Call to support women candidates

Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland Bureau
WOMEN must support each other in the forthcoming elections to increase their representation in Parliament because they are better placed to solve problems faced by women all over the country.

Speaking during the first leg of nationwide Women’s League rallies in Mutare last week, Zanu-PF secretary for women’s affairs Cde Mabel Chinomona said women had the power to elect more female leaders, as they constituted the biggest chunk of voters.

“President Emmerson Mngangagwa asked me to look for women who could be appointed to lead in various areas. He wants people who can deliver. Those people are among us here but as women we don’t want to uplift them. Women constitute the largest number of voters but you don’t vote for other women. At the end of the day we then say the President is not appointing women into Cabinet. Let us give those who are capable the chance to represent us, let us put them in those positions that will make them recognisable,” she said.

She said it was sad to note that only three constituencies out of 26 in Manicaland province were being led by women.

Cde Chinomona said if women were elected into office, they would be able to ensure that problems unique to them were quickly resolved.

“A woman knows what happens in the maternity ward. She knows what happens when there is no water and they need to give birth. For the hospital to get water and electricity, it needs councillors to make those decisions. So how will our clinics make life more comfortable for women when the decision-makers are all men?” she queried.

She urged women to work together and forget past differences that had created divisions within the party.

“What is important is love among us. Don’t love me more than you love each other because I will go back to my constituency. Love the person you live with first. This is where it all starts. You cannot love someone in Mutare but fail to love your neighbour in Nyanga,” said Cde Chinomona.

“If the President could forgive people who tried to poison him, who are you to hate your neighbour who has not done anything to you except being better than you at something?”