WOZA in nation-wide talks with villagers

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Social justice consultations findings show rural people fed up with Zanu (PF)

‘Corruption topped the list, followed by escalating school fees and healthcare costs’

‘Our Chiefs are being used as pawns in a game of politics’


BULAWAYO - Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), last week visited Manicaland with the aim of consulting on Social Justice. The consultations are our way of finding out people’s vision of a socially just Zimbabwe. The information gathered will be compiled into a comprehensive document, the Dream Charter, and presented to the Legislature in November to serve as a guideline on how the electorate wants to be governed.

The Social Justice consultations and Dream Charter are modelled along the lines of South Africa’s Freedom Charter. This follows the realisation that unlike our SA counterparts who took the time to consult and to write down how they wanted to be governed after the attainment of independence, Zimbabweans simply waited for the freedom fighters to bring back independence but did not consult and indicate how they wanted to be governed, which has resulted in gross injustices.

Participants at our first port of call, Chimanimani Urban, said they longed for the lifestyle they used to lead in 1980 and beyond. Since then, their lives had lost all meaning due to the uncertain economic environment.

“We are failing to do the basic things that we could do in 1980 and even before independence, such as putting food on the table. Our lives now revolve around scrounging for crumbs to give to our children,” said one young mother.

They said the Legal Age of Majority Act had lost all meaning, as they had to fend for their children even up to the age of 28 because of unemployment. The old and disadvantaged, including orphans and widows, continued to receive ‘useless allowances’ or nothing from the Social Welfare Department.

Some of the concerns raised included escalating school fees and healthcare costs, but corruption topped the list.

“Corruption can only be dealt with at the core - which is at Government level. Leaders need to listen to the electorate’s grievances, we only see our leaders at election time. As for the chiefs, they have now been assimilated into the ‘corrupt breed’. They are now aligning themselves with the elite because they are now salaried and drive nice cars.

“The corruption has become so ingrained that you have to pay people to do their jobs, if you need help from the police you have to give them a ‘commission’,” said another Chimanimani resident.

The residents bemoaned the Government’s lack of transparency in allocating houses to victims of Murambatsvina.

“It’s been over a year since we lost our livelihoods to Operation Murambatsvina. We are still waiting for the government to construct the market shells they promised for informal workers. The houses we were promised under Operation Garikai have been doled out to the rich or the ‘more befitting’ such as the war veterans or the elite, and still we wait.

“The Council is now concentrating on shady deals and ostracizes the poor in the allocation of stands and land for agricultural purposes,” said another frustrated Chimanimani resident.

In Chimanimani Rural, Shinja area, participants were quite vocal, allaying a widely-held misconception that rural folk have remained staunch ruling party supporters, and are not very analytical.

The villagers demanded the right to be educated about their rights as their lives were now ruled by fear.

“We demand that we be educated about our rights. We do not know what is right or wrong in Zimbabwe any more as we are constantly being harassed. We are tired of the present leaders and need new blood, leaders who will listen to our problems and address them.

“The situation we are in right now is the same as a person who goes to bed but cannot change sides, you need to change sides and turn now and again, otherwise you wake up all sore and stiff,” said one old woman.

They complained that their chiefs were now being used as pawns in a game of political intrigue. Shinja villagers said they had become hopeless, and could longer afford to feed their families, pay school fees for their children or find any form of employment.

“Government should bring back commercial farmers so we can at least get jobs and have somewhere to buy food and send our children to school,” said another Shinja villager.

The villagers also demanded that the ruling party stop politicising food aid distribution. “If one does not hold a ZANU PF political card then they are not assured of receiving food aid, distribution should be left to the non-governmental organisations that bring aid. We also want the government to form relationships with other countries which can help us in trying times such as now,’ said another old woman.

The villagers demanded that the monetary authorities introduce ‘meaningful’ currency. Further consultations in Mutare in the Mahobo House area revealed the residents frustration with police’s heavy handedness in dealing with cross border trading. The residents agreed that in as much as cross border traders should follow certain procedures, police should be sensitive and also account for the seized goods as police end up benefiting from their toil.

“We demand our freedoms back, especially the freedom of expression. The police have now become more of ruling party spies, waiting to pounce on you if you say anything bad about the ruling party,” said a disgruntled youth.

Mutare residents also voiced their concerns about government’s neglect of health and education and the ruling party’s ‘omnipotent’ attitude.

In Nyazura, the villagers demanded that government start consulting and listening to their concerns and be tolerant of other parties and races.

“The land invasions scuttled our dreams because we were guaranteed jobs, but now we are not able to produce any food on the rocky patches that we live in. We cannot find employment elsewhere as commercial farmers were our only hope,’ said an unemployed Nyazura youth.

The villagers said they were tired of the current leadership, as it had failed to heed their problems.

“We have become ghosts in our motherland because the people that we elected to lead us have forgotten us. We should start incorporating whites in the leadership because we were better off in the colonial era, we need people with a conscience to lead us,” said one old woman.

The villagers said the government should help them start income generating projects to ease their hardships. They also denounced the use of bearer cheques and demanded proper currency.

“We are tired of using money with expiration dates, and when the currency changes we have no one to enlighten us and end up losing our money because these measures are effected without our knowledge, neither are we consulted. We want our coins back at least we could keep them safely and the money would still buy you something even after a year,’ said one elderly woman.

“We demand that some of the taxes that we are currently heaving under be removed or at least be reduced. How can we continue paying livestock tax when we are not benefiting from dipping facilities? What is that money being used for when we are being told that there is a shortage of chemicals?” Queried another villager.

They also agreed that leaders should stick to a five-year term and only be re-elected on merit to curb dictatorship tendencies.

In Kute village, in Nyamhanda Nyanga, villagers noted that the elected leadership was not serving people’s interests and demanded that more accountable leaders be allowed to take over leadership positions.