Why women matter in parliament

Zimbabwe’s women can bring about sanity in parliament, preserve national unity and end corruption in the country’s parastatals, according to Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, the only senior member of Welshman Ncube’s Movement for Democratic Change still a legislator.

Misihairabwi-Mushonga, the former Minister of Regional Integration, said the bringing in of more women in parliament would change the way debate was done in parliament because there was now more oestrogen than testosterone.

Oestrogen is a general term for female steroid sex hormones that are secreted by the ovary and are responsible for typical female sexual characteristics while testosterone is a chemical substance produced in the body that causes men to develop the physical features and characteristics that are typical of males.

“The face of Parliament changed significantly on the issue of gender. For many of us, who have been activists on the issues to do with women, we are excited that for the first time, this House has more oestrogen than it has testosterone. One hopes …that it will change the way debate is done in this House,” Misihairabwi said in her contribution to the Presidential speech.

The new constitution, adopted in March, allows for greater women representation in the legislature but the 31 July elections failed to meet the target of having at least half the representation as women.

“The reason why we have had major problems, confrontations and conflicts, is precisely because the more men you have in a place, the more testosterone, the more ego and the more you do not make sense. One hopes that with the introduction of women in this House, we will see a major difference……

“I am hoping that the more women we have in this House, we will begin to have sense because when you are dealing with men, it is always about how I won an argument. It is not about winning an argument; it is about building a nation. Building a nation takes humility, takes taking away yourself and beginning to say in the interest of my country.”

“It is exciting also…in that, the difference is not just about women. It is about the inter-generational women that have come to this House. We have young women, middle-aged and older women and one hopes that by bringing all these experiences together, we will be able to make a major difference. That is one issue – sex- that I think changed the context of this particular 8^th Parliament.”

She said women were also likely to be more effective in combating corruption because they were the worst affected. The worst corruption women faced was in the services sector when they wanted to get things like birth certificates or passports.

Studies had shown that women were more effective in tackling corruption she said. “Just look at the parastatals in this country. If you look at the mess that is happening and the corruption that is happening, in most instances, if not all instances, they are parastatals that are headed by men. Let us change the choices that we make around leadership and let us see whether if we were to put women in some of these parastatals, it would not make a difference. There are studies that have been done to prove particularly that point.”

Misihairabwi-Mushonga called on the house to embrace political diversity in the country just like President Robert Mugabe had said.

“We need to begin to say to ourselves, political diversity is a good thing and I am glad that even in the Presidential Speech, there is something that speaks to the issue of acknowledging our diversity and having unity in diversity. Therefore, the fact that you do not speak my language and you are not of my tribe as well as that you are not of the same race as me, should not make you a lesser Zimbabwean than we are right now.

“I am happy that even in his opening address, the Speaker himself, did speak to the issue that when we are in this Parliament, there is not one who is more important than the other. We represent a nation! We are all Zimbabweans and therefore Madam Speaker, I hope that we can please get away from name calling and calling each other ‘sell-outs’ and ‘regime changers’, only because we belong to different political parties but that is what diversity is all about. Give me the right to belong where I want to belong to. You may not appreciate it, you may not want to be in it, but understand that part of the liberation struggle was to give me the right to belong to where I want to belong and to be appreciated for who I am.”

She also called for a more open parliament where voters could listen to and see what their elected members were doing in the house because people behaved more responsibly when they knew they were under scrutiny.

“We need a place that has a specific focus on making sure that the things that are raised in this House are publicised. People behave badly if they think people cannot see them. The moment you put cameras here and people are portrayed as they really are, they will not behave like kindergarten children, which is what they do. I think we need to create a specific channel and make sure that on radio, people are able to listen to the debates. We cannot continue to have mediocrity being put on top of sober minds.

