Annually, the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence runs from November 25, International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women, all the way through to December 10, Human Rights Day. Throughout the continent, this period is marked by various activities such as walks, runs, media reports on the status of women, etcetera. As compared to South Africa, for example, Zimbabwe, marks this period in a rather muted way for a country whose status of women has reached an all-time low. The verbal and physical abuse of women, particularly in politics, has heightened. Domestic abuse has escalated across the country. The generality of women continue to mind their own business by staying in their lanes whilst remaining in a conscious and deliberate mode, of what I have come to call “deaf, sometimes mute and consistently strong”.
The Sunday Maverick with GLORia NDORO-MKOMBACHOTO
A greater representation of women in the government is bad news for corruption
It is always said that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. This is certainly not true for Zimbabwe. Recently, President Emmerson Mnangagwa was appalled to discover that some members of his inner circle were criminals, thwarting investment by demanding bribes for securing one-on-one meetings with him and others. As the president expressed dismay at this discovery, many were not surprised.
The president is surrounded by a bunch of mostly entitled men. This is a system that was inherited from the previous dispensation of which the president was part of. According to a June 14, 2018 public release by EurekAlert, Global Source for Science News, “A greater representation of women in the government is bad news for corruption, according to a new study published in the Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation.” The findings of the report was based on a “cross-country analysis of over 125 countries, where this study found out that corruption is lower in countries where a greater share of parliamentarians are women.” The study further found out that “women’s representation in local politics is important too — the likelihood of having to bribe is lower in regions with a greater representation of women in local-level politics…”
Representation of women in decision-making organs of the state in Zimbabwe including the private sector is very low. Under the guise of conservatism, Zimbabwe has generally been unkind to its women. Affirming qualified and experienced women in leadership roles, including empowering women in government and politics has not been prioritised. The evidence is there for everyone to see. Women in Zimbabwe are underrepresented in all decision-making spheres of life.
Empirical evidence is also abundant that talks to the fact that progressive women politicians choose policies that are more closely related to the welfare of women, children, and family. It is, therefore, safe to conclude that given the opportunity, women policymakers in Zimbabwe, given the opportunity to be, are most likely to be less corruptible than men, to have an impact on corruption because they choose different policies from men and are likely to behave differently from men where bribes are on offer.
A lesson for the presidium
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The lesson for the presidency is that unless the representation of women is increased in key posts in government, state-owned enterprises and in the presidency, criminality and corruption by the organised cabal of entitled men will continue unabated. But first, the collateral value of women as a progressive constituency must first be recognised. Until that happens, every year, Zimbabwe will continue to celebrate the 16 days of activism with muted tones whilst the general status of women continues to diminish.
Strength in women is overrated and burdensome
Women in Zimbabwe constitute 52% of the population. As a majority, Zimbabwean women are not only saddled with the burden of institutionalised exclusion in all key parts of the economy, they are also survivors of being the reservoirs of strength in their social settings.
Those who came before, the grandmothers and grandfathers, the aunts and uncles, the extended families, neighbours, communities and so on, collectively taught young women growing up to be strong. Weakness was condemned and despised. Strength represented many things. Strength could be the ability to stand up for oneself. It could be the capacity to not break in the face of all forms of violence and abuse by close people. It could also represent the ability to work hard and pass at school, including working hard tilling the fields in order to get high crop yields. And so women became strong. But that strength can be problematic.
In adulthood, strength to overcome adversity is important and vital. In Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa it is a necessity because women are always a target of objectification and forever being given more or less the same status as children for example, “a bus travelling from X to Y carrying 80 people had an accident. 40 people died including 16 women and 12 children…” the story lines always says. Women and children are always equated — diminishing women’s real value. Even some ministries of women, lump youth and everything else that does not fit elsewhere in that Women’s ministry.
But strength is a heavy load to carry for women. Strength without intrinsic value can be burdensome. Strength is lonesome. Oft times, strength can be a liability because as one remains strong it creates the wrong impression that one is capable and infallible. The illusion of an all too powerful matriarch can also unconsciously minimise those around. People around can become weak, not because they chose to, but because that strength overshadows without empowering them, it sidelines and is over-arching without tooling them on how to equally be strong.
To be strong is to draw from a power located right at the core from inside oneself. New Jersey Rutgers University Academic Dr Tendai Ndoro calls it “inpowerment.” That process of drawing from within the depths of yourself is a personal one. The outcomes are overt, but the process of delivering the outcomes is covert. There is no manual on “how to”. It is a personal journey influenced by the echoes of the voices of those that were around us growing up.
The tragedy with wielding too much strength is that should ever one stumble and become vulnerable to require, say emotional support from the beneficiaries of that strength, sometimes the emotional support is not forthcoming. Many women have set themselves up family reservoirs from which strength could be drawn. But when they need to draw emotional support from others, there will either be resistance or failure to rise up to the challenge, making the seeker of the emotional support vulnerable. Vulnerability becomes high risk and women default back to strength. That is why many strong African women just get on with it. There is no time to gauge ones’ vulnerability. This is a source of stress and illness for many women.
With the economy worse than it was in 2008, women in Zimbabwe are carrying the brunt of the pain. It is expected of them to, at household, social and even at national level. This expectation is an unprofitable enterprise for women. It is an unfair expectation from society to burden women with being the reservoirs of strength. But then again, in life you do not get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate. Meaningful negotiation hardly takes place in organised formations. It is high time that women in their individual capacities took back their power and freedom and unchain themselves from the shackles of limitless strength.
Gloria Ndoro-Mkombachoto is an entrepreneur and regional enterprise development consultant. Her experience spans a period of over 25 years. She can be contacted at [email protected]
