Chronicle Editor
Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
IT is impossible for one to miss the sweet, soothing voices emanating from every corner of the Midlands State University (MSU) Kwekwe Campus construction site.
The sea of people clad in blue work suits is going about their duties where a 110-room double-storey structure is being constructed.
On close scrutiny, one will notice that the majority of the workers are women, hence the dominant sweet, soothing voices around.
Women are in every corner of the site, behind wheelbarrows, on shovels, in foundation trenches or on top of a supporting structure doing bricklaying.
This is the situation at MSU Law School, whose construction has come as a platform for women to showcase their talent as well as a second chance for some.
The construction of the law school in Kwekwe has brought about cheers to the faces of stakeholders and local residents particularly women who constitute about 80 percent of the workforce on site.
Out of 239 workers on site, 170 are women.
While one stakeholder after another speaks glowingly about development that the state-of-the-art law school would bring to the city, women are more joyous about their empowerment as they believe empowering them, empowers a nation.
For Rosemary Mutasa, who is a breadwinner after separating from a husband she said was abusive, this is her chance to rejuvenate her life and glow.
“I was married when I was very young and my husband was very abusive.
I had to go back to my parents after raising two children.
My parents are not working and rely on vending.
I had run out of options but when I heard about this campus, I approached my councillor who negotiated for me to get a job. Since then, my life has changed,” said Mutasa.
She said this was her first job and it has come as a game-changer for her family and has given her a sense of purpose.
“At one time I thought of committing suicide because I had nothing to do, nowhere to go, but this has become a sort of rehabilitation centre for me,” she said.
Bertha Zhou is the site administrator and she is excited to be part of the landmark construction of the campus. She said challenges were there for women but they were insignificant.
“I am very excited to be part of this project as a woman.
To think that one day I will also point at this structure and say I was part of its construction, would be a dream come true.
Everything is going on well on site and most women are happy and if they encounter any challenge, they come to me and we address them as women,” she said.
As for Pauline Kazembe, the site safety, health and environment (SHE) officer, the water issue on the construction site has been the only hurdle but she said it was being sorted out.
“Toilets are there for both men and women.
In fact, there are more toilets for women than there are for men given the numbers.
We are also in the process of constructing more toilets.
We are, however, working on water to be available at every time as you know women require water for hygienic purposes.
We are glad that our management listens to us and they are addressing the situation,” she said.
During a recent tour of the plant by stakeholders, about three kilometres along Old Gokwe Road, the first thing that the MSU Kwekwe Campus director Mr Richard Dube, tells anyone who inquires how proud he is of his female workers.
“Before we start talking about construction here, I should hasten to say I am proud of the work that the women are spearheading at this place.
All this work is being done by women as you can see, they are everywhere and doing everything,” said a visibly satisfied Mr Dube.
“We started work on May 3 to be precise, but look at the progress that we have made with these women.
I will not talk about men because they are outnumbered here, so I will talk about women, they are doing wonders.”
He said water was being drawn from Kwekwe River about a kilometre from the site and was in abundant supply, all that needed to be done was to ensure that it is accessed in toilets.
The man responsible for recruiting the workforce, Mr Richard Ben who is the site supervisor, said they would have to teach most of the women from scratch.
“When we recruit them, they will be raw, unskilled.
We do not recruit them based on qualification, but we have to teach them from scratch and they have grown to become the best in what they do.
As you can see, we do most of the work here, serve for a few that needs to be machined and, in every department, there are women.
They have learnt so fast and are now literally spearheading this project,” said Mr Ben.
Most of the women are now experts in various construction aspects.
He said there was no policy to recruit women over men.
“They just came looking for jobs through their councillors and we took them on board.
At first, we thought they couldn’t work on construction sites, but now we are proud of them,” he said.
Ward 8 Councillor Edumakomborero Mlambo was elated:
“If you empower a woman, you empower the nation, this is what is happening here and we are very proud of the MSU guys.
Above all, they are employing local people, all these people are from Kwekwe who came through their councillors from different wards.
We are really grateful for that,” he said.
Kwekwe Town Clerk Dr Lucia Mnkandla was jubilant for both the business aspect that the development will bring and the women empowerment part.
“Of course, we are very excited with this project as it will bring about economic development.
This will mean more infrastructure and business will shift towards this area so that the students can easily access services.
But above all, we are excited with the number of women we have seen on the ground.
This is in line with the gender mainstreaming aspect that our Government is always emphasising on,” she said.
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