Gender Perspective with Linda WekwaMasarira
Women in Zimbabwe constitute about 54% of the population of about 14 million people. In the just ended 2018 harmonized elections statistic compiled by Women In Politics Support Unit (WIPSU) indicate that there were 1176/5620 that were nominated to run for local government council seats yet only 261 women were actually elected as councillors out 1958 wards which is 13.3% of all the council seats. In 2013 we had 16.2% women councillors and this year's results indicate a drop of 2.9% of women Councillors in local government. A total of 243 women out of 1405 men were nominated as candidates and only 26 women were directly elected into parliament out of the 210 elective seats available in parliament. For the first time in Zimbabwes elections we had 4 women Presidential candidates who unfortunately suffered from negative publicity and didn't receive enough support from the electorate which still thinks that women are in capable of leading at Presidential level which is a narrative that needs to be changed. 54% of the people who registered to vote for women yet the final result of duly elected public officials show a completely different result in relation with population demographics due to a number of factors which include patriarchal dominance, ignorance on the importance of voting for women candidates, toxicity of the electoral playing field, polarization and manipulation of the political economy.
The new Constitution of Zimbabwe (2013) provides a strong legal framework for the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment at every level of governance in all institutions and agencies of government in Zimbabwe. Section 56 of the Constitution clearly provides legislation for Equality and non-discrimination of any person. Section 56(2) reads, "Women and men have the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres." Section 17 lays the provision of gender balance in Zimbabwean society and promotion of women participation by the state in all spheres on the basis of equality with men. Zimbabwe is also signatory to key regional and international human rights instruments such as the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003), SADC Protocol on Gender and Development yet we are still failing to comply with these international instruments and constitutional provisions in regards to gender equality. The state must take positive measures to rectify gender discrimination and imbalances resulting from past practices and policies and must take practical measure to ensure that women have equal opportunities and access to land and natural resources as enshrined in section 17 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Section 17 (1b) is continuously violated by the state, political parties, institutions and agencies of government as the fail to comply with its provision to ensure that both genders are equally represented and that women constitute at least half the membership of all commissions, elected and appointed governmental bodies established by the Constitution or any act of Parliament.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe remains supreme law of this land as enshrined in Section 2 which speaks to the superiority of the Constitution and how any law, practice, custom and conduct which is inconsistent with it is invalid to the extent of the inconsistency. It is high time women of Zimbabwe take legal action on the state and political parties for failure to adhere to constitutional provisions if we are truly sincere about the issue of gender equality. No one is above the law and no woman should continue being prejudiced of their rights because of selective application of the Constitution and patriarchal dominance. In short no one is more Zimbabwean than the other.
Women in Zimbabwe continue to face a myriad of challenges in the political, social and economic spheres Sue to historical marginalization, gender inequalities and imbalances. Harmful cultural and religious practices have negatively impacted on women's rights including power imbalances, patriarchal attitudes, ignorance of constitutional provisions in regard to gender equality and high levels of misogyny in the political economy. Women are still viewed as tokens in the political arena were they are used as pawns in a game of chess to settle cheap political scores and organize support for male chauvinistic leaders who hardly give women space at the dining table, which has led to moat women hardly occupying key decision making in political parties in Zimbabwe. The buck stops with women because there is nothing for women without women and no power is ever delivered on a silver platter. It's not easy to break barriers but its important for them to be broken for posterity so that the upcoming generation of young women leaders won't be verbally and sexually harassed and abused in political parties. If we do not fight to end abuse of women in political parties as women we will continue swimming in the same dark, murky waters.
The only party which made an attempt to achieve gender equality in its structures from the Standing Committee right down to the ward structures is the MDC-T led by Dr. Thokozani Khupe which has 7 women and 7 men including 40% youth in its standing committee, which is a first in Zimbabwe and Africa as a whole. Low representation of women in leadership and decision making positions has led to low levels of participation by women and manifestation of gender inequalities and imbalances. If women are not on the dining table they are definitely the menu. Strides should be made to ensure that more women occupy public leadership positions so as to tackle pertinent issues that affect women.
