By Grace Kwinjeh|Determined and raring to go opposition politician and leader of the Progressive Democrats of Zimbabwe, Barbara Nyagomo, this weekend officially launched her party in the rural Gombe village, Seke.
 
The increased recent visibility of women in Zimbabwe’s national politics, does indeed, beg the question whether the country is now ready for a female President. Nyagomo is counted among notable women who have over the years, been building their profiles and portfolios to challenge Zanu PF’s hegemony in national politics in the next and very crucial 2018 Parliamentary and Presidential elections.

The 2018 election is a crucial make or break for a country which was once the bread basket for Africa, now brought down to its knees by years of lack of accountability and unbridled corruption, causing millions among them Nyagomo to leave for the Diaspora to make a fresh start.
Even though in 2013 the Zimbabwean government adopted and implemented in the constitution a special quota for women in Parliament, their total representation remains at 35 percent in the current Parliament, a celebrated increase from 17 percent in the 2008 Parliament. This means the women still have a long way to go in making an impact in political leadership to increase their visibility.
However, Nyagomo a health and social worker is back in her home country with a fierce determination to be part of the national discourse for a better and prosperous Zimbabwe as she pushes the agenda of the party she formed in 2014. Membership cards for the party are being sold at $1USD.
”PDZ will not make unrealistic promises of two million jobs and houses for all by 2020 – but will create a democratic, enabling environment for economic transformation, where there is respect of the law and fundamental human rights,” reads a statement issued by her information department.
In what her campaign team have dubbed “The Meet the President Tour,’ the humble leader of one of Zimbabwe’s new and upcoming opposition political parties, vowed to carry out her campaign using public transport. “I refuse to move around in a fancy car whilst people are struggling,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
Her campaign has taken her to visits of impoverished and neglected areas such as Matapi hostel in Mbare, to meeting with traditional chiefs and engaging a small but growing rural support base.
”The formation of PDZ was the culmination of many years of suffering and failed attempts to reach out to the elite leadership who have formed a social class that is above its people. In addition, many years of research and discussions have been undertaken to ensure a clear identification and understanding of the citizen’s fears, concerns and hopes for a better Zimbabwe are taken into consideration,” she said.
Her connection to the rural community being her own humble beginnings as she identifies with the struggles, the rural peasants whose support she is now courting daily face. The Zimbabwean government was earlier this month forced to declare a state of disaster in order to win international sympathy and receive more aid for the impoverished and needy communities.
Zanu PF politicians continue to bicker for power while Zimbabwe burns with an incredible indifference to the suffering masses who elected them to office in the first place. Zimbabwe is suffocating over the unresolved and deadly succession dispute within Zanu PF and politicians like Nyagomo who take time, to be with the people and hear their needs offer the much needed relief.
The World Food Programme for instance estimates that about a quarter of the population are in urgent need of food aid, apart from a plethora of social ills the country is struggling with.
The United Kingdom based social worker has been slowly and surely building her PDP party, sponsoring candidates who stood against Zanu PF in the by-elections held last June. “I think we are going to do very well, if we strategically move, because we are at a point where people need new ideas, new politics, young people, youth and women to participate,” she told journalists at the time.
The PDP did well in the Nkulumane constituency where it came second to Zanu PF, beating other opposition parties that contested elections.
Nyagomo and her PDP party are also part of the National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA) process which aims to push for electoral reforms, to enable free and fair elections in 2018.
According to the PDP information department Nyagomo deliberated on the following issues in her meet the people tour:
✌the founding of PDZ in September, 2014
✌challenges & successes
✌challenges,
✌The Nkulumane by – elections
✌party logo any sign
“Supporters had a chance to throw questions her way and she tackled them like the seasoned leader that she is. Issues of youth unemployment, projects, sanitation, roads, access to education and health facilities were raised,” reads a statement they issued.
Her unrivaled humility was clear for all to see as she was swarmed by children, mothers and grannies -as they jostled for a photo moment with the president.