I was born in the 1960s into a family of seven children. My father was a builder and my mother a peasant farmer. At age 15 I joined the Zimbabwe war of liberation, and fought alongside my sisters and brothers for Zimbabwe’s independence, but also first and foremost to free the women in Zimbabwe from the bondage of slavery imposed on them as women. I have never believed that men make the best leaders or rulers in society. A
fter the war I co-founded the Zimbabwe War Veterans Association to give voice to veterans who were marginalised after the war. I entered active politics and for many years and served as a member of the central committee of Zimbabwe African Nation Union- Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), which I later left. In the 1995 elections I was the first and only person to challenge vote rigging successfully, and went ahead to win the subsequent run-off as an independent Member of Parliament. While in government I was a member of a number of parliamentary committees, including Public Accounts, the Committee on Indigenisation, and as Chairperson of the Local Government Portfolio Committee. I served in Parliament for ten years before becoming the first woman to head an opposition party in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Union of Democrats.
Throughout my life as an active politician I have remained focused on improving the lives of women. It has not been easy. There is still a culturally entrenched inertia to accepting women leaders, particularly in active politics. Formal political life has still not adapted to being welcoming of women political leaders. We are also facing arguments against gender equality that are being backed up by some of our religious leaders. The often quoted Biblical origin of women from the rib of Adam is often abused to mean that the women are subservient to men. Unfortunately many women themselves believe this, and accept the idea that they hold a lower status in society.
I believe in the power of self-actualisation, and have invested in my own personal development through education, pursuing a Masters in Public Administration at Harvard University. I now coordinate a voluntary development programme to uplift the lives of women and children in the rural areas through projects that are sustainable and make a real difference in their lives.
I am moved by the success of many women leaders like Mbuya Nehanda who stood up for their people. And I will never forget the competent involvement of women cadres in the armed struggle in Zimbabwe, which clearly demonstrated to me that there is no scientific basis for discriminating against women. I hold firm to my own belief that discrimination based on gender is wrong. We need to maximize our potential as human beings, and give life our best shot.