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Manyame Rural District Council chief executive Mrs Farirai Guta

Ruth Butaumocho corespondent 

“I beg you to take courage; the brave soul can mend even disaster.” That was more than 350 years ago when Catherine II also known as Catherine the Great-the longest ruling female leader of Russia- said these motivational words. Long after she is gone these words have continued to be a rallying point for astute women angling for leadership positions anywhere.And for Mrs Farirai Guta, the chief executive officer of Manyame Rural District Council, these words have been inspirational and in atonement with her desire to occupy leadership position, in fulfilment of her childhood dream.

“I have always wanted to be a leader.

“I was inspired by seeing women like Margaret Thatcher trailblazing in politics, demystifying the notion that women were best in the kitchen,” she revealed in an interview last week.

Buoyed by the encouragement from her parents, especially her father who had seen the potential in her, Mrs Guta born Farirai Muchengeti, dedicated most of her time in pursuance of academic excellence, as part of long term to become a leader.

Today she is living her dream and wants to increase her stakes as a leader of repute.

Mrs Guta has been at the helm of this local authority board for more than 10 years, executing her duties diligently, affirming the assertion that women leaders are as good, as their male counterparts.

From the time she was appointed to head Manyame Rural District Council after going through a rigorous interview in 2005, Mrs Guta has brought sanity to the once derelict local authority entity.

“We have managed to put systems in place, recapitalized its (Manyame) operations and improved service provision to its growing clientele,” she said.

This, Mrs Guta has been made possible with a qualified and competent team, eager to employ different but winning strategies to ensure that Manyame Rural District Council is efficiently run,” she enthused.

She also attributed successful implementation of a turnaround strategy to her experience in local governance, and her determination to bring transformational change through good leadership

Boasting of wealthy of experience in local authority, harnessed from several years of working for both City of Gweru, and Manyame before her appointment, Mrs Guta believes service delivery is key, in the smooth running of local authorities.

“Local authorities are seized with a lot of issues that need to be addressed with expedience. However service provision such as water accessibility and availability has to take precedence above everything, to avoid a lot of problems,” she said.

In the case of Manyame, Mrs Guta described it as a cosmopolitan and delicate set up, whose needs that have to be addressed differently.

“Within our constituency we do have a large percentage of women who are burdened by the lack of social amenities. More often than not, some of these women have to travel for long distances in search of water, or health facilities.

“We have had to drill a borehole every year to ensure that their basic rights such as access to water are not infringed on. By doing this, we want to reduce the burden that women go through in accessing services,” she said.

Within the same vein, the local authority has also made robust progress in the provision of accommodation by initiating a number of housing projects within its jurisdiction.

Mrs Guta acknowledges that while she has fairly presided over the efficient running of the Manyame Rural District Council, the sail has not been smooth.

She has had to fend off chauvinistic comments from residents who after knocking on chief executive’s door are dismayed or shocked to find out that “the chief” at the helm is actually a woman.

“I have also had to deal with colleagues and subordinates who have low regard for female leadership.

“I have had to be firm and professional and make decisions according to the book. I also owe my success and perseverance to the Almighty who is my source of inspiration”

Mrs Guta, a holder of Masters in Strategic Management said the nation should embrace engendered leadership, arguing that the majority of women in powerful positions are competent.

“Women are in powerful positions on merit and not on affirmative ticket, as many would want to believe.

“The tragedy we face is that the majority of women are not willing to take up powerful and senior positions within local authorities, leaving men to rule the roost,” she said.

She however encouraged women to aim for senior positions within local authorities, saying opportunities were vast.

“Local authorities do present women with opportunities to hold senior positions, because most of them have embraced gender main streaming across its operations

“At Manyame Rural District Council, we do support gender programmes and our budget has got gender provisions, because we are cognizant of the requirements of both men and women and the burden that the latter go through in accessing basis services,” she said.

She added that the local authority has also has a gender focal person, who coordinates programmes for residents while encouraging interaction at all levels, even with female councillors.

“It sad though that despite our gender main streaming programmes we have been conducting, the uptake has been low. Out of the 21 councillors that we have, only five are women.

“This is so because women are not eager to support their counterparts, and would rather put men in position of power when it should be the other way round,” she said.

Mrs Guta who is already working towards her doctorate firmly believes that communities benefit more when they embrace engendered leadership.