Gwa)tidzo (left) speaks soon after being handed the chains of leadership by Bhiza (centre)
Moses Ziyambi
Rotary Club Masvingo last week broke with tradition and inducted their first ever female president; Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) registrar Sinikiwe Gwatidzo, who will lead the private voluntary charity club for the 2016-2017 Rotary year.
Masvingo Rotary Club was formed back in 1959 and had been led by males ever since partly because until 1989, the constitution and bylaws of Rotary International stated that Rotary Club membership was for males only.
Gwatidzo took over from Brian Bhiza who led the organisation for the 2016-2017 term during which many humanitarian and social responsibility projects were done.
Another woman, Sikanzile Dingani retained her post as club treasurer while Michael Zulu will also serve his second term as secretary.
Speaking at the induction dinner held at Flamboyant Hotel last Satur-
day, Gwatidzo said she was humbled that members had entrusted her with the leadership of the local unit of the internationally-revered group.
“It is an honour to be the first female president of the Rotary Club of Masvingo and I hope to witness more of this. Women are the producers by nature; if you give a woman seed, she produces a nation, give her the ingredients, she will give you a meal and give her a few bricks, she will give you a home.
“I want to believe during the tenure of office of the first female president, if we bring together the bricks, we would be able to build a better home for the community of Masvingo,” said Gwatidzo.
She however acknowledged that her new responsibilities were by no means a stroll in the park as the job comes with massive expectations to live up to.
“It is a huge responsibility to be handed the chains of leadership and be told that you are the next president. Having to take that responsibility is not easy especially when you are taking over from somebody who was so active and dedicated. You want to ask yourself ‘will I be able to achieve as much, will I be able to continue motivating the club to continue doing the work that was being done and will I be available all the time?’ ” said Gwatidzo.
In his own remarks, Bhiza highlighted the accomplishments of the previous term and encouraged members to support the new president.
“We need to push for consistency so that we have more activities as a club. The more we meet consistently as a club and as committees, we will achieve much more,” said Bhiza.
Rotary Club has six focus areas which are peace and conflict prevention or resolution, diseases prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, economic and community development.local,topnews
