PRESENTATION BY DR JTR MUJURU ON THE OCCASION OF THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, UN INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY COMMEMORATIONS; 7 March 2017.

Women Leaders on the Global Stage: Lessons for Africa.

Our host, Professor Tim Allen and Event Chair, Tina Fahm, fellow distinguished panellists, invited guest, ladies and gentlemen, I feel highly honoured to be a panelist on this day, discussing women leaders’ challenges and opportunities they are confronted with in their endeavour to change the world.

I should, however, hasten to say that a more apt topic should have been “Women leaders on the Global Stage: Lessons from and for Africa. As African women in leadership we have stories, very powerful testimonies that, if shared, would inspire a lot of women globally. We are not just receivers of lessons from elsewhere, we also impart knowledge from our unique experiences as women brought up in extremely unique circumstances.

I am happy though that we are having to celebrate this years’ International Women’s Day at a time Africa has woken up to the reality of the marginalisation of women, especially the girl child. The African Union Commission declared 2015 as  the “Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development Towards Africa’s Agenda 2063”. Women represent more than half of the 1,2 billion African population with more than 50 percent of it under 25 years of age.

Women political leaders in different countries across Africa face numerous barriers to entry into the political field. While there are these challenges, they are not entirely insurmountable and unique to Africa. We take comfort in that the rest of the world seems to be making strides in breaking these barriers. We celebrate great leaders like Angela Merkel of Germany, Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia and Theresa May of UK among others. Currently, there are about 25 countries in the world with female leaders.

It is also heartening to note that Africa is coming around in terms of these stereotypes seeing that the first lady Chair of the African Union has just completed her term of office; something that was inconceivable a decade ago. In the same Commission, women hold 50% of the African Union parliamentary seats. Notwithstanding such milestones, the African continent remains a highly patriarchal society.

Due to the numerous armed conflicts in Africa which is home to nearly half of the 42 ongoing conflicts – African women who are in the majority are in charge of households and are key food producers.  They represent more than 43 percent of the agricultural labour force. Some of them are direct participants in the struggle itself. In these conflicts women are often victims of sexual predators who take advantage of the war. The sad story of the Nigerian girls kidnapped and abused by the Boko Haram comes to mind.

I happen to have spent about 8 years fighting in the war of liberation in Zimbabwe-fighting for our land and against racial discrimination. I had to fight to rise through the ranks to became a commander and trainer of combatants, mostly men.

While fighting the enemy, in our military camps, I was confronted by a different war; a war I had to fight against fellow comrades. Almost on a daily basis I had to stand up against the abuse of female freedom fighters by male commanders who were above my military rank. It was a cause I dedicated my life towards, a cause for which I almost lost my life.

My wartime experiences were an orientation to leadership from which I learnt to be tough when confronted by soft challenges and be cool, calm and, may be soft, when the going became really tough. I learnt to be calm in the midst of storms.

Post-independence, I was fortunate to have been appointed into Government at a tender age of 25, a privilege that was not afforded to many women gallant fighters. I rose through the ranks in Government to the position of Vice President of the Republic. I also owe a lot to an academic sojourn that I undertook while balancing equally important roles as a young wife, a mother, cabinet minister and, at the tail end of it, as a Vice President.

I am glad that as Minister of Government, through the Ministry of Women Affairs that I was heading, we passed good laws on women’s emancipation that included the Legal Age of Majority Act of 1982 and the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1985 among others. The former Act allowed women to own property in their names while the later recognised, for the first time in our country, a wife’s direct and indirect contribution to family property to be considered when distributing assets should divorce occur.

We believe, however, that these rights are now being threatened by a government that does not respect private property rights. As women, more so, as leaders in our country, we are fighting to ensure private property rights are respected for security of investments and creation of a conducive environment to doing business by both the local and foreign investor.

Today, these look like pretty obvious provisions attendant in every democratic and progressive society, but in Zimbabwe then, it was a difficult task to deconstruct and disabuse men of the Victorian male chauvinism that colonialism had reinforced on an equally patriarchal African tradition.

The gains might be coming slowly but we stand proud today that we have a constitution, crafted in 2013 during the tenure of our inclusive government; that enshrines gender equality and outlaws discrimination.

We have also achieved, through the 2013 constitutional provisions, a doubling of women representation in parliament to 35 %. It is a milestone, but our politics remains violent and repulsive of women participation. The story of Rwandan women shining with 64% of the country’s legislative seats inspires us to strive for more.

We African women are excellent in multi-tasking but it takes a lot of focus and determination. I am happy that the many years in the bush and the many years in government have prepared me to match whatever challenges come my way.

When it became apparent that I was the clear successor to President Robert Mugabe, men seemed not ready for that although the nation had fully endorsed my candidature.

What is sad in most of these cases of persecution and abuse of women is that men find willing accomplices in some of our own fellow women. This was the case in Zimbabwe where those at the forefront of side-lining me were fellow women. This is a cancer that we must deal with as women if we are to advance in various leadership positions.

We left ZANU PF to form ZimPF, a new opposition political party with liberation war credentials, which we have rebranded to the National People’s Party (NPP). Unfortunately, we had carried along male chauvinists who wanted me to front their struggle.

They wanted to capitalise on my brand and leverage support with the citizens but had plans to ditch me for a male leader once I had done all the ground work.  I endured insults and abuse from these male opportunists until I had to pick myself up in the interest of the common good.

This is the background to the so called split that you might have read about. I had to exercise my authority and expelled the rogue elements. Sadly, as always there were willing accomplices to help the men advance their cause.

As I prepare for my presidential bid for our 2018 elections, I take comfort in the fact that others have done it. The experience this far has hardened me and prepared me for the great task ahead. We pray that more and more women in Africa find the courage to challenge the status quo and seek to bring sanity to governance that has for long remained a male dominated arena.

In Zimbabwe, we have made significant strides that we can leverage on. Section 56, subsection (2) of our constitution states that “Women and men have the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.” It is a significant achievement that we, however, are fighting to be implemented through parliamentary acts that Mugabe’s government is not keen to promulgate.

The women of Zimbabwe, under the auspices of the Women’s Coalition, a network of Non-governmental organisations working on women’s issues, prior to my coming here, gathered and impressed on me to take our Section 56 campaign to you. So, we say, help us. Give us solidarity. Put us in your prayers. Give us wise counsel.

 

 

We have a duty as women, gifted in primary socialisation of children, to instil a non-violent culture in our children to ensure a violence free society. Women suffer more than men in political conflicts.

Where men just fear for physical harm on their bodies, women suffer both physical and emotional damage as we fall victim to both grievous physical assault and dire emotional distress as a result of rape, a form of violence mostly meted on women in conflict zones.

While we are glad that the political party that I lead, the National People’s Party, is currently drawing laws that criminalise sexual harassment in our party, we feel more has to be done for sexual harassment to be eradicated from our politics altogether.

In conclusion, I challenge fellow women leaders in more advanced democracies in the world to rally behind their female counterparts fighting the battle that they have had to wage and won.

We feel that, as women, we have a big role to play, not only in our domestic politics, but in world affairs and our unique experiences as Africans provide a new spectrum through which we can change the world. Let us support one another for a better world moderated by mothers who are experts in multi-tasking.

 

GOD BLESS YOU

I THANK YOU