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Analysis of coverage of women politicians by the print media in Zimbabwe
Women in Politics Support Unit (WiPSU)
January 2003

Reports on Women Politicians’ Official Work
The reports feature mainly the Governor, the Ministers and Deputy Minister. There are two articles each on the women Parliamentarians without portfolio and the Deputy Mayors. They are summarized below:

1. The Deputy Speaker’s reading out of a ruling that the opposition chief whip in Parliament had been found in contempt of Parliament. Daily News, 11 October.
   Whilst the story carries pictures of both the Deputy Speaker and the opposition chief whip, it only makes a passing reference to the fact that the Deputy Speaker read out the ruling. Otherwise, the story is really about the chief whip’s behavior that resulted in him being charged with contempt of Parliament.
   
   
2. The Minster of State, Science and Technology, Dr. Olivia Muchena calls on the business community to invest in research and technological development. The Herald, 14 October.
   The Minister made the call in order that there be a critical mass of scientific and technological skills for the advancement of agriculture and industry. The article explained that the call was in line with government policy promulgated in June 2002 that seeks to coordinate all initiatives in this field and supervise the implementation of the policy as well as develop a regulatory framework. The report carried a picture of the Minster.
   
   
3. The Minister of State for the Land Reform Programme, Flora Bhuka calling for the establishment of a revolving fund to facilitate the acquisition of agricultural inputs to cater for the new farmers. The Daily Mirror, 23 September.
   The Minister pointed out that the District Development Fund could be used to acquire the requisite equipment such as discs, trailers and combined harvesters. She expressed that her Ministry would provide training courses to the new farmers so that they equip themselves with farming skills and ultimately produce better yields. The report carried a picture of the Minister.
   
   
4. Rural farmers plead with the Minster for Rural Development and Water Resources, Joyce Mujuru to reduce electricity costs. The Daily News, 23 October.
   The article alleged that some farmers in Masvingo had pleaded with the Minister to reduce the costs of electricity on the basis that they could not afford the water and electricity charges.
   
   
5. The Governor for Manicaland Oppah Muchinguri suspends preferential food distribution to the disabled amid allegations of abuse of the facility. The Daily Mirror, 18 December.
   The move was allegedly taken to ensure that everyone had a fair share of the scarce food supplies.
   
   
6. The Governor of Manicaland lambasted the Police and traditional leaders for allowing corruption to take place at food distribution points in the Province. The Daily Mirror, 10 December and the Daily News, 9 December.
   The Minister castigated officials for practicing corruption in the distribution of food and thus disadvantaging the public. Two newspapers carried the story.
   
   
7. Tourism improves in Manicaland. Daily Mirror, 12 November.
   The story carried a picture of the Governor of Manicaland. The article gave information on the improvement of tourism in the Province. However, the story did not, besides the picture of the Governor, show the link between her and the improvement.
   
   
8. Villagers blame their MP, Shuvai Mahofa over incomplete road project. The Daily News, 13 December.
   The Deputy Minster/ MP explained that the project remained incomplete because the government had not allocated funds for its completion.
   
   
9. Flora Bhuka, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Women’s Caucus states that women Parliamentarians were working together for the advancement of women-Daily Mirror, 8 November.
   The story quoted Flora Bhuka saying that women Parliamentarians wee putting aside their political differences to raise the status of women in Zimbabwe. The Deputy chair of the Caucus concurred with her.
   
   
10. Trudy Stevenson on the hiring of foreigners in the health delivery system. The Daily News, 17 October.
    The Member of Parliament called for better wages for locals instead of employing foreigners who would do a disservice to the population especially women. This was in light of reports that Cuban doctors in Bulawayo were removing women’s wombs.
    
    
11. Priscilla Misihairambwi appointed Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee. The Weekend Tribune, 14-15 September.
    The report acknowledged the appointment of the MP making her one of the two women MPs to chair parliamentary committees in the current Parliament.
    
    
12. Deputy Mayor of Harare, Sekesai Makwavarara receives 12 ambulances on behalf of the City form a local manufacturer. The Daily News, 16 October.
    The story narrated a hand over ceremony officiated by the Deputy Mayor.
    
    
13. Deputy Mayor of Bulawayo, Margaret Sibanda, takes part in a Clean Up Campaign. The Daily News, 9 October.
    The newspaper showed a picture, which was not accompanied by a report.
    
    
14. Councilor Monica Chigudu appointed alderman for Masvingo. The Daily Mirror, December
    She becomes the first woman alderman for the City of Masvingo.

In light of the fact that Zimbabwe has 16 women Parliamentarians, (including the Ministers/Deputy Minister and the Governor), and 45 urban women Councilors, the 14 media reports over a period of 4 months shows that there is very little coverage of women’s voices and ultimately women’s issues. The Minister responsible for Small and Medium Enterprises, Sithembiso Nyoni, was not covered in her official capacity during the same period. This results in the dilution of the voice of women politicians as a sector. There is need for the media fraternity to capture more often the voices of women politicians who are not necessarily Ministers.

Notwithstanding the limitation referred to above the quality of the reports is quite impressive. The reports concerning the Governor and Ministers/ Deputy Minister captured the policy issues involved and how the woman sought to tackle the issues. The reports on Governor Muchinguri, Minister Bhuka and Minster Muchena speak to this. The seriousness of the issues is well captured and the reader will begin to appreciate the role of women in decision-making positions and processes. Governor Muchinguri, for example, was very clear that she abhorred corruption in food distribution and would take necessary steps to ensure its eradication. Food distribution is currently a sensitive issue in Zimbabwe and the fact that she was able to talk about it shows her capabilities as a leader. The women were portrayed as women who know what they are talking about and have a plan on how to achieve it. This is instrumental in raising the confidence of the public in their capabilities.

The articles on the villagers complaining about the high costs of electricity and the improvement of tourism in Manicaland to some extent portray the manipulative nature of the media. Both stories made no effort to link the Minister and Governor respectively to the issues raised in the reports. No comment was sought from the women concerned. Thus, the media can destroy the credibility of a leader without giving her a chance to say her side of the story.

Surprisingly, there was only one article on women Parliamentarians contributions to debates in the House. This is the report on Trudy Stevenson’s comments on the Cuban doctors, which she made during the report of the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Welfare on Health Sector Reforms. The fact that the media was able to capture this is an indication that women Parliamentarians are taking women’s issues to the national agenda, thus linking women to the gender agenda. It also highlights the importance of women to be part of these processes so that women’s issues are articulated. Women Parliamentarians are contributing on women’s issues, as can be seen in the Parliamentary Hansard. The fact that a lot of these issues are not reported on is an indication that the issues are not given priority by the media.

The report on a constituency complaining that the road project was still incomplete demonstrates the high expectation of constituencies on their MPs to deliver. It also shows the need for communities to be educated on how MPs work so that they do not make demands that the MP on her own will not be able to deliver.

The fact that there were only two reports that featured the work of women councilors is an indication that women councilors are not considered to be at the center of national debates. This is unlike the numerous stories that were published on the conflicts between the City of Harare as a council and the Minister of Local Government and general problems surrounding both urban and rural councils. It was however impressive that the media was able to capture the Deputy Mayor of Harare in a serious manner and also portray her as a woman how could articulate issues of concern at local government level.

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