be sold
at a price of between US$3 and US$4 per kg. With a stock of 12 000 fish, US$36
000 is guaranteed,” said Bezure.

According to World Vision, about US$15 000 was spent
on the fish project.

“The initial investment was US$15 00 which include
US$6 700 used in construction and renovations of two fish ponds measuring 50m
by 20m each. US$8 300 was used to purchase 12 000 fingerlings as well as
purchasing 310 bags of fish feed.

“The investment was seed money for the fish feed and
pond renovation.  Farmers are expected to
plough the money from sales back into the fish business so that the project
keeps on going. That is why we are capacitating the farmer through training,”
he said.

The World Vision livelihood intervention program shall
help refugees acquire high productive assets, high literacy level which promotes
good investment decisions such as farming as a business and improved access to
capital through savings.

 

 

Lower Gweru man to spend 3 years in jail for killing prophet

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Lower Gweru man to spend 3 years in jail for killing prophet

 

Tinaani Nyabereka

GWERU – A 62-year-old man from Mantinya village under Chief
Buninana, Lower Gwelo, was recently convicted for culpable homicide and
sentenced to three years imprisonment after he killed a self-styled prophet who
had allegedly slept with his wife during a healing session.

The judgement and sentence was
delivered by High Court judge Justice Thompson Mabhikwa during a High Court circuit
sitting in the city of Gweru.

The accused, Kingston Mpofu, pleaded
guilty to killing ‘prophet’ Michael Moyo of Nkani Village in the same area.

The court heard that, on the
evening of February 09, 2010, the ‘prophet’ was at his sister’s homestead in
Nkani Village attending to some patients.

The deceased person had earlier
on allegedly slept with the accused person’s wife during a cleansing ceremony after
he had sprayed everybody else with a substance that made them fall asleep.

When Mpofu arrived, he found Moyo
and his sister seated with some clients in the kitchen hut. He then asked that
everybody else leave the room except Moyo, his sister and one Rasha Nyoni as
there was a case of adultery he wanted to discuss.

A misunderstanding began and
Mpofu then hit Moyo with a heavy iron object on the head and left knee.

The victim was then taken to a
local clinic from where he was transferred to Gweru General Hospital where he
died two weeks later, leading to Moyo’s arrest.

Ndamukanei Chikuni stood for the
State.

Bikita man to spend 14 years in jail for killing sex worker

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Bikita man to spend 14 years in jail for killing sex worker

 

Ratidzo
Munembi

MASVINGO
–
A vendor from Nyika Growth Point in Bikita was recently sentenced to 14 years imprisonment
for stabbing the colleague of a sex worker that he had hired.

Peter Gwari (24) pleaded
guilty of murder charges before Masvingo High Court Judge, Justice Garainesu
Mawadze.

It was the State’s case
that on February 01, 2019, Gwari had an argument with Charity Matuke, a sex
worker who he intended to bed before the now deceased Moreblessing Mudakuchekwa
came and intervened, leading to her death.

Circumstances were that
on the day in question, Matuke and Madakuchekwa were drinking at a nightclub when
Gwari joined them.

Gwari later asked for
Matuke’s services and the two went to a house where the sex workers shared a
single living room, leaving Madekuchekwa behind.

In the room, they found
Mudakuchekwa’s three-months-old baby crying unattended.

Matuke told her client
that she had to attend to the baby first before they could have sex but Gwari
insisted that they have sex nonetheless.

He reportedly ordered
Matuke to leave the baby behind and accompany him to his own place instead,
leading to a heated argument which saw Gwari assaulting Matuke with open hands.

Mudakuchekwa, the mother
of the child, later arrived and out of anger locked the door from inside and
started crying for help from neighbors.

Gwari reportedly broke
the window and tried to escape but Mudakuchekwa held him and dragged him back
into the room.

According to the prosecutors,
Gwari then produced a knife and stabbed Mudakuchekwa twice on the rights cheek
and at the back of her right shoulder before escaping.

Matuke later made a police
report and Mudakuchekwa’s body was taken to Silveira Mission Hospital for a postmortem.

Gwari was arrested the
following morning while trying to board buses heading to Mutare.

 

Gutu police shoot ‘innocent’ man in the groin

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Gutu police shoot ‘innocent’ man in the groin

 

Sheunesu Chiwara


…victim’s genitals injured, spends several hours without medical care

Moses Ziyambi

A 22-year-old man
is admitted at Gutu Mission Hospital awaiting surgery after being shot in the
groin allegedly by a police officer who was part of a team which had followed him home to
arrest him in connection with an assault case, TellZim can report.

Sheunesu Chiwara
of Farm 351 Dewure East was shot at point blank range on Sunday, October 18, allegedly
by one Constable Mudziro of Bhasera Police station while at home with his
mother and two brothers.

