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The Interview Joseph Madzimure
he founding leader of Young Women for Economic Development Cde Tatenda Mavetera (TM) speaks on what drives her to establish the Young Women for ED brand, which has attracted a number of other affiliates to follow suit.
Our Senior Reporter Joseph Madzimure (JM) caught up with her to discuss a number of issues on what really motivated her to come up with Young Women for ED.
JM: I understand that you pioneered Young Women for ED (Economic Development), what motivated you to come up with the initiative?
TM: It’s not a secret that politics is patriarchal. The reason why I am saying so is that it is male dominated and men seem to want to run the show, so it only takes an initiative for one to realise that its quite important for us to also assemble ourselves and be united and also just be organised as young women to say that this is what we need to do. What I have realised is that even if you look at the numbers. I tell you, when I was in Mashonaland East provincial Youth League we were only four women out 40. That already showed that in politics there are fewer women who occupy senior positions.
It’s quite important for us to be on the affirmative, so that we get more women getting into politics. So for me my drive was for us to go on and support the President. What was really in my mind first was for me to say we need to support the President’s programmes and market his name.
We needed to come up with the programme to rally behind President Mnangagwa who is the party’s First Secretary and at the same time making sure that we empower marginalised groups.
For me, what was important was to come up with the name or something which would support the President and at the same time be able to make sure that we also push on economic development, on empowering women, making sure that the marginalised women participate in economic emancipation.
JM: Why is it important for women to be in top positions in politics?
TM: Women should be involved in politics, social economic structures of everything that happens in the country and also get involved in business. They should also start doing their own ventures and also to look at what NDS1 is offering in line with Vision 2030. Vision 2030 wants Zimbabwe to be an Upper Middle Income and the President is on record saying that Nyika Inovakawa Nevene vayo, so it requires dedicated young generation of women to get involved in economic development.
JM: Politics is a game of numbers. Since you are saying you are behind President Mnangagwa, how many registered voters do you have in your organisation?
TM: Numbers don’t lie; we have about 300 000 young women across the country. For us as young women, an affiliate to the ruling party, we don’t have the people, they belong to the party. We are an affiliate to the party, we are there to support the President and the party. We are there to mobilise people. We want them to support President Mnangagwa’s vision of leaving no one and no place behind.
JM: You said your organisation is also there to support young women in economic development. Can you clarify what is at stake for young women?
TM: We are not only talking of economic empowerment. When we talk of economic development, we talk about the President. When we talk about the President, we talk about economic development, so those are two rhyming words which literally mean the same.
What we have done across the country is for us to start programmes that young women will keep themselves busy. President Mnangagwa has said make money and indeed for us to be able to make money we need to be busy and we need to get involved in programmes that the President has initiated and also to initiate our own programmes, make sure we are self-sustainable.
We have programmes across the country. We are into piggery, the Presidential Piggery Scheme, which has seen women benefiting, with Bulawayo being the best. They started off with 15 pigs but now they are on 600 pigs which they pass on to the next group.
In Mashonaland Central, we have women who are into aluminium welding, which was previous dominated by men, so I wanted women to take up the challenge. We have trained women who are already manufacturing aluminium doors and window frames. In Mashonaland East, they are into mushroom farming. We have got women who are exporting mushrooms and even garlic to Namibia and South Africa. The markets were sourced by Zimtrade. In Matabeleland South, they are into onion farming, while Masvingo province is into poultry. We have got women who have benefited from the Presidential Poultry Scheme.
In Harare, most of them have graduated in Nurse Aid, daily consumable manufacturing.
Now we have our own brand Young Women for ED which will soon penetrate the market.
We have manufactured roll-on, lotion and dish washers.
JM: Are you working closely with the Zanu PF Women’s league, I understand they are also doing the same?.
TM: Yes, we really appreciate them. We work hand in glove with them. They are very supportive in ensuring young women are empowered and participated in politics.
We don’t need to get into a time of fighting, but we need to walk in glove with our elders and this is exactly what we are doing as Young Women for ED. We understand the Women’s League have done that before, so we need their support. They know exactly where they want us to be. We have done programmes in line with NDS1, we got women who are into mining, we have mining claims in Matabeleland South. This exactly what we want to achieve. President’s call is to have a group of young people who believe in hard work. We want to thank our President; he has shown that he is a hard worker. We also commend the First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, who is also a hard worker. She works 24 hours a day! She is all over the country.
JM: What are some of the challenges you are facing as Young Women for ED?
TM: The challenges that we face are of limited resources, we might not be able to stretch out to every other woman out there. We always try to reach out. Sometimes we can be limited by resources, if we manage to get enough resources, we want to empower everyone. We also believe in us being united as young women and also having pass-on programmes going on such as goat programmes launched by President Mnangagwa.
JM: Your message to young women who want to be part of the group.
TM: Let’s get involved. We want to support President Mnangagwa. He sacrificed a lot for the nation. He has gone beyond what any person can do to show that he loves Zimbabwe.
He has worked hard in terms of infrastructure development, improve social and economic development. He managed to rehabilitate roads, bridges, clinics and schools, Innovation hubs at tertiary institutions to make sure he is really serious to get Zimbabwe to the next level.
We want young women to be involved, we don’t need to sit at the periphery and just watch. We want young women to get involved in business and be patriotic. We are not apologetic about patriotism and loving one’s country. We need to see where the future is. The President has pushed for young people to get into politics and we need to embrace this big gesture.
JM: Did you use Young Women for ED as a springboard to contest for the parliamentary seat in Chikomba West where you won in the primaries and now you are battling it out with CCC candidate Mr Muchengeti Chinembiri?
TM: The primary election was not easy. It’s always the case that you need to put extra energy to achieve your goal. On my part, I was the only female candidate from the women’s quota who contested at constituency level and grabbed the opportunity to represent the party.
My background as an actress also helped me a lot to be accepted by the electorate. I also appreciated President Mnangagwa for giving us an opportunity as young people.
The President called for free and fair primary elections, so that gave me the courage to challenge for the seat. It was not easy but I have to soldier on and I want young women to take up the challenge in future.
JM: What should Zimbabweans expect from Chikomba West, come August 23?
TM: I am absolutely certain that I will win the seat for the party. We just need to increase our numbers from the previous elections. Chikomba West its predominantly a rural constituency, hence I am very confident to win resoundingly in all the 16 wards.
I am carrying out a number of projects in Chikomba West meant to benefit the electorate such as borehole drilling under the Presidential Borehole Drilling Scheme. Development of the massive Manhize project is underway and we expect many of our youths in the supply chain and also get employment.
Online Reporter