Ashamed to be a women's rights activist whilst girls are being sexually abused to death

6 August 2021

I have been hurting the past fortnight about the Memory Machaya experience and subsequent death. As a mother and a woman, when I read about how she died I got shivers down my spine and could feel the pain of what she went through. I have a 12 year old daughter and I would try to picture her being married and pregnant and my conscience screamed NO and pushed me to do something. 

After doing research about the livelihoods of women and the girl child in the Marange Sect, I had three consecutive sleepless nights self introspecting on whether or not I have done enough as a women's rights defender and girl child rights advocate. This morning, I realized that I haven't done enough as long as 12-17 year olds are still being married off before the legal age of consent to get married in Zimbabwe which is 18. I am ashamed that girls are subjected to sexual abuse and sexploitation in the name of religion and child marriage. I am disgusted that I am one of those women who tireslessly claim to be fighting for the girl child whilst they are being denied access to education and subjected to servitude and living conditions which are as good as servitude.

This morning I made a bold decision to fight for the girl child in Bocha Marange and every other girl child who is being sexploited, abused and manipulated. This is fight I am going to fight and win. Earlier today I was talking to one survivor who was nearly married off at 13 and below is what she said about how girls are chosen as brides in the Marange sect.

"1. So during the Pasika, the Priest chooses a wife or wives. Young girls will go to the priest's house, help with the cleaning and washing. He will choose a wife. Ages 11 to 15 years old most times(Once went there with my cousin, we were around that age)

2. Dhepa / Virginity testing

We would go for virginity testing during Pasika with the old women. Somewhere near the river. Escorted by the prophet. We would lie down and they check our private parts. All girls from 9 years old.

Virgins will be given a full leaf

Non virgins a broken leaf. 

We would go back to the church grounds, sit , crowd gathered where people would be celebrating the virgins and mock the non virgins. The former would mostly get a man as 2nd or 3rd or 8th wife. Not 1st because she is nolonger a virgin

Virgins too would be chosen by anyone who wants.

It would be the joy of the parents kuti mwana akatiziswa kupasika

There is no lobola, madhara vanongomwa tea vese vowirirana zvavharana

In some cases parents wont even be aware mwana anongotiziswa vasingazivi, tricked like in my case dhara rakanyepera baba wangu, got address and wanted to just take me , make me a wife and my parents would know ndatova nenhumbu. 

So there are cases like that. Problem kuti because its church and its allowed, parents will just accept and move on. 

Because of this setup, many Mapositori are poor. There wld be 5 wives, 20 kids they cant afford, so they marry off the girls."

Imagine this is happening under our watch yet we purport to be advocates of women's rights. There is no religion that is above the law. It is time tht every other woman who purports to be a woman's rights defender starts to show her real teeth and start biting. The girl child has been abused enough and enough is enough.

• We will not be silent whilst a girl child's self determination is denied by a religious system which is oppressive and manipulative. 

• We will not be silent when law enforcers are turning a blind eye to the thousands of cases of child abuse in Marange. 

• We will not be silent when women are subjected to unbearable pain during labour on the name of religion. 

• We will not be silent when government pretends not to know the realities on the ground in Marange.

• We will not be silent until the girl child is respected, given equal opportunity to education and lives as an equal person to the boys of this land.

I demand justice for Memory Machaya's death and every other girl in Marange who is underage, married and pregnant. 

I call upon all the mother's in Zimbabwe to stand with this worthy cause in our quest to protect the girl child. Tomorrow I will highlight my recommendations to all various stakeholders. 

Lastly we need an honest dialogue as women with the President of this country pertaining to the issue of protection of the girl child.

United we stand Divided we fall.

Linda Tsungirirai Masarira

LEAD President

The Concept of the sperm in the women's struggle : Linda Masarira

When it comes to women issues I don't compromise because women have been systematically marginalized in different facets of the society. I am encouraging all women to step up and be counted. I reiterate to the concept of the sperm. We all struggled against millions of other sperms to make it to our mother's ova, we struggled to fertilize her egg, we struggled to come out through the birth canal and even struggled to have our first breath and adapt to the new environment.

