Women In Midlands Call For Political Inclusion

By Tinaani Nyabereka.

Gweru- Women in Midlands have called upon Government and all political parties to adopt the zebra system of fielding candidates as a way of mainstreaming women into political and leadership roles.

Speaking at a Women Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) community engagement meeting on Monday, Wcoz Gweru chapter vice chairperson Florence Guzha said women were meant to be given leadership roles for equal representation to be achieved in Zimbabwe.

“Taking a look at our constitution, a lot of amendments have been set in place as a way to change some sections.As women in Gweru we played a big part in the establishment of the constitution hence we need to know why these changes are taking place.

“75% of the content which we have was advocated for by women. We then say putting such amendments on sections such as 91,92 and 93 is simply taking power away from the people.” added Guzha.

Locadia Mavhudzi, a woman from Midlands said, there was no need for the law to be amended before fully implementing the existing.

“As women in Gweru we say yes amendments may be done but we don’t want the law to be changed before the implementation of the existing law,” she added.

Another woman who refused to be mentioned said a delimitation exercise was suppose to be done according to the census.
“We heard that there is a clause which seeks to have the delimitation exercise done by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), but my question how is ZEC going to know the numbers within a place to mark a constituency.

“We need to have a census done so that, appropriate numbers can used on an informed point of view to foster transparency and accountability,” she added.

Coalition Gweru chapter coordinator, Vimbai Nhutsve said ,it was essential for the public to have full knowledge of the constitution and that women’s voices be heard in the public meetings regarding these constitutional amendments.

“Do people know their constitution, because people need to be well vested with what the constitution says. Public hearings to these amendments are coming soon .

“ We saw it fit to come to you and engage each other on what the constitution is all about and also need to know if we are in agreement with some of these bills” said Nhutsve.