Mutare—Defying ideals and norms set by the values of patriarchy outlining how women should be submissive stay-at-home mothers waiting to raise children, the women in Mutare Urban flocked to their different polling stations to cast their votes in accordance with Section 3 of the Constitution which talks about the right to political participation.
Prior to the elections, the Zimbabwean political arena had been devoid of women’s participation as a result of the country’s patriarchal background; but, the 2023 harmonised elections saw a change, a new wave of actively participating women who had the courage to both register to vote, run for office, campaign, and cast their vote come Election Day.
The usually quiet Mutare town area was buzzing with activity as people, especially women wore regalia of their different political parties, ready to make a statement. With the Zimbabwean women’s population making over 52% of the total country’s population, it is with immense pride that I note way over half of this number showed up to vote, which is a huge change as opposed to prior elections where mothers, daughters and sisters folded their hands and awaited the male counterparts to vote on their behalf under the pretext that claims, “ana baba ndivo misoro yemba, naizvozvo ndivovanotiitira sarudzo” (men are the heads of the house, therefore they make the decision for us).
I would like to commend the generational pace setters of Mutare Urban who show how women are more than just mothers by lining the markets with stalls and being street vendors in order to feed their families. This on its own shows that the days when women would just wait on their husbands are long gone and we have a substantial number of Lady Hustlers, Divas if you may, willing to enact change by being politically active. This can also be seen on a national scale through the campaigning done by Elisabeth Valerio for the presidential office; it is opening a door to allow women to be vibrant and willing to partake in national politics aiming for things beyond just the National Assembly.
On Election Day, mothers awoke at the wee hours of the day to perform their daily chores, my own mother being one of them, and ushered themselves to the polling station where they cast a vote and came back home to carry on with their daily chores, this just goes to show that there is really never an excuse fashioned by patriarchy that can sway the heart of a determined woman. I believe for every woman who voted, it was a silent prayer for their emancipation.
Looking at the violence aspect of things, I would like to commend the outstanding peace that has been reigning all throughout the election. Here and there, there were ladies who felt like quitting because some ballot papers were late but I saw the majority going home to get meals and blankets to ensure that they voted against all odds and there was not really any violence.
To wrap it all up, despite this election’s dismal numbers of active women running for office, there was an astounding number of women registered to vote and true to their word showed up to cast their votes. So while some women still remain reluctant, the commendable efforts of those going out there to represent the majority of the nation by voting or running for office deserve their flowers because a win for one woman, is a win for generations of women to come, all believing in the power of WOMANDLA.