I am appalled by the way that women in Zimbabwe shy away from politics and governance issues. They feel like the struggle for self determination is a struggle for men because of various gender stereotypes in our communities. Women do not want to join the struggle yet they struggle everyday. 

Life is a constant struggle. To be human and to be alive is a struggle. As a sperm you fought millions of sperms to get to your mothers womb. Don't be shocked its true and you also struggled to come out of your mothers womb through the vagina, that was a struggle. As a new born baby you struggled to adapt to a new environment and to suckle your mothers nipple.

You struggled to sit falling every time, you struggled to stand, you struggled to walk, you struggled to talk and struggled to learn... Today my fellow woman, why are you saying you are not in the struggle? Why are you afraid when you managed to swim through and fight millions of sperms for survival. Is this the struggle that you endured when you wriggled through the birth canal?

Yes there are historical issues of marginalization of women in governance processes, structural deformities in political party rank and file, cultural barriers, a strong existing patriarchal system, misogyny, etc. The women's struggle has been alive since 1918 and we now need to implement some of the achievements of the women's struggle in Zimbabwe. Our constitution speaks to 50/50 gender representation in section 56 and all state organs and functions should ensure that gender equality is promoted yet women still feel comfortable accepting quota systems of less than 50% as if we are children of a lesser God.

We can't continue being discriminated against gender and its high time we stop whining and start acting. Women need to unite for the sake of our girl children and future generations to come. We need to ensure that we leave a legacy of equal opportunities for every Zimbabwean. We have the power to transform this nation, to unite it and rebuild it only if we start focusing on the real issues affecting this land.

Zimbabwe is blessed with very intelligent, enterprising and hardworking women. Unfortunately most of them are not politically conscious and prefer to stand and watch from the periphery which has been very detrimental to the quality of our livelihoods. If we struggled from the sperm to the ova, what is limiting us to struggle for economic freedoms, gender and labour justice, academic freedoms, constitutionalism, etc? 

All the problems we are facing as a nation have a heavier burden on the woman and are crosscutting whether you are LEAD, ZanuPF, MDCT, ZAPU, NPP, the other MDC member or not.

Dear Woman, Dear Sister 2021 is the year for us to converge and commit to rebuild Zimbabwe for our posterity and self determination as women in Zimbabwe. To carry on and push forward the agenda of women which was started years back by some powerful women, some who are late and some who are still alive. We salute you! All the problems we are facing in Zimbabwe are political and we can't afford to divorce ourselves from that brutal fact. We constitute about 54% of the population of Zimbabwe and we are the key economic drivers with the capacity to influence the change that we want in this country. We can't all be politicians, let us support women who are running for public office morally and join their campaign teams. Let's support women in business by advertising and buying their products and lastly let us support women in sport and ensure that they get decent allowances not the paltry allowances that ZIFA offers the MIGHTY WARRIORS.

We are the change we have been waiting for. Its time women become the kingmakers and stop being used to chant slogans, ululate and gyrate at political. We are greater than that. We are limitless and we can do it.

Survival of the fittest is the order of the day. Life is meant to be enjoyed not to be endured. Why are you silent? Why are you living a pathetic and miserable life? Are you doing justice to your children and future generations? Life is a constant struggle. Rise up and fight for your rights. Zimbabwe belongs to every 

Zimbabwean. Nguva yemadzimai yakwana. Taneta nekutambudzwa nekushoropodzwa tiri vanhuwo.

We will not be silenced, hatinyaradzwe and hatityiswe zvekumhanya.

Linda Masarira analysis of the chaos in South Africa

By Linda Tsungirirai Masarira

13 July 2021

It's not just the Zulus, it's the generality of the South African masses that are living pathetic lives in desperation, poverty, hunger, joblessness and in a continuous state of debt with no hope for relief at all. 

The so called Rainbow Nation was a mirage. Until they address the inequalities, fundamental questions and issues that led to their struggle for independence, South Africa will be in cyclical problems. It is unfortunate that South Africans were sold a dummy at the CODESA talks leading to independence in 1994.

