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Zanu PF's latest gimmick: Women
Priscilla Misihairabwi & Grace Kwinjeh
February 13, 2005

HAVING thoroughly messed up the land distribution process, Zanu PF has a new target - women.

In a desperate bid to deal with the twin problems of succession and growing national unpopularity, the ruling party has found a scapegoat: women.

Women have become the latest cover for the regime to implement and complete its insidious agenda of retaining power at all costs.

During its 24 years in power, and many more years as a party, Zanu PF has routinely neglected and marginalised the women in its ranks and Zimbabwean women as a whole.

However, desperate to retain its stranglehold on power, the ruling party is now making a cynical attempt to hoodwink the public into believing it cares for the welfare of women. Recent developments within the ruling party concerning the fate and status of women cannot go unchallenged.

The recent history of Zimbabwe is rich with examples of Zanu PF trying to repackage itself to gain national support and international acceptance. In 2000, a popular movement rejected the government-sponsored draft Constitution on principle - because the people knew that the process was flawed, and that no worthy document could emerge from such a process. Just as many pro-democracy activists saw through that deceit, we must rise to the challenge and see the recent development within Zanu PF in the same light.

Many women first became activists in the women's movement in Zimbabwe having realised that Zanu PF had failed the generality of Zimbabwean women.

The liberation struggle did not result in our emancipation. In fact, as a liberation party that went through an armed struggle, its structure and system are based on male superiority ideology: patriarchy.

From the onset we need to demystify the appointment of Joyce Mujuru as Second Vice-President and the status of Zanu PF women as a whole. The patriarchal nature of Zanu PF has ensured that no strong woman in her own right has emerged out of the Zanu PF system before now. This is also why the question of gender equality, both nationally and within the party, remains unresolved.

It must first be understood that Mujuru is only acceptable to President Robert Mugabe as his Vice president because she does not threaten his hold on power, either nationally or within the ruling party.

She has been propelled to the party's top most position precisely because she poses no threat to any of the distinct factions engaged in a bitter power struggle within Zanu PF. These include the Zapu faction, Emmerson Mnangagwa faction and, of course, the Mujuru faction led by her husband, Solomon.

Putting Joyce Mujuru in the Vice presidency does not change the fact that Zanu PF remains the same dictatorial regime with nothing to offer the people of Zimbabwe. It is still the source of our misery. Women and children form the majority of the three million people in need of food aid. They are the victims of the collapsed education system and those experiencing the effects of the crumbling health sector. They continue to suffer as a result of Zanu PF's bankrupt policies, and the party's sole interest in retaining power at all costs.

Reform of a corrupt political party or system does not come with appointing a woman. Mujuru's appointment does nothing to address the real questions of governance and democracy. The crisis confronting Zimbabwe is not about the biology of those in the governing hierarchy, but their ability to deal with critical national issues.

If one examines the way the new quotas for "women's empowerment" are being handled, it becomes clear that Mugabe is in control. There was no democratic process of nominating or selecting constituencies for women. The women being put in the so-called constituencies set for them are simply replacing Mugabe's enemies. The absurdity of the whole process becomes evident when we see that women form the majority of those protesting against the imposition of "women's constituencies".

Even those women who have been in parliament in the past 24 years, it is clear that they have operated within a framework defined by the men - hence their failure to push the women's agenda at a broader national level.

If this is the behaviour of Zanu PF, what is the lesson for women in the alternative movement, MDC? We are fighting the same beast, patriarchy, which transcends every aspect of our lives - at home, in church and even in the political system we belong to.

As we struggle within the MDC, we are clear that patriarchy is an enemy we will fight within and outside as we refuse to play junior partner to our male counterparts. It is important that our colleagues understand that the issue of gender power relationships cannot be separated from the whole fight for human rights and democracy.

Therefore, we remain cognisant of the fact that in the alternative movement we have a twin struggle. We must remain vigilant in transforming our national political system into a people centred one. Internally we must ensure that our party lives up to its promises and moves towards a better life for all women in Zimbabwe, regardless of their political affiliation.

This commitment is made at many levels. Within the MDC, there is a grassroots women's agenda. Our National Women's Assembly, held in Masvingo in October 2003, passed a resolution stating that one third of all MDC posts throughout all MDC party structures will be reserved for the nomination of women candidates. The National Executive and National Council adopted the resolution unanimously. On top of this we have mainstreamed gender in all party policies.

Nationally, as MDC women we will continue to fight for democracy and human rights for all Zimbabweans. We will carry the burden of arrests, torture and rape from an illegitimate and evil regime.

Likewise, we will continue to insist that our own system does not do to even one woman what Zanu PF has done to Zimbabwean women.

To achieve that we call upon our allies in civil society, the region and the international community to stand with us as we push the MDC women's agenda forward.

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