By Rutendo Bamu
POLITICS remains a hard-hat area in Zimbabwe, forcing many women to stay away from the political fray despite the new 2013 Constitution having provisions in section 17 expressly say both genders should be equally represented in all institutions and agencies of government at all levels.
Women are broadly absent from politics, they are seen as mere window dressers to the political struggles, but never as political agents. Even those who go against the grain and achieve prominent positions are also frequently treated in the same reductive and limiting way.
These matters came closer home recently when the main opposition, MDC held its 20th celebrations at Rufaro Stadium, Harare, reflected the patriarchal nature of Zimbabwe’s political terrain when despite its avowed progressive policies, women are still chided like kids and made to live with humiliation even in public.
The MDC’s patriarchal leadership attitudes were exposed by the party’s leader Nelson Chamisa when he grabbed the microphone from his wife Thokozile before she could conclude her brief speech to the party followers. The images of the incident went viral on social media, drawing mixed reactions, but the reality of the matter was it should have been looked using gender lenses.
This was unprovoked humiliation and further proof that women in loft positions like Thoko can suffer public humiliation like their poor and vulnerable women in the ghetto and villages.
Chamisa was heavily criticised by social media users in the last few days after a video of him grabbing the microphone from his wife circulated on social media, his attitude to gender was viewed skeptically by many.
However, after that incident I thought those who call themselves gender activists and feminists would intervene and call for an apology from Chamisa, but they are nowhere to be found when they are needed most.
It is sad that our biggest parties within Zimbabwe do not operate on strict value systems, which pretend to hold to in public and their statements.
It seems as if the gender organisations are politicised, considering that the last Chamisa said he would give away his sister to President Emmerson Mnangagwa if he won the presidential election, gender activists came to Chamisa’s defence. Gender activists in Zimbabwe proved to be opportunists, who are only chasing money not really gender activism.
I looked forward to see some of the great women activists like Musasa Project, Fadzai Mahere, Joanna Mamombe and Linda Masarira, just to mention a few, and see if they qwere going to censure Chamisa for humiliating his wife in public, only to realise they only comment when it suits their agenda.
Whither feminism and gender equality.