Native South Africans are still living in oppression and have realized that it is not yet uhuru as black people are not empowered to run the South Africa economy. The economic crisis is South Africa was already tinder dry and needed a spark to ignite and let the pent out force out... the fundamental question of the revolution is still unanswered and now is the time to correct the wrongs and to give black people in South Africa economic power.

The deep state or the vested South African media controlled by Settler Colonial Capital and vested interests wants to create this crisis as an illusion of the current government versus the Zulus in a bid to perpetuate the apartheid divide and rule mindset. Unfortunately the native South African isijikile and need core issues that affect their livelihoods addressed.

The judiciary inflamed their innate pent up frustrations and anger and this out of context judicial dictatorship and judicial activist judgement was the spark they needed to release their pent up feelings. The law has to be applied in a proper context and foresee the likely ramifications of their judgements. If learned judges behave like they are applying a text book or theoretical judgement then they are simply perpetuating a settler colonial legal jurisprudence. The law or judgements are not an illusion but should also forsee and be implemented within historical and legal parameters anchored on and in the historical context of each environment. 

The South African judiciary needs a total overhaul to reflect and be embedded in the post 1994 dispensation. The deep state and old money are playing havoc in RSA and trying to subvert the people's will, hence the current morass and general mayhem prevailing. 

My simple analysis being that we can not simply frame this as a Zulu nations versus other ethnic formations in the current scheme of things lest we fall into the colonial trap of analysing the nature of the post colonial state. It is in my view, broader than that. We can hypotheticate and interrogate this question further at a later stage. 

If they're not careful the construct of the RSA state as we currently know it may disintegrate Soviet style. South Africa is a country waiting to disintegrate Soviet style or Yugoslavia style, with an underhand of Western and Settler Colonial manipulation. Cyril Ramaphosa is their creation and his factional acolytes captured the state and it's arms, now look where they've taken the so called " rainbow nation". We need to analyse and frame what is happening in RSA with a deep forensic eye and mind. Inequalities and discrimination abounds in RSA, the promised land has not been reached yet and the people are now seeing beyond the facade.

In essence I think that RSA needs a total judicial and system overhaul and transformation. Codesa was an epitome of a revolution deferred, now the internal dynamics are playing out with ghastly and terrible consequences. If it was Zimbabwe, they would have been all over all news sites singing human rights abuses, rule of law or whatever theoretical hegemonic textbook lectures. How many civilian protestors have been shot dead in South Africa so far? SA media is reporting about 26 and we all know they are more than that and today my question is where are the so called Human Rights defenders or Western Press now in RSA when people are being hunted down and gunned by Settler Colonial vigilantes? Where are the statements from embassies? These gun totting vigilantes are wrecking havoc writ large and the Western world, so called world policemen are not commenting or condemning these outright human rights violations.

The South African government must deal with the deep underlying structural defects in the architecture of the RSA economy and ensure that all black people have opportunities to wealth creation. The SA judiciary should not pander to the whims of settler colonialism. The fundamental national questions needs answers now. The South Africa constitution is too theoretical, CODESA was just a compromise. If South African leaders want to fix the crisis in South Africa they have to be sincere and deal with redistribution of wealth, address inequalities and be sincere in empowering all native South Africans.

Leadership in South Africa need wisdom to deal with the crisis bedeviling RSA right now.

Gender Perspective : Bemoaning the Systematic Attack on Women Leadership in Zimbabwe

By Mambokadzi Linda wekwaMasarira

It is a fact that attacks on leadership in any given scenario are not a rare occurrence. Be that as it may, I have noticed a systematic attack on women leadership and insincerity in dealing with issues of equal representation of women in governance and decision-making processes in our nation. Almost every political party in Zimbabwe parrots gender parity and inclusion of women yet they do they exact opposite. Before you dismiss this notion as unsubstantiated, I invite you dear reader, to read on for the next 2 minutes as I present solutions to an issue that some may deem as unimportant. 

