The Women Electoral Convergence (WEC) rally held on Friday in Bulawayo could be a harbinger for good things to come, as female leaders are now claiming their stake in national politics.
Comment: NewsDay Editor
Women have either been sidelined or accused of taking a backseat on political issues, but the Bulawayo rally shows that women have the capacity to leave their cocoons and become leaders.
Zimbabwe is a signatory to many regional and international protocols on empowering women and the Constitution is also clear that there should be equal participation of men and women in politics.
Sadc’s gender protocols call for equal representation of men and women and the WEC rally gives a serious base for strong leadership and participation from women.
Zimbabwe has for long paid lip service to empowering women and this has been reflected by a lack of representation of women in decision-making process and in leadership positions.
As they say, elections are a game of numbers, there are more women than men in Zimbabwe and if they can come together and vote for each other, females have the potential to become forces for change.
The idea that women should be cheerleaders for men should be dumped immediately, as more women leaders continue to emerge.
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There is need to keep up the momentum, with such rallies being held regularly and across the country, to show that women can come together and lead, without the backing of men.
This will inspire young girls to believe there is a place for them in political leadership and this should not be considered just a domain for men.
The saying, a woman’s place is in the kitchen belongs to the past, as more women should be coming up through the ranks as leaders.
It is important that female political leaders dispel the notion that they are dependent on men and the mantra should be women can do it for themselves.
Thus, we welcome the WEC rally, which we believe is a springboard for strong and resolute women leadership.
We hope that such platforms can help groom strong and capable women, who get positions of power on merit and not on affirmative action.
While affirmative action is needed in empowering women, there is a general disregard for people, let alone women, who get into positions because of quota systems because they are seen as less qualified.
WEC should be a platform to identify and mentor female leaders.
