InfocusNews 23 - 27 August 2021
School Pupils to resume classes
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EARNERS will once again resume lessons following three months long holiday due to COVID-19 with parents raising concern over preparedness for public exams which was affected by the global pandemic. Schools closed on 4 June and were set to open on 28 June but re-opening was postponed as COVID-19 cases and deaths kept surging. Announcing the new development on Wednesday, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the Government had also considered rolling COVID-19 vaccine to 14–17-year-old learners to curb the spread of the virus. “Regarding Primary and Secondary Education, the collaboration between the Ministries of Primary and Secondary Education, and Health and Child Care has buttressed the sector’s COVID-19 prevention and management systems. The two Ministries met with provincial teams to evaluate progress in the implementation of the Joint Operational Plan of the Standard Guidelines for the Coordinated Prevention and Management of facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
COVID-19 at Learning Institutions,” said Minister Mutsvangwa. “The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education also met with teacher organisations and deliberated on the safe re-opening of schools, among other issues. Noting with satisfaction the preparations for the resumption of classes in schools, Cabinet is advising that schools will reopen on 30 August, 2021 for examination classes, and on 6 September, 2021 for non-examination classes,” she said. Minister Mutsvangwa added that inter-city and intra-city transportation for learners will be allowed during schools re-opening periods which will be subject to close monitoring by law enforcement agencies. For teachers the opening of schools brings relief to learners who had been exposed to all forms
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of abuse while at home. They said the delayed opening put them under pressure to ensure learners whose studies have been disrupted for close to two years are ready for examinations. “We are grateful that learners will go back to school because these extensions were exposing them to a number of social ills like abuse. However, the Government may claim that all is set but we know that teachers are going to bear the brunt and forced to work overtime so that learners especially Grade Seven, Form Four and Six write their exams although we know they are not ready,” said one of the teachers from Nyamandlovu who proffered anonymity. Ms Eveline Nyandoro from Nkulumane suburb said despite relief that learners will be back at school, the Government was supposed to
InfocusNews announce at least two weeks before so that parents prepare finances. She said most residents had lost means of income due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown and that sourcing fees and stationery within four days will be impossible. “The truth is our children are not ready for public examinations, especially those in rural areas who last accessed proper learning last year before COVID-19. Yes, we are happy children will now focus on their studies but I doubt that as a country we are ready for public examinations,” she said. Mrs Thembelihle Sibanda from Esigodini added that the Ministry should also consider repeating other grades for learners at Primary who could have forgotten what they had mastered during the prolonged days away from school. “Our children have been working in the fields and playing all this while since COVID-19 broke out and I doubt it will be wise for teachers to expect them to be up to date since they could not access online lessons. If possible, they should consider repeating their grades even next year so that they are not affected in the future. Yes, we need them at school learning but there is no point in ignoring reality on the ground,” she said.
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Sexual and Reproductive Health continue being disrupted due to lockdown
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OVID-19 containment measures have succeeded in reducing new cases and deaths but have disrupted women and girls’ access to education, livelihoods, food security and access to services including Gender Based Violence (GBV) support and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). This has further left many women and girls in rural areas exposed to all forms of GBV with no access to police and healthcare services when in need. One of the Domestic Abuse survivors who preferred to be identified as MaNcube from Gwanda said she struggled to access medical attention after she was battered by her husband.
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“By then I did not have airtime or the strength to walk to the police station and had to wait for four days until I gathered strength to walk and narrate my ordeal to my neighbor. We then proceeded to the police who helped me with the case but I think these services should be decentralized to every community so that we get timely help,” she said. “These services are nearer to those in urban areas but some of us on this side can die during disputes because police, clinics and other organizations are not within reach. I know of a neighbor whose in-laws convinced not to report her abuses because she had no one to turn to nearby and that is how most women continue suffering GBV in silence.”
InfocusNews Adult Rape Clinic Director said there were cases of rape where survivors are failing to access police and healthcare centers within the recommended 72 hours because of the lockdown. She said while others could make phone calls to report violations, some women could not afford to hence they suffered in silence. “The COVID-19 restrictions affected access to services for survivors from the onset of the global pandemic as they did not have exemption letters and with closure of offices, others totally failed to access the adequate services. We have a record of some rape victims who could not access police within 72 houses but we are helping them to ensure they get justice,” she said.