“The reason why people sometimes vote for mediocrity is because they have not seen an alternative way of doing business. Let us expose those of us who claim to want to be in leadership for people to see who they really are and what is going on. The people deserve to make a reasonable choice. Some of the things that are said in this House should only be said in beer halls and not in an august House like this particular place. This is a place to work on nation building and not a place for games. I therefore call upon you Madam Speaker and your leadership, to please make sure that we find a way of making sure that the people of

Zimbabwe can really tell who their true representatives are.”

Below is her full contribution:

MRS. MISIHAIRAMBWI-MUSHONGA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I stand to debate on the Presidential Speech. What I will try to do is to deal with the context of this Speech and the Opening of Parliament. I would also want to pick on 3 or 4 issues that were addressed in the Presidential Speech. The first part of the context Madam Speaker is the issue on the two significant things that happened on that particular day.

The first one was in my opinion historic in that the face of Parliament changed with the 8th Parliament. The face of Parliament changed significantly on the issue of gender. For many of us, who have been activists on the issues to do with women, we are excited that for the first time, this House has more oestrogen than it has testosterone. One hopes Madam Speaker that it will change the way debate is done in this House.

The reason why we have had major problems, confrontations and conflicts, is precisely because the more men you have in a place, the more testosterone, the more ego and the more you do not make sense. One hopes that with the introduction of women in this House, we will see a major difference.

It is exciting also Madam Speaker in that, the difference is not just about women. It is about the inter-generational women that have come to this House. We have young women, middle-aged and older women and one hopes that by bringing all these experiences together, we will be able to make a major difference. That is one issue – sex- that I think changed the context of this particular 8^th Parliament.

The second issue which is not so exciting is that we were so cramped in this House. People were standing up and I think it is wrong, at all different levels. The environment that you create for debate, churns out the kind of debate that you are likely to have. As somebody who has been in Government, as a Government Minister, I do understand that indeed when you are looking at Parliament, it is treated as a poor cousin. This would not have happened if it was the Executive or the Judiciary. It happened primarily because we do not have the respect that we should have for the Legislature

–[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]-

Madam Speaker, I am a widow and therefore everything that I do, is a D.I.Y., Do It Yourself. When I look at this Parliament, I cannot understand why in the short-term Madam Speaker, we cannot do something about this House. I am not an architect, but I think there is something that we can do to make a difference in the way that we do business in this House.

When some of us came to Parliament for the first time, in 2000, there was a certain vibe about Parliament, there was a certain energy about Parliament, but there is something that is just not there in this Legislature. I think we need to do some introspection and do something about it because we are in a new age of new technology. I thought that as I did my presentation here, some of the research and information that I wanted to take, I would be able to get it from here. But, you sit in this House; a basic thing like just having wireless is not possible. I do not think that it costs so much to just organise and make sure that we have wireless in this House.

In most places, people twit back to their constituencies. They are connected directly to their constituencies so that people understand the issues that somebody is raising. I raise this as just one example of the things that we need to look at. I am glad that when we started, the

Speaker raised the issue of the Pre-Budget Seminar. I want to encourage my colleagues that if we attend the Pre-Budget Seminar, one of the things that should be a priority for discussion is how we should make this Parliament a face age Parliament and a Parliament that is able to deliver Madam Speaker.

Having said that, let me go back to the content of the Presidential Speech which I think should be the subject of my debate and discussion. Madam Speaker, the President starts by raising the context. His context is that we have just gone from an election and that this Parliament comes from that election. He says, the elections were held in an environment

prevailing with peace and tranquility. I do not disagree with him on the issue of peace and tranquillity.

–[HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear]-

The one thing that has been said about our values as Africans is the ability to say sorry and the ability to say thank you.

First, we need to thank the Almighty that we did not lose lives in this particular election. Even as we do so, we need Madam Speaker, to thank those processes, institutions and persons who did something about that. It is wrong Madam Speaker, for you to put institutions and people who spend their time and resources in building a legacy and after it has been done, you begin to rubbish them. I say so Madam Speaker, we would not have had peace and tranquility if we did not have the kind of political leadership that we had during the Inclusive Government. I think it is important to thank those political leaders that took a political will in understanding and communicating on issues of peace. President Mugabe in his capacity as the President of ZANU PF and the President of Zimbabwe, President Tsvangirai in his capacity as the President of MDC-T and then Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Professor

W. Ncube, in his capacity as the President of the MDC and the Minister of Industry and Commerce at that time – they took a stance around issues of peace and tranquillity.

