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Naledi Lindarose Maunganidze-Madzara

As we go to the ballot box in the harmonised elections in a few months, every woman has a reason to vote for Zanu PF presidential candidate President Mnangagwa.

This is because President Mnangagwa is the only presidential candidate who has done a lot to help uplift the status of women in Zimbabwe.

As secretary for Gender and Culture in the Zanu PF Youth League, I have seen many young women benefiting from the positive push by President Mnangagwa to ensure the gender gap is closed.

And many women, both young and old, can now stand tall and declare that they have been empowered by the policies being implemented by President Mnangagwa to ensure women are uplifted.

President Mnangagwa has made it clear that the developmental trajectory the Second Republic has taken ensures that no one and no place is left behind.

This has been especially true with regards to women, they are now major players in various sectors.

The President is equally aware that women have been marginalised for a long time, with very limited participation or contribution to the country’s development.

The policy of leaving no one behind is also targeting women, whom President Mnangagwa is ensuring they benefit from programmes that empower them to be at the forefront of economic, political and social activities.

We have seen on various occasions President Mnangagwa encouraging women, especially the youths, to be hardworking and make sure they participate in national development and benefit from developmental projects.

To help them do this, a lot of resources and empowerment programmes have been targeting women, with opportunities being availed to them. This has resulted in the improvement of lives for many women in Zimbabwe.

There is no doubt that empowerment of women is a prerequisite for sustainable development and poverty reduction, as well as the attainment of gender and social equality.

Let us face it – women have been marginalised for various reasons and their participation in both economic and political activities has been limited for a long time.

But President Mnangagwa is changing this status quo through both action and words.

He is giving women confidence that they have the potential to break into sectors that appeared to have been reserved for men.

Through the President’s words, women are now realising that they have the full right to participate in the development of the country and that there is no sector they cannot tackle.

President Mnangagwa has ensured that women participate equally in all facets of the country and that they have access to and control over capital and productive resources.

This is in line with Vision 2030 of achieving an upper middle income economy, which the country strives to achieve.

For this vision to become a reality, one of the important tools of measurement is the empowerment of women, and the country is moving towards the goal in an all-inclusive manner.

Women are not being left behind and we have seen them taking their positions in various sectors, thanks to President Mnangagwa’s gender focused policies.

After realising that women were being held back by financial constraints in their businesses and other endeavours, President Mnangagwa launched the Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank in 2018.

The bank, the first of its kind in the SADC region, has been offering business loans to women, with many of them testifying that they made a lot of progress because of their relationship with this bank.

Talk of women’s financial inclusion and you cannot leave out the work being done by the Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank towards empowering females financially.

To underscore the importance of this bank to the cause of women, let me take you back to what President Mnangagwa said when he launched it in 2018.

He said: “The setting up of the Women’s Bank is consistent with the provisions of our constitution in promoting inclusivity of women and gender mainstreaming in all developmental programmes in our nation.

“What makes the entry of the bank into the financial services market significant and even more exciting is that it is the first of its kind in the SADC region. Zimbabwe is therefore a torch bearer in this regard. Women in Zimbabwe have acquitted themselves exceptionally well over the last two decades when the nation was confronted by a myriad of challenges which threatened its social fabric.

“Women are the pillars of our families who at times do various jobs to support and sustain families. My Government has made it a priority to ensure that women are supported to participate in mainline economic activities by availing tailor-made support facilities for their financial inclusion.

“We are fully cognisant of the reality that sustainable economic development can only be achieved through the full participation and collective economic strength of all citizens including women and the youths.”

With the above words, President Mnangagwa clearly demonstrated his positive intentions when it comes to the empowerment of women.

He has been unequivocal and firm when it comes to issues of regarding women empowerment, and the President deserves compliments for the hard work.

The Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank has grown in leaps and bounds since its launch.

This year alone, the bank has announced it is prepared to fund at least 10 000 projects as part of its women empowerment initiatives.

Since its inception, the women’s bank has provided loans for over 114 000 projects predominantly fronted by women across the country, as it continues to economically and socially empower females.

Empowerment of women will remain a pipe dream if they do not sit in chambers where decisions that affect them are made.

Upon realising this fact, President Mnangagwa has been facilitating for women to participate in politics.

When the constitutional provision on the quota of 60 seats set aside for women for proportional representation in Parliament was about to expire, President Mnangagwa extended it by 10 more years.

I would not hesitate to advocate for this provision to become a permanent feature of our Constitution until such a time when everyone feels women have been empowered enough to equally participate in politics.

Apart from the parliamentary quota for women, President Mnangagwa introduced a 30 percent women’s quota at local government level.

All these efforts are meant to uplift women to enter politics after realising the constituency-based first-past-the-post electoral system is not friendly to women who are often ridiculed if they stand against males.

By doing this, President Mnangagwa is telling every Zimbabwean that women have a role to play, not only in politics, but both politically and socio-culturally.

President Mnangagwa has put his foot down against child marriages, emphasising that young girls should be given equal opportunities just like their male counterparts to make their independent decisions on marriage when they are mature.

Gone are the days when girls and young women would be married off at the expense of continuing with their education.

The President has been strongly opposed to child marriages and other forms of abuse directed at girls and young women, and for this we thank him.

President Mnangagwa’s words have been backed by signing the Marriages Act (CHAPTER 5:15) last year which states that:

“(1) No person under the age of eighteen years may contract a marriage or enter into an unregistered customary law marriage or a civil partnership. (2) For the avoidance of any doubt, it is declared that child marriages are prohibited and under no circumstances shall any person contract, solemnise, promote, Marriages 5 Cap. 5:15 No. 1/2022 permit, allow or coerce or aid or abet the contracting, solemnising, promotion, permitting, allowing or coercion of the marriage, unregistered customary law marriage or civil partnership, or the pledging, promise in marriage or betrothal of a child.

“(3) Any person, other than the child concerned, who contravenes subsection (2), shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 10 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both such fine and such imprisonment. (4) It shall be an aggravating factor in an offence referred to in subsection (3) that the contravention was by a parent or a person in loco parentis to the child concerned.”

In every sector – Information Communication Technology, education, agriculture, industry, mining, sports and many others – we have witnessed women taking their positions, thanks to President Mnangagwa’s push.

The President has taken women out of their comfort zones and they are beginning to realise that they can equally make it in various fields.

We thank the President for that and he will surely be rewarded with our votes as women come the 2023 harmonised elections.

Cde Naledi Lindarose Maunganidze-Madzara is the Zanu PF Youth League Secretary for Gender and Culture. She is also the Zanu PF candidate for the parliamentary youth quota representing Masvingo.