“Despite these challenges we managed to offer some services in partnership with police and other CSOs and we will make follow-ups to ensure that every affected woman and girl is helped.” Musasa Project Advocacy and Communications Officer, Ms Rotinah Mafume Musara said the organization had to establish a mobile shuttle service to cater for GBV victims who could not access their office either physically or through phone calls. “We had to resort to mobile shuttles which we would send to GBV survivors as many could not access services. Our call-in centre was also busy and we received a number of calls from affected women and girls whom we are assisting even up to date,” said Ms Musara.
Lockdowns compromise Local Authorities’ service provision efforts
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OVID-19 induced lockdowns have compromised Local Authorities’ service provision efforts, mostly due to low streams of revenue generation. These sentiments were highlighted
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“The lockdown measures also exposed women to a number of abuses and left many girls at the mercy of pedophiles who took advantage of them.” Matabeleland South Acting Provincial Police Spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Thabani Mkhwananzi said despite lockdown measures police were attending to GBV cases from different areas in the Province. “Travel was restricted to a few essential workers but since we remained open throughout, we did receive a number of GBV reports. We continue urging the affected to speak up and seek services because we have trained police officers who are ready to assist them anytime,” said Assistant Inspector Mkwananzi.
InfocusNews by Mr. Sibanda from Lupane Local Board during a Stakeholder Engagement Meeting that was conducted by Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) together with Sibanye Animal Welfare Conservancy Trust (SAWCT). “The Local Authority has been faced with challenges in its service delivery efforts, mainly as a result of low streams of revenue collection amid the COVID-19 period. This has been exacerbated by the fact that people also can’t pay rates because they have also been negatively affected by the lockdowns economically,” said Mr. Sibanda.
meetings where the council should interact with residents, and in trying to use online platforms, some have experienced network challenges while others have no smart phones. Hence, for the same reason, we failed to conduct budget consultation, ” he added. As part of the initiatives to disseminate information to residents, the local authorities came up with a system that they deem effective in communicating with stakeholders.
He went on to discuss some of the challenges that the Local Authority has been facing such as failure to conduct meeting with the community.
“In terms of trying to come up with a way forward, we recently installed the housing module. It’s a computerisation program which seeks to communicate with the community in the form of SMSes.” He went on to explain some of the problems they are currently facing in this system.
“The Local Authority has also been unable to conduct quarterly
“You will realise that most of our clients did not leave active phone
numbers, so we are trying to work on that system to input all our clients into that housing module so that when we have a meeting, we can use it in the form of SMSes to communicate and send messages.” As a mechanism that was initiated by Lupane Local Board, Sibanda highlighted that there was need to consult the residents. “We will consult the residents who will then determine if that is the method, they want us to use because we believe the involvement of the community is very important in decision making.” In this era where public gatherings are not permitted, it is important to have such systems put in place to ensure residents are up to date on what is happening in their locality and get authentic information from the Local Authorities.
Common myths about the COVID-19 vaccine Myth: It is not safe to take the vaccine during menstruation Fact: Menstruation has no effect on the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine
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Community Voices
Outreach programs: Alternative in raising awareness on voter registration
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OVID-19 has robbed citizens world over of a number of rights and these being their democratic right to register to vote. In Zimbabwe, Gwanda is experiencing low turnout of registered voters as citizens are not going enmasse to register to vote. By Makara Alice Masawi In the run up towards the 2018 Harmonised Elections, interest by Gwanda residents to participate in democratic processes had increased community meetings as
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citizens were now actively attending community meetings and other democratic processes. I believe the best way that can address the challenge of low voter registration turnout is to increase outreach programs in and around Gwanda. These can be in the form of road shows where there can be a person encouraging citizens to go out in their numbers and register to vote. It can also be done through the circulation of messaging or Voice Clips on voter registration through social media platforms like WhatsApp.
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At the moment, 2023 might appear far but we are nearing the election year and being caught unaware and unprepared as citizens is the least of the worries, we would have to deal with. My encouragement goes out to Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) whose role is on advancing civic engagement and raising awareness on voter registration. Now is the time to go around encouraging the community to register to vote as well as to assist the community to check whether or not their names appear on the voters’ roll.