Firstly, it is an unwritten in Zimbabwe's political landscape that women's assemblies are used as tools for patriarchal gatekeeping and puppets in the arena of politics, without actually possessing the power nor the authority to lead. Upon acknowledging this fact, Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) made a resolution in September 2020 to abolish the women's council and ensure that every woman has an equal chance to represent and lead in the National Executive Council. The same was adopted to apply to YoungLEAD Council on a 50/50 gender balance as enshrined in section 17 of the constitution going down to our branch structures.

It is unfortunate that women in politics continue to be used as pawns in a game of political chess. The extension of the 60 Proportional representation seats to 4 parliaments also reflects on our government’s unwillingness to comply with the constitutional provision enshrined in section 17 of ensuring gender balance in all organs of the state and all government organs. 

Women are not children of a lesser God and should not be pretentiously handed power on a silver platter in the name of quotas or affirmative action. Whose quota to benefit who? Women who are forwarded on party lists by political parties for those proportional representation seats usually face a lot of abuse and are never chosen on merit but by being the best bootlickers of political leaders. These seats have been used to divide women and to give them unequal opportunities to contest in primaries as they are constantly reminded that they have their 60 bacossi seats.

To be sure, women constitute nearly 54% of the population of Zimbabwe yet we only have less than 33% women in council and less than 20% women in parliament who were directly elected. The women's leagues/assemblies of political parties seem to be blind to this issue and their silence on this matter is mind-boggling.

In November 2019, women from political parties, civic society and business converged at the Gender Indaba in Mutare at Golden Peacock hotel, which was hosted by the Gender Commission of Zimbabwe. All representatives of the political parties present that is LEAD, MDCA, MDCT and ZanuPF agreed and made a resolution that they did not want the extension of the 60 PR seats and gave recommendations to the Gender Commission on our expectations as women in politics. Some questions, however still linger…

• Does the extension of the 60 PR seats mean that the women's voice is useless in Zimbabwe? 

• At what point will women issues be taken seriously in this country?

• Is there a systematic attack on women leadership by political parties in Zimbabwe? 

• Whose interests does the extension of proportional representation serve?

• Why are women in Zimbabwe silent?

• What is the purpose of having a women affairs ministry when women continue to be systematically excluded from governance processes by useless quotas?

My suggestion is clear, let us do away with constituency MPs and introduce a proportional representation electoral system like the one used in South Africa or by the senate in Zimbabwe. The PR system of having a party zebra list of MPs submitted to ZEC will assist us to have a gender balanced parliament, diverse in terms of party representation as it will ensure that every party which contests elections will get Parliamentary seats which are proportionate to the number of votes that would have been casted and it will also help depolarize parliament by eliminating strong men in parliament.

What is needed is to amend the electoral act and ensure that we have a gender balanced parliament and local authorities.

We are left with no choice but to challenge this extension of PR seats in the courts of law. As a leader motivated by constructive criticism, I invite you to share your opinion on this matter on @lilomatic.

Linda Masarira Statement on 16 Days of Activism on Gender Based Violence

26 November 2020

Today is the second day of the 16 days of activism against gender based violence. The whole world goes into activism mode against gender based violence which commences on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day every year. It was started by activists at the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991 and continues to be coordinated each year by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership. Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) calls for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.

I am disturbed by the sexual harrasmment openly done in parliament against women Member of Parliament since time immemorial by male MPs. Yesterday 25 November 2020 Hon. Joana Mamombe  referred to the Deputy Speaker of Parliament some cases that undermine and violate the rights of female MPs in the House and prayed that sexual harassment against female Hon. Members must stop. 

LEAD is political organization that strongly believes in equality and elimination of any form of violence against women, we stand in solidarity with Hon. Mamombe in demanding 

a privileges committee to be set up for matters of sexual harassment happening in Parliament.

It should be noted that legislators must be promoting laws and making sure that stiffer penalties on GBV are in place despite of class society or political affiliation. It is mockery to the electorate in Zimbabwe to have some so called Hon. Members being perpetrators 

of GBV instead of being advocates against GBV.

I am calling to order Hon. Chinotimba and all other male MPs who thrive on sexual harassment and offensive statements to reform and lead by example. Their conduct is abuse to women and we demand an apology to all women in Zimbabwe from all the MPs in the 9th Parliament who have verbally assaulted any female MP in the August House.  

