InfocusNews 19 - 22 April 2022
African Women Leaders Network Zimbabwe Launches the Bulawayo Provincial Chapter
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he day was filled with motivations, song, dance and ululations as a group of diverse women gathered together to witness the first Zimbabwean Provincial Chapter being launched two years after the launch of the African Women leaders Network Zimbabwe National Chapter. The Bulawayo Provincial Chapter, was launched by Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD), Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCOZ) and UN Women Zimbabwe. A total of 60 women drawn from the academia, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), the media, public leadership, religious sector, entrepreneurship, and politics convened facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
to understand how AWLN Bulawayo Provincial Chapter contributes towards strengthening the women’s movement in Matabeleland. African Women Leaders Network was established in 2017 with the intention to create a forum for existing and emerging women leaders across the continent to share their experiences and to create partnerships in order to work towards established African and International goals. The Network further aims to strengthen the capacity of women in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union Agenda 2063, a visionary framework for the socio-economic transformation of
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Africa.
Minister of Women Affairs, Small Medium Enterprise Development, Honourable Dr, Sithembiso Nyoni, who is also in the AWLN Zimbabwe Steering Committee gave the key note address and officially launching the Bulawayo Provincial Chapter, citing the importance for women to collaborate in advancing the women’s movement. She cited how the women’s movement should identify issues of common interest. Women present for the launch cited the power that lies in standing in solidarity with each other whether stemming from various sectors. Honourable Dr Thokozani Khupe,
InfocusNews who is a member of African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) Zimbabwe Steering Committee gave the background and overview of the National Chapter citing that AWLN is an action-oriented initiative that seeks to enhance the leadership of African Women in bringing transformative changes focusing on peace, security and development in the continent.
they can develop in their leadership journey.
“AWLN has priorities which must be translated into immediate actions inclusive of access to education and other vital tools for the modern marketplace, the core economy driven by women and girls must be recognized and adequately valued, women leaders including young female leadership must be present at the decision -making table to engage in the planning and implementation of key priorities with a gender lens and no woman or girl should suffer violence in silence,” added Honourable Dr Thokozani Khupe. “AWLN is mobilizing women towards a continental movement that will elevate the status of women’s leadership in Africa. AWLN will continue to advocate for bold changes and solutions that will sustain the gains made over the years taking into consideration that the advent of COVID-19 has rolled back the limited progress on gender equality and empowerment of women and girls,” she said. Young women present pledged to work as a collective in order for them to strengthen the women’s movement. They cited that mentorship is fundamental in ensuring
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InfocusNews suring teachers are well taken care of so that they teach. As long as we are not confident that teachers do a thorough job during school term, we will secretly engage them during the holidays, ” she said. The Ministry’s Spokesperson, Taungana Ndoro said extra lessons remain illegal and if parents do not report perpetrators, it will be difficult to charge any of the teachers without any evidence.
Government urged to improve on the welfare of teachers
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ARENTS have called on the Government to guarantee the welfare of teachers to bring an end to illegal extra lessons. Teachers have been conducting these against Government directive to help leaners catch up on their studies. With COVID-19 disrupting learning and teachers downing tools over welfare, many learners failed to access studies since last year. The Government on the other hand is calling on parents to expose teachers who are conducting extra lessons illegally. Teachers are charging R100 per subject for the extra lessons per subject. According to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, some schools are reportedly misleading parents that they have been given the green light to conduct facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
holiday lessons for examination classes. In separate interviews, parents said extra lessons were the only hope they have that will help children excel in their studies. “The Ministry keeps saying extra lessons are illegal but the truth is they are necessary if we want our children to pass. The same Government has been neglecting teachers who in turn have shortchanged our children meaning they are not up to date with their studies, ” said Joice Mbengano from Cowdray Park. Another parent, Nobesuthu Nleya from Gwanda said as long as teachers are not happy, they would not deliver 100% in class. “Yes, we pay fees in full but we cannot wait on Government because we know that our children are bound to suffer at the end. The Government should work on en-
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“I would like to urge teachers to be ethical in their conduct and not fleece parents through extra lessons. It’s unfair for parents to pay school fees and then also pay for extra lessons. Some teachers are not serious about teaching pupils in class so that they can create a need for pupils to attend extra lessons. Some teachers only become serious during extra lessons,” said Ndoro.
“With COVID-19 disrupting learning and teachers downing tools over welfare, many learners failed to access studies since last year...”
