What kKeeps Woza Women Strong?

Women marching under the slogan The power of love can conquer the love of power’.

Here, she writes about what she witnessed first-hand on WOZA’s 6th Valentine’s Day action.  Late on Sunday night, in a home on the outskirts of Harare, I caught up with WOZA delegates who had just attended the Zimbabwe People’s Convention, a forum where more than 3,000 delegates from 50 civic groups came together to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe. Although permission for the huge gathering had been secured, a group of WOZA members waiting in Africa Unity Square had been rounded up by police and held for several hours at Harare Central Police Station. There, they had been beaten and insulted for daring to wear WOZA scarves printed with the slogan standing up for rights’. Being part of WOZA is clearly never an easy ride but 300 WOZA delegates from all over the country had nevertheless managed to make it to Harare to take part in the historic civic society gathering.  We left Harare at 4am the next morning. Later that morning I was ushered into the back seat of a car between stacks of Valentine’s cards that read We love our country too’ and flyers exhorting people to Stand Up for Your Child in 2008′ – the theme of their Valentine’s action this year.As we drove, I saw how carefully the rear view mirror was monitored. Riding in a WOZA car is a serious business – one cannot afford to be followed; the safety of scores of people is at stake.When we arrived at the venue about 100 WOZA activists were already seated and waiting to discuss the details of the big day ahead. As I scanned the rows of expectant faces, I was struck by the quiet dignity of the people gathered there and humbled at the thought of the risks they were taking.  Security and safety
The meeting opened with a prayer led by a member from the floor and then, with security ever in mind, people were asked to look around them and confirm that they knew the people sitting near them. Two faces were new to the group and these two were gently asked to leave. New members of WOZA could be welcomed at other meetings but not at the meetings where crucial details were to be discussed. If police were notified of the route of the march in advance, demonstrators could be picked off and arrested before the action began and it would be impossible to monitor their safety. One by one, members from different areas stood up and declared how many people they would be bringing to the demonstration and the meeting was asked to witness and confirm these numbers. It struck me that the strength of this organisation owes much to the meticulous work they put in to ensuring the safety of their members and the inclusiveness of their organising strategies. After the meeting, there was more work to be done. Phones needed juicing’ – WOZA dare not use anything other than pay as you go. There is no privacy protection in Zimbabwe and activists cannot risk being identified through phone calls being monitored.  Phone-holders are  placed at strategic police stations so they can report when they see the riot police piling into their Defenders to come and stop the marchers; phone-holders are among the marchers to report any arrests so that lawyers can be summoned and witnesses must be ready to relay accurate details to safety monitors.  Beatings and arrests
Even before the march, the phones were buzzing for many hours. Medical support was put on standby to attend to the injured, food supplies needed to be
Identified. Every eventuality is carefully planned for right down to a supply of sanitary towels, because WOZA knows from bitter experience that the stress of beatings and arrests will often bring on menstruation.Readers will know now that the Bulawayo Valentine’s action was a resounding success. Numbers were strong with as many as 800 on the march and there was enthusiastic encouragement from bystanders. Watching the march materialise was quite something to witness. One minute, lunch hour in downtown Bulawayo was proceeding as usual. Then, a single voice rings out WOZA Moya! and a multitude of others rejoin WOZA!.  Within seconds, flyers and roses appear, seemingly from nowhere; the WOZA banner is raised and the lunchtime strollers have transformed into a solid mass of marchers singing and chanting. We saw the riot police arrive just as protesters were dispersing – this time they were too late to silence the voices of WOZA and MOZA, the recently developed Men of Zimbabwe Arise, who have joined with their sisters and mothers in protest.

Events in Harare did not run so smoothly however. The march got off to a bad start; watches had not been properly synchronised and some protesters started a few minutes too early. Not everyone was in place and the crowd was not tight enough to avoid being split up. The police were nervy too. Teargas was thrown within minutes of the flyers and banners becoming visible. 

The release of the teargas canister was clearly the sign of a trigger-happy police officer. Another attempt was made to start the march in the same place, but by now the police were everywhere and the beatings had begun.

While the police were in confusion, word quickly went round to regroup at the post office. A small but determined group gathered there and proceeded to march up George Silundika Street to the offices of The Herald, where they left roses, placards and Valentine’s cards.

I was taken to a venue where some of the women who were beaten were receiving medical treatment. There, I met a woman with her arm in a sling and blood soaking her skirt. This was my first time at a WOZA demonstration. she told me, but when the police started on me with those baton sticks I just became stronger.Risking life and limb
I talked to many other WOZA and MOZA members after the Valentine’s marches and I was struck by their clarity about why they were risking life and limb to go on the streets and speak out. The Government will never hear what I have to say if I just sit and suffer in silence at home, said one. We don’t want people to oppress us – we are standing up for our children and we want free elections this time, said another. I asked people what gave them the courage to risk beatings and worse – Each other! came the reply.WOZA has come a long way since that first Valentine’s Day action in 2003. Their numbers have swelled from dozens to thousands and their voices are being heard clearly by fellow Zimbabweans. The resolutions that emerged from the People’s Convention owed much to WOZA’s ground-breaking field-work. In 2006, they conducted a huge countrywide consultation with grass roots Zimbabweans, which resulted in the drawing up of a People’s Charter.WOZA’s role in the SADC mediated talks on power sharing has also been significant. In June 2007, WOZA marched to deliver a letter to Mbeki via the South African Embassy. It was a damning but perceptive critique and, alongside it, they presented their 10 Steps to a New Zimbabwe, also drawn up through consultations with their membership. The 10 Steps called for an end to violence; an all-stakeholder conference including non-governmental organisations, churches, labour, business, youth and women; a constitutional referendum supervised by SADC and a newly appointed and independent electoral commission. As Zimbabwe moves closer to another traumatic election, WOZA has come under pressure to back one candidate or party over another, but they refuse to fall in with any politician. Instead, they urge their supporters to look closely at the candidates in their area and to vote with their hearts.This was my first time at a WOZA demonstration, but when the police started on me with those baton sticks I just became stronger.