‘Govt committed to women empowerment’

Mash West Correspondent
Government is committed to promoting women empowerment programmes in accordance with the country’s Constitution, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has said. Speaking at the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs outreach programme at Karoi Junior Primary School in Hurungwe last week, Minister Ziyambi said Government introduced empowerment programmes precisely because of its commitment to uplift women.

“This is the reason why some parliamentary seats are reserved for women,” he said. “Women have also been accorded the right to access employment in various companies through gender parity process.

“Whenever a man is selected for a job, a woman is also accorded the same opportunity regardless of her status.”
Minister Ziyambi said the move was calculated to ensure that women were involved in the national development agenda.

“The empowerment programme acts as a catalyst that ensures participation in the national development agenda and teaches them, at tender age, that they can be whatever they want in the world regardless of their gender,” he said.

Permanent secretary in the same ministry Mrs Virginia Mabiza said Government would expeditiously align laws that push for women empowerment to the Constitution.

“Our Constitution stipulates that women should also be accorded the same right with men in all the facets of our lives as Zimbabweans,” she said. “As a ministry, we will be aligning these laws so that they become relevant to our 2013 Constitution.”
The outreach programme exposed ordinary citizens on their rights as voters as enshrined in the country’s supreme law.
Government has also launched translated versions of the Constitution.

Already, the Constitution has been translated into Shona, Tonga, Kalanga and Ndebele. According to Mrs Mabiza, translations into the remaining 12 vernacular languages will be completed by next month.

Minister of State for Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs Cde Webster Shamu and some traditional leaders also attended the meeting.