adminThe Herald, March 19 1980
DURING the war, women guerrillas proved they could hold a gun and fight shoulder to shoulder with men, Mrs Julia Zvobgo said yesterday.
Mrs Zvobgo, who is also the wife of the Minister of Local Government, Dr Eddison Zvobgo, told an all-white cultural meeting arranged by the NUF that women had finally been accepted and treated as equals in the ZANLA army.
At first, because of the traditional status of black women, the men had been reluctant to accept women in their ranks.
But a shortage of fighting men had forced ZANLA into using women, and they proved “they could fight like men,” she said.
After that, men and women were treated equally in ZANLA camps. “We all wore the same pants, did the same jobs and did everything together-even in the kitchen men took their turn.”
Traditionally it was taboo for men to enter the kitchen, but this was one of the many outmoded African customs that was done with in the bush.
When she first became involved in the struggle, Mrs Zvobgo said she had been appalled to find that in the refugee camps in Mozambique black women “were really backward in most things”.
She said the black women’s inferior position in African society in Rhodesia had been caused by lack of education. This had been caused by the system in the country, which did not offer free education to blacks and parents, most of whom were poor, could only afford to send their boy children to school.
Women could only be truly freed through education, Mrs Zvobgo said. She said she would like to see the Government stop the system of polygamy.
“We will continue to press for the removal of polygamy”, she said.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
Today is International Women’s Day and the whole month of March is “women’s month”. It is celebrated under the theme: “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a Covid-19 world”.
The Covid-19 pandemic has presented new challenges that require women to rethink their leadership strategies.
This year’s IWD is special as women also celebrate two women who have shattered the glass ceiling and landed the most powerful posts on the international stage: Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and United States of America Vice President Kamala Harris.
An economist and development expert, Dr Okonjo-Iweala, became the first African woman Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. The former World Bank development economist and Nigerian Finance Minister is also the first African to land such an influential position.
Kamala Harris is also the first woman to become Vice President of the US, and she is also the first African-American to become the second most powerful person to land a post that could see her becoming the first woman president of the United States.
The 2021 theme is pertinent, since women, children, the elderly and disabled have been the most affected groups by the Covid-19 pandemic.
A number of them in the healthcare system, media industry and security sector have succumbed to Covid-19 related complications, due to lack of adequate personal protective equipment in some cases.
Today we pay tribute to all women leaders who succumbed to Covid-19 related ailments. They include Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba, Janet Munyaka, Rosemary Siyachitema, Zindziswa Mandela, journalist Karima Brown and many across the globe.
Due to lockdowns, many women have been victims of gender-based violence and human rights abuses. But this has not stopped other women with influential leadership positions to promote gender parity and equal opportunities.
Online Reporter