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Mujuru's
appointment not enough
National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
December
06, 2004
http://www.nca.org.zw/NEWS/mujuru.htm
The NCA congratulates Mrs Joyce Mujuru nom-de-guere Teurai
Ropa Nhongo for being the first woman in the history of Zimbabwe
to be appointed to the state presidency.
While we commend
the Zanu PF leadership for recognising the need for gender equality
and challenges all the other political parties to do the same, it
deplores the government’s failure to date to save Zimbabwe the shame
of having a Constitution that does not, in this modern era, guarantee
gender equality and protection from discrimination.
The elevation
of a woman in Mujuru to the Presidency; albeit with a national gender
policy; will not be of lasting benefit to the status of women as
it will be at mercy of the shifting sands of political whims. Unless
Zimbabwe anchors such progressive moves in the bedrock of the constitution,
equality and true democracy will be unattainable to the masses of
ordinary women – folk who comprise the majority of Zimbabwe’s population.
The NCA condemns
the failure of the Zimbabwe Constitution to have Gender Commission
and an equality clause. Section 23, the anti-discrimination clause
of the Zimbabwe Constitution is hopelessly inadequate as it prohibits
gender discrimination only by the state and the law, and not by
private persons. It does not protect women from discrimination on
the grounds of sex, marital status and pregnancy that women contend
with on a daily basis.
The NCA condemns
the licence in Section 23 to discriminate against women and others
in the fields of:
- the application
of customary law
- the use of
public revenue
- qualifications
for public office
- rights relating
to communal land
The Constitution
does not accord women the right to security of the person that would
protect them from gender violence, and does not provide for affirmative
action to address historical imbalances.
The Zimbabwe
Constitution fails women in that it does not guarantee economic,
social environmental and cultural rights and the rights of children.
These rights such as those to health, nutrition, natural and education
are issues central to women’s lives.
We remind the
government and all political parties that the number of women in
Parliament does not reflect gender equality. Only 13 female MPs
in a 150 member Parliament speaks volume of gender insensitivity,
which needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
The NCA challenges
the government to demonstrate not only recognition of the need for
gender equality; but commitment to it in the same supreme law of
the land; the Constitution.
This is yet
another reason why the NCA demands a new Constitution now. The NCA
reminds Vice President Mujuru, that if she ultimately takes up the
post of national vice president, she will carry with her the aspirations
of Zimbabwean women for their total liberation in completion of
the work she begun at Zimbabwe’s birth, in the Ministry of Community
Development and Women’s Affairs.
Fungayi Jessie
Majome
NCA National Spokeswoman
Visit the NCA
fact sheet
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