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Tribute to Claris Chopamba
Fourie Revai, Charity Hodzi and Vimbai Njovana
August 25, 2013

As three women we are tired of the constant vilification of women’s bodies. The control of the sexuality of women by men, other women gatekeepers and the state at large continues to haunt Zimbabwean women. Yes we are tired; for our anger has been seething and the recent death of Claris Chopamba has blown the lid off of this boiling pressure pot. The main issue that is there is violence against woman. Zimbabwe! another woman has been killed! And there we go again with our morality and our so called chastity caps.

Claris’ parents have lost a daughter; someone has lost a sister and another person a friend. Claris is a human being and we women though we did not know her in person have lost another woman in our battle for womanhood. Zimbabwe is busy making clandestine contestations about the fact that she was a ‘small house’. Yes she was a ‘small house’ and so what! Please take of your moral caps and your chaste hearts and remove the scales from your eyes and see murder for what it is. Murder! A woman has been killed and we are wailing. Our hearts are broken because Irvine Mereki shot her and justified that he had to kill for the sake of his so-called investments that he made. We are busy once again justifying the ownership of women’s bodies by men. Oh, he is justified because “he had paid for her upkeep and therefore had bought her! She was his” they say.

His, since when we ask? He left his home and his family to be with her. He made a choice and her death is not meant to be put on the moral scale of whether she deserved to be killed or not. Please, get off of your high horses and see this for what it is. Murder, violence against women, issues of masculinity and femininity. What makes a man a man? Yes that is what is at the heart of this murder and it is violence in its worst form. To justify our not acting we will say she deserved it; after all she had spent his money. Then we shy away. The next murder that takes place we will justify it once again and say oh, the man was going through financial distress blah blah blah! Seriously, for how long shall we continue to have this moral cap protecting abusers such as Irvine Mereki and glorifying them?

We say rest in peace Claris Chopamba, we did not know you but we know there are many who knew you. You do not deserve the kind of death that you experienced at the hands of Irvine Mereki. We love you as you are part of our fabric as women. We refuse to have people smear your honourable self and body by calling it Irvine’s. You are Claris, you are a woman and we will always remember you!

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