High prevalence of violence in the political terrain has posed major challenges to the advancement and empowerment of women. When women are adequately represented in public and private spheres it leads to High maternal mortality rates and low representation of women issues in the August House and council chambers. Harare Hospital hasn't heard running water for years and the most affected are women and I have never had any MP raising that issue, even though I have protested about it and wrote about it several times. There is just lack of political will to ensure that the issue is rectified. Lack of running water affects the woman in labour more who is made to carry several buckets of water before delivery and these are issues that could be dealt it and accomplished once and for all if we had more women in Parliament. There are a lot of issues that need a woman's touch at policy level which include how to deal with high rates of child pregnancies and marriages, vulnerability of women to HIV, sexual reproductive rights, gender based violence, effects of climate change on women, lack of access to natural resources and police brutality on women. These are issues that need urgent attention and can only be raised by men with feminist lenses and we hardly have any of those in the 9th Parliament of Zimbabwe.
Most policies in Zimbabwe have remained gender blind and unresponsive to the needs of women. It is not a secret that lack of adherence to constitutional provisions and prioritization of gender issues has resulted in poverty, food insecurity, economic disenfranchisement of women and prostitution. A genuine desire to address these issues is needed from the State, all Executive, Legislative, Judicial institutions and all agencies of government right down to the common woman in Malipati. Lack of political will to address these challenges is the tragedy of Zimbabwean women. Women of Zimbabwe arise for posterity and save yourselves from doom.
ZanuPF fielded 23/210 women MP candidates instead of 105/210 as per section 17 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Failure of all political parties to fail to comply to constitutional provisions in section 17, 56 and 80 is a clear indication of lack of political will to adhere to the supreme law of this land. Failure to implement 50/50 gender representation is evident in the public sector and parastatal boards which have remained male dominated. There is need for legislation to compel political parties to comply with constitutional provisions in regard to gender balance.
Stiffer penalties should be put in place to deal with any organ government, political party, public, private or civic organizations that do not comply with constitutional provisions in regard to gender equality and full promotion of equal rights I'm our quest to be a truly Democratic, Transformational and Developmental State. There is no democracy without women. Women in political parties should stop being used as patriarchal gate keeper of misogynistic men who do not practice what they preach. It is folly to think that a political party that 7 women candidates out of 209 in the 2018 harmonized elections values women participation in politics. There is need for a paradigm shift of the mindsets of women if they truly want patriarchy to be untangled. It is a collective responsibility and not just the responsibility of women in politics.
The 2018 harmonized elections were characterized by high levels of misogyny, sexism, ageism, hate speech and intolerance of divergent views. I was not spares the vitriol of sexist and derogatory statements for exercising my constitutional right to freedom of assembly and association as enshrined in section 58 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. I am an adult with a sane mind which makes critical independent decisions not based on artificial perceptions of manipulating the masses using 48 laws of power. My convictions led me to stand for the truth and nothing but the truth even if it made me unpopular and I always sleep with a good conscience knowing that I did what was right and stood firm in what I believe in. Every woman in politics who has dared challenge the so called popular status quo of the then MDC Alliance was labelled "HURE", "TRAITOR" or "SELLOUT". It's rather unfortunate that for a country that prides itself in being very educated, the levels of intolerance and misogyny exhibited this year speaks otherwise.
I have always been a strong advocate for gender justice, labour justice, constitutionalism, Socioeconomic and political rights and the levels of intolerance that was exhibited towards women who had divergent views from our erstwhile Comrades in the MDC Alliance was contrary to the values they speak of as a party that claims to be Democratic and failed to exercise internal democracy and support gender equality which is a tenet of democracy. It is rather unfortunate that instead of upholding democracy they manifested into ZanuPF culture of violence, intolerance and dictatorship.
In conclusion, it is imperative for the 9th Parliament to ensure that there is adequate electoral reform to address women representation issues, gender delimitation of constituencies and strict sanctions for hate speech and politically motivated violence towards women. There is need to start redefining how we do politics in Zimbabwe and to completely move away from politics of patronage and personalities. We need a more gender sensitive, inclusive and holistic approach of selecting public officials with the capacity to develop and transform Zimbabwe.
Linda Tsungirirai Masarira
Zimbabwe Women In Politics Alliance