Parliament must protect women and ensure that the August House is a safe space for women. Women must feel secure in the August House, so as to inspire younger women to aspire to be legislators. With the continued attacks on women, body shaming and name calling, women will just shy away from active politics which is a tragedy to women participation in governance issues.

Violence against women represents one of the most critical security challenges and is a major factor contributing to poverty. Reducing violence against women is key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in particular goals number 1, 3, 5, 10 and 16.

Zimbabwe is signatory to the international human rights frameworks for women’s rights. Zimbabwe ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1991 which is considered as the women’s bill of rights. Under this Convention states have the obligation to review their legal systems in order to end discrimination and to establish institutions that protect women. As part of the obligations, CEDAW allows for the monitoring of compliance and receives complaints from the signatory states.

Today, I demand that Parliament of Zimbabwe should make sure that Parliament is a safe space for women and that any form.of discrimination against women MPs is eliminated.

This year I will be doing advocacy on GBV on a daily basis on real time issues of GBV happening in Zimbabwe. Wathinta umfazi wathinta imboko. Let us unite against Gender Based Violence and encourage all victims of GBV to speakout and seek justice.

#TogetherWeCan eliminate violence in our communities,  workplace and in our homes.

Linda Tsungirirai Masarira 

LEAD President

Impact of sanctions on the Mining sector : Mambokadzi wekwaMasarira

1. The mining sector was negatively affected by the sanctions resulting in:

• Limited funding to recapitalize as most financiers stopped providing lines of credit to the industry;

• Failure to receive proceeds from minerals sales especially those associated with the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ); and

• Reduced ability to access new markets.

2. Of particular concern are the negative effects on the minerals marketing and the diamond companies.

3. Two minerals marketing companies were designated by the US and the EU as some entities against which sanctions were imposed in 2008 and 2012 respectively, with the American and EU citizens and entities, and other entities outside these two jurisdictions prohibited from doing business with or providing financial and technical assistance to these organisations. Assets belonging to these marketing companies within the USA and the EU were immediately frozen and could not be withdrawn or liquidated. In essence, the marketing companies could not deal with US and EU persons and entities because anyone who violated these measures was liable for prosecution. Potential buyers of Zimbabwean minerals risked losing the minerals or proceeds thereof.

4. After selling the minerals on behalf of producers, marketing companies are supposed to receive all monies for sales outside the country. However due to sanctions, the two companies were incapacitated to carry out this mandate and this affected the Corporation’s receipts of funds.

5. On its part, one of the marketing companies has failed to implement its turnaround strategy due to the failure to attract investors, high cost of capital and/or inability to recapitalize, inaccessible lines of credit, and inability to trade in any USD denominated currency.

6. From a marketing perspective the sanctions have led to:

• Reduced ability to access new markets and market share as it eliminated the US and the EU as its markets;

• Reduced negotiation clout, competitiveness and choice as it could not access essential services like banking, logistics, and marketing journals  from the USA and the EU;

• Loss of customers/clients as major corporations were unwilling to deal with the minerals marketing companies;

• Compromised monitoring role as the corporation is no longer involved in logistics and movement of products to the market; and

• Forced to sell on an ex-works basis instead of free-on-board or delivered basis, thus significantly reducing potential revenue to the government.

7. From a financial perspective, the sanctions have affected all the foreign currency transactions with the companies unable to directly transact in foreign currency. To date, a total of USD1.2 million in producer funds and government royalties have been blocked by the US government. Producers are now receiving their funds directly from customers outside Zimbabwe creating a problem for the government as some producers tend to evade paying taxes and royalties. It is never guaranteed that Zimbabwe will recover its blocked funds. 

8. Concerning the diamond companies, the sanctions made it difficult for them to effectively market and trade their diamonds at competitive prices, forcing them to sell the precious mineral at discounted prices of more than 25 percent below the normal prices.  The companies traded their diamonds through unconventional means because major international banks, insurance companies and couriers did not want to be associated with diamonds from Chiadzwa. Furthermore, some global diamond players could not trade and deal directly with Chidzwa diamond companies under their normal banners/names for fear of retribution. They had to find other entities to trade with, a process that had serious business and cost implications.