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ZITF: An avenue for informal traders to market products
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HE 62nd Edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Exhibition to be held in Bulawayo next week is set to open doors of success for small startup companies who will be part of exhibitors. This year’s edition of the ZITF will be held from 26 to 30 April. A total of 514 direct exhibitors has booked exhibition space and 71 of these will be exhibiting for the first time. About 14 foreign nations are expected to exhibit and these include Angola; Botswana; Ethiopia; Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; South Africa; Tanzania; Zambia; Belarus; Britain; Indonesia and Japan. The event will run under the ZITF theme: “Rethink, Reimagine, Reinvent Value Chains for Economic Development”. In an interview with Infocus, Sihle Maphosa who specializes in making perfumes from organic products said she will exhibit her products in one of the stands. “I think I am ready with my products and I know that the experience will open more doors for me and the business which I started from scratch to fend for my three children as a single mother,” said Maphosa.
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“I am happy because I will be sharing a stand with a fellow woman who is also into organic dried fruits. This opportunity will help us appreciate how other big businesses are making it and hopefully inspire us to grow our businesses so that we create more jobs and become financially independent.” Dominica Muringi said ZITF will also help women exhibit new products that they have been making during the past two years on lockdown. She said she had mentored hundreds of women into producing detergents who in turn had started their own small detergent businesses. “We have a group of us from our classes who will exhibit their products under the banner of the Min-
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istry of Women Affairs, Small to Medium enterprise Development. This program will help them grow their brands and I know they will gain the exposure needed to establish their businesses in Bulawayo and beyond.” For Mercy Museva who specializes in dress making, ZITF is a chance for her to showcase her skills and meet with potential clients. “I look forward to meeting new faces and fellow designers from other countries so that we can share notes on how to thrive in this business. As women we expect to be wowed and draw inspiration from key industry players so that we also grow our small businesses and make money considering that we live in tough economic times,” said Museva.
Electoral Information Blitz and ZEC is aware of all this. If ZEC does not extend this blitz, it means they would succeed in frustrating citizens like before so that they easily manipulate the voters roll and temper with votes once elections are done next year,” said one concerned resident.
Concerns over voter apathy as Mobile BVR Blitz draws to an end
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N eight days, the ongoing Mobile Biometric Voter Registration Blitz will come to an end in Zimbabwe with concerns that voter apathy and loss of confidence in the electoral system has seen many residents snubbing the process. The end of this mobile BVR Blitz precedes the delimitation exercise likely to see Provinces in Matabeleland Region losing a number of Constituencies due to low numbers of registered voters. Since April 10 this year, political parties and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have taken to social media engage members of the public through encouraging them to register to vote as a means of saving their Constituencies. Statistics trickling in from Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) however, show that only a few
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people managed to go and register despite the fact that the Civil Registry is issuing identity documents to enable those who are eligible to register with the necessary documentation. As the country gears up for the 2023 Harmonised Elections, there are fears that voter apathy may affect the whole process and make it easy for votes to be manipulated. In addition, if Provinces lose Constituencies, they may have decreased development funds to address service delivery in their communities. Although parties remain hopeful that more people will register during the coming few days, residents still maintain that ZEC should consider another blitz before the general elections. “Some of us have registered but a lot still need identity cards which are being issued at a very slow pace
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“Our youths are still sleeping in queues waiting for identity cards and until that issue is solved, we will not be able to have most of us registering to vote. Secondly, we do not trust the system, we have failed over and over and I am sure people think it’s better to lose Constituencies than have people tamper with votes,” said Sehliselo Sibanda from Nkulumane suburb. “Our party has asked us to go door by door and invite our neighbors to register to vote but still people are not interested. It’s a cause for concern that should never be ignored. With a week left before the blitz ends, I doubt people will be able to go to ZEC District Offices and register using their resources and this spells nothing but disaster,” added Fungai Moyo from Mpopoma. ZEC Spokesperson, Jasper Mangwana said it was too late for anyone to comment on the turnout in phase two as people are still registering. “We remind people to continue registering and take advantage of the blitz which will soon end. We were even open during the just ended Easter holiday and we will continue opening our mobile centre so that members of the public can register to vote in numbers,” he said.
Electoral Information Blitz
#EkhayaVote2023 BVR Blitz 20 April 2022
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Its day 12 of phase 2 of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) Blitz, and our team of 50 voter educators were deployed to embark on massive voter education and mobilisation as part of the #SaveConstituenciesCampaign, an initiative of EkhayaVote2023. The voter educators were also disseminating information on the ongoing National Civil Registry Blitz being conducted by the Registrar General’s Office. The #SaveConstituencesCampaign comes against the backdrop of Matabeleland Region lagging behind in terms of voter registration. Statistics from ZEC indicate that Bulawayo, Mat South and North have low voter turnout. This has serious implications ahead of the delimitation exercise scheduled for August 2022. With Zimbabwe being divided in 210 Constituencies from Bulawayo has 12, more 5 areas are in danger of losing their Constituencies if people do not register to vote.
Electoral Information Blitz
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Electoral Information Blitz
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Electoral Information Blitz
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Electoral Information Blitz
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