By Own Correspondent| A local women’s non governmental organisation, the Women In Politics Support Network ( WIPSU) has called on President elect Emmerson Mnangagwa to fulfil on his commitment to gender equity by being inclusive in the choice of his cabinet and ensure a 50/50 gender representation.

In a statement, WIPSU said:

CALL FOR THE PRESIDENT OF ZIMBABWE TO APPOINT A 50/50 CABINET & PRIORITISE THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN

Women in Politics Support Unit (WiPSU) congratulates His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe, Emerson D. Mnangagwa on his inauguration. We urge our new President to lead in the building of a new Zimbabwe by demonstrating his commitment to gender parity as enshrined in the Constitution by appointing a 50/50 Cabinet and proceeding to prioritise the rights of women.

We welcome the commitment to Constitutionalism that the President made at his inauguration, and accordingly draw his attention to Section 56 (2) of the Constitution which provides that “Women and men have the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.” Therefore, we strongly urge the President to stand guided by the principle of equality and non-discrimination.

We call upon the President to demonstrate his commitment to equality by appointing a Cabinet with equal numbers of women and men. This action would be a clear demonstration of the President’s commitment to equal political opportunities for women and set the tone for the entire State to abide by Section 17 of the Constitution which calls for equal representation of both genders in all institutions and agencies of Government at every level.

Such a high level decision on the numbers of men and women in our Cabinet would be a reflection of the President’s commitment to respect both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution, as well as the National Gender Policy that unequivocally articulates that all governance institutions must be characterised by equality of the genders amongst those appointed or elected therein.

We implore the President to move away from the tradition of completely disregarding one of the country’s founding values and principles and avoid a Constitutional crisis.

The perennial failure to appoint women to Cabinet and to the Executive, in equal numbers to men, if continued, would be indicative of continued lack of political will to address glaring gender inequalities 38 years post-Independence.

We refresh the President’s memory and remind him that there are 117 women who are MP’s Elect, ready and fully capable of taking up positions within the Executive.

In addition, the President has the additional powers to appoint five Cabinet Ministers from outside Parliament. Therefore, we believe the President has the opportunity and the accompanying group of persons to make gender parity in Cabinet a reality.

We commend the President, for recalling in his inauguration speech, his “promise that (his) administration will continue to prioritise the advancement of women, youth and people with disabilities in every sphere of our economy.

Whilst we are encouraged by the President’s declarations to ensure the advancement of women through strengthening their capacity in the economy; we urge him to ensure a prioritisation and promotion of the rights of women in the President’s 2030 Agenda; in particular, ensuring a governance system which is responsive to women and women’s rights.

This key element must be central in building the path of equality and inclusiveness, which is badly needed for the President’s successful administration of Zimbabwe.”