The Sunday Mail
Tendai Rupapa
Senior Reporter
FIRST Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa’s countrywide tours with her educative and interactive Nharirire YeMusha programme have enabled Zimbabweans to roundly come up with the qualities for a model man and woman the country needs in the wake of the deteriorating social fabric caused by the collapse of the extended family unit and westernisation.
This was also having a bearing on the behaviour of youths, who were being ruined by drugs, alcohol, promiscuity and general lawlessness, mostly due to lack of parental guidance.
The qualities of a good mother and father were elicited from the country’s 10 provinces, which the First Lady visited with the Nharirire YeMusha programme, which focuses on parents and guardians after children attributed their mischief to parents, who they said were neglecting their duties to mould them during the Gota/Nhanga Ixhiba programme.
Views from all the provinces were put together and those that were similar were taken as truly representative of the nation’s wishes.
Amai Mnangagwa emphasised that now the country had moulded the man and woman it wanted, every citizen must measure up and correct areas where they fell short.
“Kana nyika yabvumirana kuti mukadzi nemurume vanodiwa neZimbabwe ndeava with these qualities, among them having time with their children promoting good morals, pakazoita vana who continue misbehaving, the nation would now want to know whose child it is.
“We would want to know whose daughter is this doing bad things like prostitution and bringing children of various totems at home.
“We would also want to know whose son is this who is abusing drugs, sleeping around and spoiling girls of school-going age.
“We want a good Nharirire YeMusha inodzidzisa vana hunhu; we want the home to remain solid.
“We say no to domestic violence. Couples should live in peace and learn to solve their differences amicably.
“It is my wish that following the qualities raised, we all mend the areas where we were wrong as this brings happiness and peace to our families,” the First Lady said.
The provinces agreed that an ideal mother must use her hands to work for the family and assist her husband.
“An ideal mother must be loving, unifying, dignified and dresses appropriately.
“She must be approachable and knows how to speak with her family and the community, should be organised, helpful to her husband and not wasteful in terms of resource management.
“She must not deny her husband his conjugal rights, must not cheat on her husband, must be God-fearing and does not turn her bedroom into a crimes court.
“She should have time to teach her children manners that are appreciated in the community and the country at large.”
They also concurred that a good woman must be submissive and shun domestic violence.
Men contribute their views on the ideal man during one of the Nharirire yemusha programmes which were organised by First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa in all the country’s provinces. – Pictures: John Manzongo
On the other hand, the provinces agreed that as head of households, men must exhibit good leadership qualities that do not put their names into disrepute.
“A dignified man earns respect. He must love his wife and unite the family and be God-fearing. He must pay the bride price (lobola) for his wife and not be known for domestic violence. A good father must have time for his family and work closely with his wife for the good of the family.”
The provinces said a man must give his wife the chance to work so that they help each other in supporting the family, must not cheat but love only his wife and must not deny her conjugal rights.
The men also spoke candidly against domestic violence, which they said often led to marriage breakdowns, exposing mainly women and children to untold suffering.
They want a man who is a role model to his children and has time with them, teaching them good morals.
The Nharirire YeMusha suitable for Zimbabwe comes at a time when youths countrywide, who had gained notoriety for promiscuity, alcohol and drug abuse, among many other cases of wayward behaviour, were showing remarkable change, thanks to First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa’s intervention through her Nhanga/Gota/Ixhiba and Nharirire YeMusha programmes.
It is indeed a good sign that the programmes were timely, helpful and well-received.
So happy with the progress achieved so far are traditional leaders, who roundly acknowledged the value of time and effort invested by the First Lady in cultivating good morals among parents, guardians and children.
The First Lady’s programmes, the chiefs said, had also contributed to a massive decline in gender-based violence (GBV) cases.
Recently, Amai Mnangagwa opened a toll-free line, 575, in her office, where victims of GBV can phone in and get assistance.
A matron contributes her views during one of the Nharirire yemusha programmes
According to chiefs, cases of children literally walking in the nude due to Western influences were also on the decline in areas of their jurisdictions.
The First Lady’s programmes, the traditional leaders concurred, were well-received as they were delivered in an interactive format which afforded people an opportunity to ask where they did not understand and to air their views on various topics.
The traditional leaders and the nation at large have implored Amai Mnangagwa to continue with her programmes and cascade them down to the grassroots so that everyone becomes a Nharirire YeMusha the country wants.
Mr Abel Mbasera, who is also Chief Chundu, said the First Lady’s programmes could not have come at a better time and had helped enlighten people on what needed to be done to lead morally upright lives.
“As chiefs we have benefited a lot from the First Lady’s programmes. Our children, who were running away from school because of mischief, are now attending school and now understand the value of education. Our aunties and grandmothers here in the countryside had vanished and were no longer playing their roles of counselling and moulding children. Children used to do as they pleased and there was a surge in gender-based violence in homes. Parents were fighting in full glare of children but now parents live in harmony following teachings through the Nharirire YeMusha programme.
“Now parents have time for their children, teaching them the dos and don’ts of life and this was made possible through the programmes that were brought by the First Lady,” he said.
Chief Chundu said the Nharirire YeMusha, Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba programmes had contributed immensely towards moulding the character of youths who were being ruined by drugs, poor dressing and bad manners owing to Western influences.
He said it was his wish to have the mother of the nation continue visiting all parts of the country for the benefit of citizens.
“The programmes did well for us and our children who were taking drugs, especially mutoriro and tumbwa. They have changed; they are now accepted in society and now know how to separate good from bad. May these programmes stay so that we do away with the children’s mischief,” he said.
Chief Njelele, Mr Misheck Moses Njelele of Gokwe, paid tribute to the programmes rolled out by the First Lady in his area of jurisdiction for opening people’s minds.
He called for the continuation of the programmes, whose benefits were there for everyone to see.
“The Nharirire YeMusha programme opened people’s minds. The nation wants this programme to continue and cascade down to district level because our norms and values were not being observed by parents. Children were following the bad deeds of their parents.
“Some fathers were sending children to their girlfriends and mothers sending their daughters to boyfriends. In the end, the boyfriends would impregnate both the mother and her child. As a chief, I am grateful to the First Lady’s programmes.
“The Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba programme is good in that youth did not understand that the way they were living they were violating tradition.
“During the teachings, I was surprised to know that boys did not know how to approach a girl, how to propose marriage and how to conduct the lobola process,” he said.
He added: “We continue encouraging our youths to continue following tradition, especially when it comes to marriage, and for people to enter marriage only when they have come of age. We must marry when we understand what a home means and what is expected of someone who is married.”
He wished the First Lady long life and more ideas to ensure people return to the observance of their culture.
With the way chiefs, communities and the nation at large have embraced the First Lady’s programmes, there is no doubt that Zimbabwe will soon bid farewell to challenges affecting youth today.
