Online Reporter
Muchaneta Chimuka
The Government is working to improve the lives and welfare of persons with disabilities through the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), which seeks to ensure that no one is left behind.
This was said at a high-level indaba on women with disabilities, leadership and civic participation organised by the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
The indaba brought together Government ministries, civil society organisations and persons with disabilities to discuss challenges affecting women with disabilities and share their experiences and concerns.
Participants highlighted several challenges, including limited access to healthcare, assistive devices, disability-friendly infrastructure, interpreters and education.
The event was held under the theme: “From Barriers to Leadership – Experiences and Leadership Journeys of Women with Disabilities.”
The indaba sought to promote the recognition of women with disabilities and their participation in leadership, decision-making processes and access to opportunities such as shelter and loans.
Speaking on behalf of the Special Advisor on National Disability Issues in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Ms Rossy Mpofu, her personal assistant, Ms Maljan Azimana Fazilahmed, said there was a need to strengthen efforts to ensure the meaningful inclusion of women with disabilities in national affairs.
“If persons with disabilities are empowered, they can participate actively in national development initiatives,” she said.
“We thank the role and goodwill of the New dispensation for putting persons with disabilities on the National development architecture.
“Our President, Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa, in June 2018 launched the Disability Policy that recognises persons with disabilities at all levels.”
She said there is a need for more representation of persons with disabilities in the parliament and other Government ministries such that their voices can be heard.
“For many years, disability was too often understood primarily through the language of welfare, vulnerability and dependency, but Zimbabwe’s national conversation is changing.
“Increasingly, disability is being understood as a matter of rights, dignity, participation, empowerment and national development.”
She said the policy subsequently positioned disability inclusion within the national development agenda and the ambition of achieving an Empowered and Prosperous Upper-Middle-Income Society by 2030, and it recognises disability as a cross-cutting issue requiring action across Government and across sectors.
ZANU – PF Proportional Representative Member of Parliament for Midlands Province Hon. Perseverance Zhou said President Mnangagwa has repeatedly positioned disability inclusion within the national development agenda and the Vision 2030 journey, including in the 2025 engagement with persons with disabilities and the 2026 National Disability Expo, and that national direction gives them a foundation upon which they can progress.
Shamiso Kabayahwaro, a Social Development Officer from the Department of Disability Affairs in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, lost her sight at the age of 15 as she was about to write her Ordinary Level exams.
She was devastated but did not lose hope, and she proceeded with her education using braille and passed with flying colours.
She did her A Levels and passed, and she went for degree programmes and master’s and excelled.
She encouraged fellow persons with disabilities to utilise the laws that protect their rights and to participate in developmental programmes for economic benefit.
Shamiso lost her sight, but she has foresight and vision to prosper. Prominent musician Chipo Muchegwa, a woman with disabilities, shared her journey and entertained.
“I am a woman with disabilities, but I’m not shy, and I can make a living through music. Nothing for us without us,” she said.
Angelica Mkorongo speaks on how she was affected by some invisible disabilities (mental health or Psychosocial Disability), saying they are often a forgotten lot.
“Her disability is often described as “Shavi Redonha’ she does not like a dirty environment and is obsessed, and that condition developed into an illness that requires specialised treatment.
Shamiso Kabayahwaro, a Social Development Officer from the Department of Disability Affairs in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, lost her sight at the age of 15 as she was about to write her Ordinary Level exams.
She was devastated but did not lose hope. She managed to proceed with her education using braille and acquired her Master’s degree, which she passed with flying colours.
She encouraged fellow persons with disabilities to utilise the laws that protect their rights and to participate in developmental programmes for economic benefit.
“I did lose my sight, but I did not lose foresight and vision to prosper. Education is the only route to success for us persons with disabilities,” he said.
“Without education we end up being beggars on the streets, and I encourage parents out there to ensure that they don’t lock up their children with disabilities in the home because they are shy with them, but they should instead send them to better schools, and they will see the wonders.”
She said Zimbabwe promised, at the 2018 Global Disability Summit and renewed the pledge at the 2025 Summit in Berlin, a special focus on women and girls with disabilities.
“The Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 is that promise in law — gender-responsive implementation is how it becomes lived reality,” she said.
“Section 19 of the Act places minister to explicitly take duties to ensure that women and girls with disabilities enjoy human rights on an equal basis and to eliminate every form of discrimination against persons with disabilities.”