Electoral Information Blitz is not much but those are the statistics alarming as they are,” said Silaigwana. Silaigwana said ZEC is aware of the need to make the registration more accessible especially to people with special needs, the remote areas and as such outreach blitz will be conducted once the COVID-19 regulations permit.
ZEC alarmed by low voter registration turnout
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imbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has raised concern over the low turnout for voter registration in Matabeleland South, Bulawayo and Matabeleland North citing that the three Provinces risk losing some seats to other Provinces who have more people registered to vote. This was said by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s Voter Education Co-Ordinator Silas Silaigwana as he highlighted that ZEC is concerned that these three Provinces have not registered more people as expected during a Twitterthorn that was organized
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by Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) in partnership with Urban Culxure Magazine. The 12-hour long discussion focused on raising awareness on key electoral processes and how citizens can actively participate in these processes so as to claim their democratic rights. “For Bulawayo, 250 000 registered, Matabeleland South 260 000 and Matabeleland North 230 000, kindly note these are derived from our 2019 database but given that there have not been any significant registration post 2018 elections. It
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During the discussion, Emilia Bundo, Media and Information Officer at Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) cited that becoming a registered as a voter, gives citizens the right and responsibility to elect leaders of their choice and enhances participation in democracy. Bundo stated the importance of enhancing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s independence, tightening the role of traditional leaders in elections, improving results management and streamlining election dispute mechanisms. Presenting during the Twitterview, America Ndlovu, a Gender and Inclusion expert acknowledged how electoral violence affects both men and women differently citing those women are more vulnerable to sexual, emotional and in some instances physical violence while men are subjected to physical violence. Dr Gracsious Maviza, an Aca-
Electoral Information Blitz electoral process. “Authority to govern is derived from the people through a free, fair, credible, and peaceful election. Without active participation, the government will not be reflective of the will of the people. Elections will only reflect the desires of a very small fraction of society.”
Click Here to follow the discussion demic Researcher cited that when women engage in electoral processes as candidates and or activists, they tend to be seen as deviating from their traditional roles and threatening male dominated power structures. “Proponents of patriarchal ideologies may instigate violence against women to push them back to ‘their lane.’ There is also need for deliberate and robust laws that are specific to the protection of women against GBV in public spaces, especially political spaces,” she said. Speaking on Youths and Elections Zimbabwe, Nhlanhla Moyo who is the Program Officer at Dot Youth Zimbabwe expressed concern as he said that youths have been divided through systemic exclusion which has made it easy for them to fall prey to tokenism and being used as tools to further bad goverfacebook.com/wildtrustzim |
nance and authoritarianism. “I also have to add that education on democracy for young people must not just be a responsibility of schools and universities, communities must contribute to that education. Honestly, we cannot talk about youth participation and leave out comprehensive information,” he said. Tatenda Kombora, a Gender Activist emphasised that young people must understand why they must vote and urged responsible institutions and other interest groups to invest in voter education and providing them with the requisite documentation and other necessities. Rudo Motsi, who is a Programs Assistant at Election Resource Centre (ERC), emphasised the need for citizens to exercise their civic rights and partake in the
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Mosupatsila Nare, the Legal Officer at WILD shared some of the provisions set by the constitution that protect citizens’ suffrage rights. She further highlighted some of the remedies available in case of infringement of their suffrage rights. “The Constitution of Zimbabwe, Section 67 provides that every Zimbabwean citizen has the right to free, fair, and regular elections for any elective public office and has the right to make political choices freely. and participate in peaceful political activities.” Sharing his views on the role of the media in elections, Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) Director, Zenzele Ndebele cited that media’s responsibility is to inform and educate voters in order to promote effective participation and provide a platform for political candidates to elaborate their campaigns. “Media are essential, and a democratic election is impossible without media playing their part,” he said. Member of Parliament for Bulawayo Central, Honourable Nicola
Electoral Information Blitz increase the number of people who are able to register to vote. “The greater chance for a free and fair outcome is massive voter registration and turn out. The incumbents are not going to change themselves out of office, it’s the citizens and voters who need to show that they want a change. The Electoral Act should be amended in line with the constitution 50/50 gender parity,” said Honourable Watson. Permanent Ngoma who is the Programmes Manager at WILD, highlighted that continuous voter education is essential and encouraged the ZEC to decentralize the registration process so as to improve voter registration. Ngoma condemned political parties’ disregard of the Constitution. “The major challenge is the non-compliance of political parties during appointment and candidate selection criteria in terms of ensuring gender balance,” she said.