– [HON. MEMBERS: Ko Mutambara wamusiirei] –

I am talking about political leaders of political parties. Madam Speaker, those three were part of the Indaba that set the tone for where we were going as a country. We called the political

leaders to address members of political parties and they were addressed by those three. After that had been done, there are members in JOMIC for example, I want to mention them by name because one thing that has become a culture is we easily forget the people that invested their time and talk ill about them. These are Hon. Mudzuri, Hon. Muchinguri, Hon. Goche, Hon. T Khumalo, Mr. Mangoma and many others. They were part of the Operations Committee.

Those individuals received phone calls in the middle of the night. Those individuals went to communities to build bridges. As it is right now, it is understood that belonging to a different political party does not make you an enemy of the other. It was that work that those particular individuals and institutions did and I want to thank them. I say so because sometimes I get so hurt when I read articles in the newspapers that are beginning to devalue the whole essence of JOMIC. I think it is important that we write it in the history of this country, that it did play a

role in making sure that we get the kind of peace and tranquility that we do have in this country.

Like I said Madam Speaker, we had an Election on the 31st July, 2013, unfortunately, that Election has left us at political leadership level more polarised than we were before. Madam Speaker, it takes sober minds to begin to say is this what we want as a legacy for our children?

Is this what we want for the people of Zimbabwe? The first thing that we need to do Madam Speaker, painful as it maybe is to acknowledge that 31, July happened and it is done.

– [HON MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –

We need to move on. However, even as we move on, we need to say to ourselves ‘what is it that we should do better the next time’. What makes us so divided and so polarised. That cannot happen by us sitting on opposite sides and throwing stones at each other every other day. It may be funny, it may make you feel better but in the context of the people of Zimbabwe, it brings absolutely nothing to the table. We cannot have those that are now the ruling party behaving as if we will continue to treat these ones as enemies and we will continue to treat them and vanquish them and we call them names so that that can legitimise us. We also cannot have us as opposition, sitting back and folding our hands and saying, aah

chitongai tione, in other words hoping that something wrong may happen.

Madam Speaker, leadership comes from us saying things went wrong, let us do something about it. Leadership does not come from us being angry at each other. There are many things that are justified about how we could have had an election which would not have been contested. We could have gone to this Election with an agreed date, with a voters’ roll that was agreed to. There are many things that we could have done differently but holding the different positions that we have right now, will not make 2018 any different from what it is right now. I think we need a leadership from both sides of the House that begins to say we have a problem but we will deal with it.

Just like we said in 2008, never ever again will we have an election in which people lose their lives. In 2008 and 2009 when we came up with the Inclusive Government, we were driven by the very fact that we wanted to address it so that we would never go to an election that is contested. We did some of the things but we did not do all of them. We need to make sure that we go back to the drawing board and begin to look at these things in a very sober and composed manner.

Which is why I said Madam Speaker, I am hoping that the more women we have in this House, we will begin to have sense because when you are dealing with men, it is always about how I won an argument. It is not about winning an argument; it is about building a nation. Building a nation takes humility, takes taking away yourself and beginning to say in the interest of my country. We did it Madam Speaker before and I am sure we can do it again.

Madam Speaker, let me also talk about the economy, which is another issue that was raised in the Presidential Speech. I am disappointed and perhaps much more at a personal level. Until and unless we understand as a country that our economy cannot move if we are polarized and that politics make up the issues that make up the whole body of what an economy is; you will not have trade and investment in a country Madam Speaker, if that country is polarised. Capital is shy; it does not come where there is war and where there is infighting. It comes where there is stability, where there is clarity of purpose and where there is unity. We need to address that issue.