His mother
Stella Mahachi told TellZim News the incident was an act of abuse of power by
the police officers one of whom she claimed shot her son even though he had
neither resisted arrest nor attempted to escape.

“He might not
survive his injuries because he lost a lot of blood and he hasn’t been attended
to by a doctor over 24 hours after being shot. It was abuse of power. I
complained that what they were doing was unlawful as they handcuffed and
assaulted him while ignoring the bleeding,” said Mahachi.

When contacted
for comment, Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Chief Inspector Charity
Mazula said she had not received the report and was out of office doing other
duties.

However, Mahachi
said four police officers came to her homestead in the morning looking for
Shunesu and his brother Misheck in connection with an alleged assault case
committed the previous night at Chomungai business centre.

“Shenunesu and
Misheck were not at home but were close by and in no time, they showed up. As
the officers approached Sheunesu where he had sat, Mudziro drew his gun and
fired at him in the groin and the shot also scratched his genitals.

“When I heard
the gunshot sound, I initially thought it was a warning shot as the officer
could have thought Sheunesu might escape but I was wrong. Despite my protests,
they handcuffed him and assaulted him as he lay on the ground bleeding. They
then handcuffed Misheck and tried to march us to the police station. We did not
go far as Sheunesu got exhausted and that’s when they agreed to examine him and
make arrangements for a car to fetch him to Chimombe Hospital,” said Mahachi.

The victim was
then referred to Gutu Mission Hospital where he got admitted but had not been
attended to by a doctor by the time of writing.

 

Resilient Copota withstands adversity

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Resilient Copota withstands adversity

 

Moses Ziyambi

The Margaretha
Hugo Schools and Workshops are soldiering on against immense adversity to
continuously improve the conditions of people with disabilities and deliver
some tangible results, TellZim News can report.

Popularly known
as Copota, the school has made a success of many blind children who otherwise would
probably have had no chance of attaining formal education.

The institution
was registered as a school in 1927 by the then Dutch Reformed Church evangelists Rev Hugo and his wife Margaretha when the country was still known by its
colonial name Southern Rhodesia.

Now controlled
by the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ), the institution hosts primary and
secondary schools as well as workshops where some remarkable crafts and
carpentry work is done.

“Our enrollment
currently stands at 300 pupils; 160 of them in primary and 140 in secondary. At
the moment, however, only 65 Grade 7 and Form 4 pupils preparing for their
final exams are here while the rest are at home in keeping with the Covid-19
induced phased reopening of school,” said secondary school head Alfred Madamombe
during a recent tour of the school organised by Hevoi FM.

He said he was
pleased by the achievements that the institution continued to register in spite
of the seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Copota also
makes effort to give after-school assistance and support for children who
demonstrate potential in business and agriculture.

“We strive to
give post-school support and capacitation so that our pupils do not become
desperate school leavers without any chance of success. In Mashava and Chivi,
we have helped some of our former pupils with albinism to set-up tuckshops
while others have been helped to set-up small drip irrigation facilities and
they are all doing fairly well.

“The idea is to
make sure that people with disabilities can have some dignity of being able to
provide for themselves and others,” said primary school head Clever Madzokere.

During the early
phases of the lockdown, he said, they drove far and wide delivering food
parcels to some of their pupils in areas as far away as Chisumbanje and Kwekwe.

The institution
also has a Braille workshop with such equipment as an imposer, Perkins printers
and an out-of-service guillotine.

The workshop produces
books and caters for other reading materials for pupils.

By transcribing
large volumes of cited text into Braille, the workshop also handles the reading
material requirements of the Reformed Church University (RCU), which is a
sister institution, and other institutions offering special needs education.

Challenges
include lack of funding which has resulted in some equipment including the
guillotine breaking down without repair. In spite of that, there is an
impressive improvisation which has seen optimum services being maintained using
the same outdated equipment and methods.

“We have many
challenges but we are grateful for what we have. The economic challenges in the
country affect everybody but we are pleased that we are moving forward to do
what we love to do; providing education to children with vision impairment,”
said workshop manager Ernest Dube.

Dube, who
himself got educated at Copota and began working in the workshop in 1980, said
there was a limited supply of Braillon paper and the ordinary Braille writing
paper, that are all imported mostly from Europe and Asia.

The Helene Hugo Hall is named after Margaretha’s daughter 

CGCDZ obtains Chief Charumbira buy-in on community projects

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CGCDZ obtains Chief Charumbira buy-in on community projects

 

  

Chef Charumbira converses with CGCDZ staff during the launch of a community development project


Nyashadzashe Mambure

National
Council of Chiefs president Chief Charumbira has praised the Centre for Gender
and Community Development Zimbabwe (CGCDZ) for initiating projects that are
meaningful to his rural subjects, saying all people needed to work together for
development.