Watson highlighted that there is little urge among citizens to participate in electoral processes and she has taken up the role to try inform community members in her constituency the importance
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of full participation.
Tariro Gurure who is an inclusion practitioner and lead for the Actioned Voters initiative highlighted that she started an initiative to assist youths to register to vote after the realization that Bulawayo was having low voter turnout and this would affect the number of Constituencies in the Province.
She noted that COVID-19 has altered registration efforts but it is essential to adapt and emphasized the importance of increasing access to documentation so as to
“The most significant barrier is the inaccessibility of ZEC Offices to PWDs as there is no ramp. One solution is to decentralize the voter registration points. PWDs
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Electoral Information Blitz make up almost 15 percent of the population and can never be ignored so it is important that they participate fully and be equally
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represented,” she said. During the discussion, online users noted that voter registration
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is essential and there is need for increased voter education particularly in rural areas.
#myvotespeaks Digital Foot Prints #myvotespeaks Everyone who needs change should participate as it is everyone’s obligation to disseminate voter information however the public should desist from spreading false and unverified information. - @Rachealvoko2 Gender-Based Violence against female politicians contributes to the reduction of women contesting elections or aspiring for political office and also leads to limited visibility of women in political parties. I also picked up from the presentations that there is need to increase advocacy, sensitization and capacity building amongst relevant stakeholders in order to eliminate barriers that limit the participation of women in politics. - @Missfeminist6 @QueenUnika and @moyonhlanhla8’s session was very eye opening. I learnt that as the youth and especially young women we do not know the reason why we vote. As stated, that youth are the majority population in our nation which means we need to vote as this is our right and our voice. As youths we have an opportunity to make an informed decision and vote for a better tomorrow. – @Sarah_Y_Bonne The twitterview brought to light just how much information there is to know about voting and encouraged me to work harder at educating myself and those around me on why it is important to vote. - @SiboeSn There is a lot of advocacy, lobbying and policy review needed in order for female leadership as well youth inclusion so that they be fully enfacebook.com/wildtrustzim |
gaged in Electoral processes. These burning issues include, patriarchy, inferiority complex, exclusion, and generally violence. Therefore, there is need for robust activism from both men and women so that equity and equality can be achieved. - @Natalie86762813 The Twitterview hosted by @ CulxureMag and @wildtrustzim was a creative way to bring together different stakeholders to educate people on the electoral process and things that affect it. I applaud them for taking an initiative to have such a crucial conversation. This goes a long way to empower and conscientise people to exercise their right to vote. - @RukudzoIrene l learnt that for every process to be a success there is need for people to work together towards that particular one goal. As we are preparing for the 2023 elections there is need for us to work together towards voter registration and also making sure that every citizen aged 18 years and above has access to national documentation. - @sindienoku The Twitter view was very informative, fruitful and eye-opening. I was left challenged not just to talk about these pressing issues but stand up and act so as to generate new laws and cultures that’d sustain this generation and the ones to come and, in the process, pushing the movement of being the change I’m hoping to see. - @ChiveyaJennifer
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“We’ve been lied to. We are not future leaders, the time for us to be leaders is now. Motherhood is not the only thing women are good at, we are great leaders too. Also, realising that gender or being youths are not qualifications, let’s bring our brains to the table.” - @QueenUnika “Citizens can therefore use Section 67 of the Electoral Act to present petitions to the Electoral Court when they have grievances about electoral processes, engage and lobby bodies such as ZEC for the realisation of their voting rights, and submit petitions to parliament for legislative reform around the election legal framework.” – @mosunare “Electoral processes in other countries seem less hampered by issuance of documents & voter registration and automation of the entire voting process. At the very least we should have V11 forms that are preprinted with the candidates’ names for example.” – @NicolaWatson13 “The challenge we have in Zimbabwe is we have no media pluralism. Public media is owned by the state, and so-called independent media is owned by people linked to the state. So, we don’t have fair coverage when its election time.” - @zenzele
Electoral Information Blitz Prisca Dube was in agreement with Shava’s sentiments as she highlighted how contesting for seats for those in Proportional Representation would eliminate chances of looking down on women through making them feel unworthy to be in leadership positions. Also presenting during the Lecture, Mantate Mlotshwa, Project Lead at Magamba Network cited that quota systems can work if implemented in a proper manner.
