The Sunday Mail
Fatima Bulla-Musakwa
IT had always been Beauty Mususa’s dream to light up her rural village.
For years, she watched as women and girls in the Ruze community in Murehwa North travelled long distances in search of firewood from woodlands far afield. The distances travelled by the villagers grew with each passing year as the resource diminished exponentially.
“In 2015 I initiated a project to have electricity installed in the Ruze community,” she told The Sunday Mail recently.
Mususa, who is an aspiring councillor for her ward, aggressively lobbied her community to self-fund the project, which sought to electrify 300 households. No sooner had she embarked on the project than she began facing an age-old problem most women face when they try to lead community projects — patriarchy.
“Most households, especially those led by men, opted out of the project because they felt that as a woman, I would misuse their money.
“Some simply said they preferred not to be led by a woman. Others did not trust that I could drive such a big project because projects of this nature are generally considered to be men’s domain.”
Her dream seemed doomed to suffer a natural death. Her gender was standing in the way. Communities, she said, are robbed of their potential because they are hard-wired to believe women cannot lead.
Mususa, however, remained undeterred and pursued her dream with renewed vigour.
For four years, she hopped between countless village meetings seeking support for the project. She doorstepped officials at the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) Mashonaland East division and zesa (Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority).
With each disappointment, she became bolder. She successfully mobilised financial resources to procure electric cables and poles, among other equipment required for the project. And in 2019 her dream was finally realised.
“We mobilised a significant amount of money to purchase cables and poles which were needed by the service providers to commence work.”
Looking back, she reckons that had she allowed patriarchy to frustrate her efforts, her project would have failed.
“Many women out there are aspiring to take up leadership posts and steer development but have been derailed by patriarchal attitudes,” she said.
Breaking the glass ceiling
In contrast, the story of Alderman Resta Dzvinyangoma, who is the Murehwa Rural District Council (MRDC) Ward 1 councillor, is that of shattering timeless biases against women in local leadership.
As Murehwa’s first female councillor, she has broken barriers to become a leading light for development and women empowerment in Murehwa.
A seasoned public official, Alderman Dzvinyangoma has proven how women’s participation in politics is a critical conduit for community development.
During her short stint in council, she has mobilised resources for the construction of a secondary school and has led other developmental self-help projects in her community.
Although she has had her fair share of trouble with patriarchy, her work has inspired other women to take the plunge into local governance and community development.
She is vice chairperson of the MRDC. For years she has fought off patriarchy and lobbied for women involvement in local government.
“When I saw that most women were always begging for finances, I realised that by working with other stakeholders, we could start income-generating projects,” she said.
“Now most women are able to settle their council bills on their own. They can pay school fees for their children and they are adding value to their projects. “I am even seeing women getting chairperson posts at School Development Committees, local health committees, area committees, among other structures.
“The next thing, we will see more women standing for local government seats.”
While these two women have successfully led development in their communities, it remains woefully difficult for most women politicians in Zimbabwe to break through into local government leadership.
. . . A long road ahead
Although Zimbabwe has ratified international protocols that provide for seamless assimilation of women like Mususa to participate freely and on equal footing in politics and decision-making, this aspiration is yet to be realised.
Political leadership at local government level is still largely considered a domain for males. This is in spite of empirical evidence showing that women’s equal participation in politics and decision-making was critical for the achievement of sustainable development.
International protocols such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA), which Zimbabwe is party to, provide ideal frameworks for equal participation in politics and leadership for women.
The protocol, adopted at the fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, states: “Achieving the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision-making will provide a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society and is needed in order to strengthen democracy and promote its proper functioning.”
Sustainable Development Goal Five identifies women’s political participation as a main indicator in gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.
While these instruments provide models for women empowerment, the ideals are yet to be realised. Women’s political participation at local government level has remained abysmal.
Research by Gender Links, a regional civic organisation focusing on the promotion of gender equality and justice in SADC, revealed that the proportion of women participating in politics at local level has dropped with each election from 18 percent in 2008 to 14 percent in 2018.
The Constitution provides for a women’s quota in Parliament but that is not the case at local level.
Last year, President Mnangagwa assented to the idea of a quota for women in local government following intense lobbying at the inaugural Women Councillors Indaba.
“You are advocating for an improvement in your representation at local government level,” said the President.
“We fought for democracy and there was a lot of sacrifice for us to achieve that democracy. Currently, councillors are elected on the basis of that democracy. You are now asking me to panel-beat democracy in order to meet our needs rather than our needs to be met through plain democracy.
“Fortunately, I am in agreement with you, and that is granted, and I will ask the Minister of Local Government (and Public Works) to begin the process.”
Women want the law to be changed to provide a quota of up to 30 percent for all elected local government officials.
Women and Law in Southern Africa’s (WLSA) national director, Fadzai Traquino, said: “If men are always viewed as leaders, they are also faced with expectations and often times they fail to fulfil these expectations.
“Having conversations with both men and women is one of the ways we are beginning to challenge this.”