CGCDZ
visited Chief Charumbira’s homestead on October 13, 2020 to launch a project in
the presence of many other villagers.

The
organisation will in the near future drill boreholes for the Charumbira
community, introduce fish farming projects and establish a gardening project on
a one-hectare piece of land.

Charumbira
said he was pleased that non-governmental development partners were now more
sensitive to local traditions and were now more tactical in their engagement.

“What
I like about CGCDZ is how they have involved us right from the beginning; they
did not simply come and make recommendations. Different people have different
needs and I am glad that the development assistance that will be rendered to us
is a result of consultations.

“I
therefore challenge them to carry-out the projects to their conclusion because
we as a community have given them our blessing. Many other people came before
them and proposed other things but they failed because the ideas were not born
out of sufficient consultations,” remarked Charumbira, who has vast knowledge
of developmental support models, having in the past worked with the World Bank.

He
said he looked forward to another gathering with CGCDZ in the future, but that
time celebrating the successes of the envisaged projects.

CGCDZ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elliot Vengesa said his organization fully understood that communities have to be consulted if development is to succeed.

“We are aware of the significance of broad consultations in successful development interventions. We are grateful to Chief Charumbira and the community he leads for realising that sustainable development needs a collective approach whereby all stakeholders work hand-in-glove. We are very confident that this project will make a big difference in the lives of the local people,” sad Vengesa.

CGCDZ
operations manager Chida Mudadi said the project was focused on development and
fighting poverty.

“This
is one of our ways to help this community adapt to climate change and fight
poverty by improving livelihoods. Whatever piece of infrastructure installed
here will belong to the community. We therefore expect people to respect that
property and care for it, knowing fully well that it belongs to them and them alone,”
said Mudadi.

In Mashava Ward 33, CGCDZ is implementing similar projects which will directly benefit a total of 65 people from different families.

 

 

Chiredzi pioneers rescue breast cancer sufferer

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Chiredzi pioneers rescue breast cancer sufferer

 

Tendai Ziweni

Beatific Gumbwanda

The Chiredzi Pioneers Association
(CHIPAQ), an organization formed by some of Chiredzi’s early residents, has
raised around US$500 for a woman diagnosed with breast cancer to undergo
treatment at Karanda Mission Hospital.

The beneficiary, Tendai Ziweni
(48), is daughter to a founding member of the association who is now late.

The assistance comes as Zimbabwe
has joined the rest of the world in commemorating the 2020 International Breast
Cancer Awareness Month.

The organisation raised a total
of RTGS$3 630.00 and US$484.00 for Ziweni’s treatment.

CHIPAQ secretary general Bernard
Mhunduru said it was the organisation’s objective to find assistance for those
that need it the most.

“We are glad to be able to help
Tendai, who is daughter to the late Mr Ziweni, an early resident of this town.
The money will cover her treatment costs and will also cater for some of her
other needs at Karanda Mission Hospital. Our members from outside the country
also played a role in raising that amount of money,” said Mhunduru.

In an interview with TellZim
News, Ziweni said she was diagnosed with the disease in June this year but she failed
to get treatment earlier as the cost was beyond her reach.

“My womb was removed in 2017 but
the cancer had migrated to the breast where it showed up this year. I tried to
find help from private hospitals but they quoted an average of US$2 000 which I
could not afford.

“I then researched about
alternative places where I could undergo treatment and that’s when I discovered
that Karanda Mission Hospital had more reasonable charges. I am grateful that
CHIPAQ responded with seriousness to my situation,” said Tendai.

According to the United States Centre
for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), breast cancer symptoms include any
change in the size or the shape of the breast, pain in any area of the breast,
nipple discharge other than breast milk (including blood) and lumps in the
breast or underarm.

The Chivi South case: Opportunities for women, youths ahead of 2023

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The Chivi South case: Opportunities for women, youths ahead of 2023

 

Naledi Maunganidze’s campaign poster

Moses
Ziyambi

While youth and women
voices are getting bolder and more vocal in civic spaces, it remains debatable
whether that has directly translated into greater participation of these two
marginalised groups in institutions of governance and decision-making.

There is a general
acknowledgement among many stakeholders that gender mainstreaming and youth
empowerment is a pre-requisite for sustainable socio-economic transformation.

There is realisation
that for women and youths to be able to have more seats in parliament as well
as in rural district and urban councils, political parties will have to revise
and reorient their approach to this issue.

Over and above all, women
and youths themselves need to be encouraged to cast off their apathy and become
bolder in their quest for equitable representation in a country with more women
than men and more youths than older people.

