Kuwadzana—Election day was something I was waiting for, with all the knowledge I had gained on equal participation and women participating in politics from our LEMHs 12-day boot camp. I eagerly observed everyone around me with a lot of curiosity from the time I got to the polling station until I returned home. People were doing their best to avoid conflict by adhering to the rules of the ZEC and they were very happy to exercise their rights along with me.
The disappointment came when I saw only male candidates campaigning to be councillors and members of the parliament (MPs) in my constituency, Kuwadzana Extension Ward 44. Several questions came to my mind about why we didn’t have any women running because it was my first time seeing such a scenario. I had to ask my neighbours and friends who were close to me as to why this had happened and their answers shocked me. From 2008 until now, there have been a number of recorded deaths in our constituency and the victims were councillors. Because of this, many women were discouraged from running for office due to the fear of also falling victim to unexplainable deaths. There was also a woman who was a previous member of parliament and she faced a lot of abuse and even violence. This further discouraged women from campaigning and running for political positions.