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Political Party level Quota System should mirror National Level System
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he quota system should not just remain at National Level but it must cascade down to party politics. Presenting during the Women’s Elections Lecture, Obey Shava from Shava Law Chambers cited that is it disappointing that the quota system at the national level is not replicated in political parties. Political parties at their various organisations should ensure their parties have a quota system that mirrors the National level quota system. “The quota system must be reviewed and designed so that it confers on women on what is called elected legitimacy,” said Shava. “Every politician who is in power desperately needs electfacebook.com/wildtrustzim |
ed legitimacy, as it comes when people elect you into a position of power or into an office as opposed to being a beneficiary of an imposition process.” Shava added how the reserved seats should be subject to a competitive election among female candidates. That way whoever makes it will be close with elected legitimacy. “In Rwanda, there are 24 Provinces which are reserved for women where they are elected through a specialized designated Electoral College,” said Shava. “I hope to see that happening in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe should adopt that system going forward. The seats would be reserved for women but they will contest for those seats.
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“Zimbabwe has made it appear as though the only future for women’s participation is through a quota system approach,” added Mlotshwa. “When tracking the electoral cycle from 2013, up until the 2018 elections, you will notice a huge drop in women who are elected as Members of Parliament.” Honourable Lindiwe Maphosa highlighted the need for political parties to submit party lists that are gender sensitive as a way that will ensure women’s active participation in elections. “We need a policy clearly spelt out by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission or any other Election governing body that compels political parties to submit gender sensitive party lists,” said Honourable Maphosa. “If a political party fails to submit a party list that is not gender sensitive then there should not be in any way that it will be considered for an election.” Presenting during the Lecture,
Electoral Information Blitz Honourable Tatenda Mavetera said that the women’s quota is a provision that enables women to be included in politics. “Being put on a party list is not automatic that you will get into Parliament,” said Honourable
Mavetera. “When names are submitted, there are chances that your name does not qualify and focus is given to other party lists of other political parties. “We will need that party list that
Mrs Matilda Mpala from the Ndlovu village says for many years they had relied on the mobile centre that ZEC created towards elections.
Citizens travel at least 100 km to access Voter Registration Centre
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ICTORIA Falls, one of Zimbabwe’s cities does not have a single voter registration centre and residents have to travel at least 100km to the nearest one in Hwange, a development which could leave hundreds without the right to vote during the forthcoming 2023 elections. This comes at a time when Zimbabweans are struggling to access Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) offices to register to vote as they are centralized in Provinces and a few Districts.
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“Things are different now because of COVID-19 and if they do not hasten the process, we may miss out on registering as we know there is a delimitation exercise that should take place. Besides that, our children who are eligible to vote have failed to access registry offices which are also in Hwange. Only a few people can afford to use their money and travel to Hwange to register and we feel this discourages potential voters,” she said. Ms Abigail Nkomo said the city had developed over the year and grown meaning it deserves to have its own offices so that residents can find all services in one place. “We were declared as a city last year and I am sure we are the only city which does not have all services in one place in this country. Traveling to Hwange is discouraging and this may affect turnout by our people especially youths who may not be patient enough and sacrifice their hard-earned cash commuting just to get registered
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constitutes of one person who will be 35 years and below,” added Honourable Mavetera. “Having that person being placed at the end of the list limits their chances of making it to Parliament.”
to vote,” added Nkomo. “ZEC seems relaxed about this exercise and maybe they will put more effort towards the election day which is not good enough. If indeed this process is our right as they claim, they should at least consider that not all of us can afford to travel to their centralized registration centers,” said Ndlovu. Efforts to get comments from the provincial elections officer were fruitless but the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission whose offices re-opened last week said all their centres are now accessible for voter registration. In a statement last week, elections watchdog, Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (ZESN) called for massive voter registration, saying it allowed dispute proofing, especially in a country where the vote has always been contested. “Mobilising voters to register to vote in their numbers can assist in clearly determining winners in an election, and also consequently support acceptance to election results by those who would have lost the election,” ZESN said.
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