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Ruth Butaumocho Gender Editor
The Zimbabwe Gender Commission has called on stakeholders in both the private and public sectors to implement policies that deliberately promote gender equality. Speaking at a breakfast meeting of women leaders held under the theme “Diversity and Inclusiveness: Womenomics Makes the Difference” in Harare yesterday, Zimbabwe Gender Commission chairperson Mrs Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe said it was disheartening that despite their numerical significance, women continued to be left out of leadership positions.

“In spite of the existence of these constitutional provisions, instruments and policies promoting gender equality, evidence suggest that there is still a lot of work to do to ensure that boardrooms better reflect the gender diversity of our country,” she said.

Mrs Mukahanana-Sangarwe said a 2015 study to establish why women were being left out in crucial appointments in both the private and public sectors said women continue to bump into glass ceilings due to subtle, invisible sexist patriarchal ideologies that prevent them from getting higher positions.

“A study entitled “Measuring Differences on Board of Directors in Zimbabwe 2015” highlighted that out of 406 directors in the private sector, 10 percent were women; out of 64 chief executive officers of companies listed on the stock exchange, only three chief executive officers were females; and out of the 103 executives of state-owned parastatals, there were only 15 female chief executive officers,” she said.

“Out of 88 chairpersons of parastatal boards, women chairpersons only constitute 27 percent. In the public sector, the same trend appears, with only eight female permanent secretaries out of 26, and out of 26 cabinet Ministers, only three are women.”

These figures, Mrs Mukahanana-Sangarwe said, would only be reversed once stakeholders take a rudimentary approach to address social perceptions that regard women as inferior to men. She called for the mentorship of disempowered women to help them grow through exchanging ideas and success stories.

The breakfast meeting was attended by several highly influential women in the business sector such as chairperson of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) Mrs Willia Bonyongwe and the president of Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce — who is also the managing director of Securico Security Services — Mrs Divine Ndhlukula.