In the recent Chivi
South Zanu PF primary elections that were conducted in preparation for a by-election
to fill a parliamentary seat left vacant by the recall of former legislator
Killer Zivhu, a total of nine candidates contested.

Of these contestants,
two were youths – meaning those with 35 years of age or below – while one was a
woman. No other political party had contacted primary elections in the
constituency by the time of writing.

The winner of the
contest, successful businessperson Munyaradzi Zizhou, is only 32-years of age,
meaning he will be among the youngest Members of Parliament (MP) if he wins the
by-election as is most likely if voting patterns in the constituency since 1980
are anything to go by.

Naledi Maunganidze, a
30-year-old woman, was the only female contestant in the race, and she put up
an inspiring campaign in a contest that was dominated by men. She finished the
race at number four with 723 votes against the winner’s 1 857.

After the announcement
of the results, the party’s Masvingo provincial political commissar Jevas
Masosota said the party was pleased by the gender and youth mainstreaming
strides it made.

“In our organization of
party structures, we are cognisant of the need to balance all factors including
the involvement of young people and women. We acknowledge that women and youths
need to have a bigger representation in the party and in government. It all
begins at cell level, and I am pleased that the Chivi South primaries have been
won by a youth while a young woman finished in the top four,” said Masosota.

He said there were many
opportunities for greater inclusion of women and youths in the party’s
structures as contained in the party’s 2018 elections manifesto.

The Zanu PF 2018
election manifesto makes a commitment to equal representation of men and women
as well as the youth in all areas of leadership.

“Vigorous
implementation of the 50:50 representation in key decision-making positions in
both public and encouraging local authorities to set up quotas for woman in the
allocation of residential, industrial and commercial space,” the manifesto
asserts, and goes on to make further commitments to mainstream youth affairs in
governance issues

The MDC Alliance, the
political party which performed second-best in the previous harmonised
elections, also makes grand promises for youth and women empowerment.

In an interview with
TellZim News after winning the by-election, Zizhou said he was delighted by his
victory and will work to ensure greater inclusion of young people in the
party and the wider society.

“It is sweet victory
for me and I thank my party for giving me, a youth, an opportunity to contest
and win. I will work to ensure that more young men and women are given roles in
the party and are represented more in business. We are making progress but we
can all do better,” said Zizhou.

In responses to
questions sent to her, Maunganidze said there were many hurdles that women and
youths still faced in the political arena, adding that progress towards achieving fairer
representation targets remained painfully slow.

“There has to be an accelerated
gender and youth mainstreaming process at political party and government level.
We might be moving in the right direction but progress is painfully slow. This
country can achieve more if youths and women, who constitute the largest
demographic group within the population, are accorded greater roles in
governance as the constitution requires,” said Maunganidze.

Section 17 of the
country’s constitution obligates the State to ‘promote full participation of
women in all spheres of Zimbabwean society on the basis of equality with men’,
and to ensure that ‘both genders are equally represented in all institutions
and agencies of government at every level.’

When read with Section
56, this section lays the legal basis for a truly representative society which
gives equal opportunities to men and women.

Youth issues are dealt
with under Section 20 which requires ‘the State and all institutions and
agencies of government at every level’ to take ‘reasonable measures, including
affirmative action programmes, to ensure that youths…have opportunities to
associate and to be represented and participate in political social, economic
and other spheres of life’.

The Women Coalition of
Zimbabwe (WCoZ), a national women advocacy group, is convinced that for women
to enjoy an equal share in politics and governance, government should quickly
implement Section 56 of the constitution.

On 08 April 2017, the
organization launched the #Section56 Campaign to ensure that Section 56 of the
constitution, which speaks on equality of all persons, is implemented.

“We are encouraging
women to take up decision-making positions but it has to begin at lower levels;
in such smaller structures as School Development Committees (SDCs). We cannot
hope to have more female councillors and MPs if we ignore those lower level
structures that build women’s confidence,” said WCoZ Masvingo Chapter
chairperson Joyce Mhungu in a recent live-streamed Facebook discussion
organised by TellZim.

She said the
organization’s Women Empowered for Leadership programme aimed to encourage
women to work for higher positions be it at work places or in political
contestation.

“We urge women not to
leave anything to chance, and not to look down upon their capacity by leaving
all important positions to be taken by men. The transformation that we seek has
to be built from the grassroots all the way up,” said Mhungu.

With only modest, and
oftentimes marginal gains being made towards greater inclusion of women and
youths in decision-making processes, it remains a farfetched dream that equal
representation will be achieved by the end of the current electoral cycle in 2023.

Some encouraging opportunities, however, do exist for courageous women and youths to take so that the country will have a younger, more feminine parlimanent and local governance structure come 2023. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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