International Day of Rural Women: Building rural women’s resilience in the wake of COVID-19 : Mambokadzi wekwaMasarira

Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats joins the rest of the world to commemorate the International Day of Rural Women. The Day recognizes “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.”  It is purposely held the day before World Food Day, in order to highlight the role played by rural women in food production and food security.

Women play a vital role in the rural economy, the #Covid19 pandemic has greatly affected them socially, economically and emotionally. The pandemic has also heightened the vulnerability of rural women’s rights to land and resources. 

Women living in rural areas in Zimbabwe have been subjected to second class treatment since time immemorial. The Zimbabwean government has done so little to help alleviate rural based women's socio-economic status quo. The Pfumvudza concept is good for subsistence farming and food security of families and not income generation.

The current wave of job losses induced by the Corona virus pandemic have a serious adverse effect on elderly women who relied on their working children to provide them with seed and fertilizer. Vendors were restricted from selling their wares, which was their only source of livelihood in this harsh economic climate which the majority of Zimbabweans have been subjected to. These vendors were also breadwinners to elderly women in rural areas. 

Rural women in Zimbabwe suffer from poor government policies which do not consider their plight as most of them failed to get basic education. Gender discrimination is the order of the day in rural Zimbabwe. Rural women in Zimbabwe deserve a comfortable life and it is imperative for the Ministry of Women affairs to ensure that laws are in place to eliminate stereotypes based on patriarchy and the subordination of women. Women living in rural areas have been promised for years that they would benefit from the rural electrification programme, which was only limited to growth points. They face a lot of challenges  like lack of energy, long distance walks to fetch firewood, poverty, isolation, as well as misinformation, and a lack of access to critical technologies that can improve their work and personal life. The constant cutting down of trees is detrimental to the ecosystem and environment  as it causes deforestation which increases the rate of global warming. Global warming has adverse effects on the rainfall patterns, which contributes to drought and directly affects the rural woman. The current government in Zimbabwe has failed to correct and find solutions to the problems facing the average rural woman.

The ruling party has failed to address water and sanitation issues in rural areas which has adversely affected the health of women living in rural areas. 

Nearly 90% of women living in rural areas still fetch water from unprotected sources. They have no access to protected water and travel long distances to get water. It is critical to engage development partners to drill boreholes and assist in building dams in our quest to ensure that people living in rural areas have safe water sources.

Rural Zimbabwean women are still being treated as second class citizens 40 years after lndependence and that has to change. LEAD is committed to transforming the livelihoods of the average rural woman by empowering, educating and training them to become financially independent. The  colonial setting made men wage workers in industry and farms but did not pay them well to enable them to survive.  Women and children left in rural areas ended up working to complement their husbands working in town. Today, due to de-industrialization, women are suffering even more as they have to feed the whole family without any help from men as they are unemployed. With water and electricity not being adequately provided by government, and poverty levels remaining as high as 90% in rural areas, women bear the largest burden of poverty in Zimbabwe.

LEAD is the solution to rid Zimbabwe of the corruption and poor governance. Rural women suffer the most from the activities of corrupt, uncouth and  unethical leaders who are holding public offices. 

As Labour, Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) we have SEED as our Manifesto which is Sustainable Empowerment and Economic Development (SEED). Our focus is mainly on development, devolution, depolarizing the political economy, decolonizing the mindset and economic growth. Rural development is at the core of our mandate. Agriculture contributes to development as ana economic activity and livelihood. In recognition of the great work that women in rural areas continue to do, to sustain livelihoods, it is imperative to unlock opportunities for them to move from subsistence farming to commercial farming. Agriculture is an instrument for achieving propoor and inclusive development which will uplift the quality of lifestyle for women living in rural areas. 

LEAD is an alternative peoples party which is concerned about the plight of all Zimbabweans taking into cognisance the plight of the rural woman. We intend to bring about free and fair democratic elections thereby bringing good governance and relief to the suffering rural women in Zimbabwe.

Mambokadzi Linda wekwaMasarira 

LEAD President