The second one Madam Speaker is what holds an economy is the issue of trade and investment. Until we are able to deal with the cross boarder issue which has held this economy together, we have not started. The reason why I said I am disappointed Madam Speaker, at a personal level is that in this new Government, we now have decided to do away with the Ministry of Regional Integration. Madam Speaker, you cannot do anything until you agree to the issues of intra trade and intra trade is buttressed by the work that our women do as they cross borders to facilitate inter-trade. Madam Speaker, the way women are treated at these border posts, is unacceptable.

It is unacceptable for people who are fighting to bring an economy back from its knees. You cannot have a border post where you go and are subjected to the inhuman treatment that women get. Not only that, after they have gone through that inhuman treatment at the border post, as they get into the country, they find four or five other border posts waiting for them from the border post.

– [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections].

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Members, you are making a lot of noise. Can you please listen to what the Hon. Member is saying. If you have any discussions, please go to the lobby.

MRS. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Madam Speaker, until we begin to respect the issues around our cross borders, particularly women, we will not move in this economy. I want to call upon my women colleagues here, not to set up a committee that just goes and says, ‘we are a Parliamentary Committee,’ because people change their behaviour if they think somebody is coming to watch them. Let us go underground and stand in those queues and deal with those Immigration Officers. We will come here with a completely different view and mind of dealing with the issues around cross border trading. So, those are my concerns around the issue of the economy.

Madam Speaker, linked to the economy is the issue of corruption which was raised in the Presidential Speech. I know that there is corruption that we look at; that is exciting and sensational but Madam Speaker, the biggest threat of corruption is the services that women try and find on a day to day basis. Whether she is going to try and get a birth certificate or get a passport or anything, is where most of the corruption takes place.

We need to deal with our issues around service provision. I said to you Madam Speaker, I had hoped that wireless network will be on. There are major studies that have now shown the correlation between Women in Governance and corruption.

Just look at the parastatals in this country. If you look at the mess that is happening and the corruption that is happening, in most instances, if not all instances, they are parastatals that are headed by men. Let us change the choices that we make around leadership and let us see whether if we were to put women in some of these parastatals, it would not make a difference. There are studies that have been done to prove particularly that point.

Madam Speaker, I have waited for a long time to make this statement and I am so glad God has given me the opportunity to say it. As a rural Member of Parliament, I want to raise the issue of water and sanitation

– [HON MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections].

Madam Speaker, from the time I became a Member of Parliament, in 2000, I have heard those who were representing rural constituencies standing up and saying it in a manner that they are different from everybody else and I have the joy of standing up and saying as a rural Member of Parliament, yes, it is important to talk about water and sanitation

– [HON

MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections].

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. members, order!

MRS. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: It is important Madam Speaker, to talk about water and sanitation as it relates to urban areas but the studies that have been done in this country around issues of water and sanitation makes sad reading. That, we still have in Zimbabwe right now, communities that have no Blair toilets; that still use the bush on a day to day basis, is so sad. I think it is important for us to begin to focus on rural communities and the rural communities have no problems doing these things themselves. They will mould the bricks themselves and they will build those Blair toilets themselves. What they need are the resources and the capacity to do that and I think it is an area that we really need to focus on and be able to deliver.

Madam Speaker, I will end up again with my most favourite subject – the Constitution. The President raised the issue of the Constitution in his Speech and one of the things that he said was that this particular House will be tasked with the realignment of laws, haa, to the

new Constitution. That means there will be a lot of work that needs to be done. However, Madam Speaker, this is the Constitution that I got from the Government Gazette yesterday [Raising a copy of the Constitution].

If we are going to have a Constitution that our people went out in millions to vote for, it needs to be a Constitution that people can hold and be able to read and take with them. In this format, Madam Speaker, this cannot be a Constitution that the people of Zimbabwe can call their own Constitution. It needs to be packaged in a manner that shows that it is a document to be proud of. It needs to be packaged in a manner that you can read it in both languages and appreciate it. I think we need to do that and we need to do that as a nation.

Secondly, Madam Speaker, we need to begin to say to ourselves, political diversity is a good thing and I am glad that even in the Presidential Speech, there is something that speaks to the issue of acknowledging our diversity and having unity in diversity. Therefore, the fact that you do not speak my language and you are not of my tribe as well as that you are not of the same race as me, should not make you a lesser Zimbabwean than we are right now.

I am happy that even in his opening address, the Speaker himself, did speak to the issue that when we are in this Parliament, there is not one who is more important than the other. We represent a nation! We are all Zimbabweans and therefore Madam Speaker, I hope that we can please get away from name calling and calling each other ‘sell-outs’ and ‘regime changers’, only because we belong to different political parties but that is what diversity is all about. Give me the right to belong where I want to belong to. You may not appreciate it, you may not want to be in it, but understand that part of the liberation struggle was to give me the right to belong to where I want to belong and to be appreciated for who I am.

Madam Speaker, as we speak about the Constitution, we set up structures in this Constitution. People were voted in using the changes that we had put in this Constitution. As we speak right now, people were voted in as Provincial Council Members but as we speak right now, those people have not been sworn-in and people have no idea what they are supposed to do. This is almost three months after the election has been done. We already have started violating the whole essence of the Constitution that we put up.

We put up structures to be respected. Madam Speaker, Hon. Chombo, as the Minister of Local Government, should, with immediate effect, call those Provincial Council Members so that at the very least, they can be sworn-in. Then, following that, we need to make sure that

we do put in place that Act that facilitates for those Provincial Councils to work.

Madam Speaker

– [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections].

THE DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, hon. members.

MRS. MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA: Madam Speaker, the Constitution was clear, you do not make a law first so that you swear them in as Provincial Councillors. The very moment we said, this election will elect Provincial Councils, meant that those people have to

be in place even as we are creating the legal framework for them to operate. Not putting them in place is a violation of the essence of this Constitution.

We can talk about resources but we need to begin to get to the synergy between the Provincial Council members and Local Authority so that those provinces can begin to work.

I know Madam Speaker that the area of devolution was one area that created a lot of division among ourselves but we finally agreed to that essence of devolution. We should not create in anyone’s mind that because some of us were unhappy with the essence and principle of devolution, we therefore, are going to make sure that we do not put that devolution in place.

I therefore call upon us as this House to impress upon, like I said, the Minister to make sure that these people are sworn in but more importantly, let us make sure that we have a short term and a long term arrangement around those issues of putting up a Provincial Council. I believe that whilst a lot of things may be said around issues of devolution. We had major discussions around devolution and decentralisation being a major part of how we will democratise and move this country forward. I think it is important for us to stick to what we said.

In closing, I will be bringing to this House later on, a motion around how we can deal with our Parliament in terms of building a new Parliament. Having said that, Madam Speaker, I think at this particular moment, we may want to consider, if we have not done anything about this House, a different sitting place for Parliament. It will be unfair if we go into the debate on the budget and we do what we did on Official Opening. I insist the environment does make a difference in terms of what happens.

We need a place that has a specific focus on making sure that the things that are raised in this House are publicised. People behave badly if they think people cannot see them. The moment you put cameras here and people are portrayed as they really are, they will not behave like kindergarten children, which is what they do. I think we need to create a specific channel and make sure that on radio, people are able to listen to the debates. We cannot continue to have mediocrity being put on top of sober minds.

The reason why people sometimes vote for mediocrity is because they have not seen an alternative way of doing business. Let us expose those of us who claim to want to be in leadership for people to see who they really are and what is going on. The people deserve to make a reasonable choice. Some of the things that are said in this House should only be said in beer halls and not in an august House like this particular place. This is a place to work on nation building and not a place for games. I therefore call upon you Madam Speaker and your leadership, to please make sure that we find a way of making sure that the people of Zimbabwe can really tell who their true representatives are.

(18 VIEWS)