Mangora told The Zimbabwean that the sky was the limit for women and the constitution recognised that the girl child could now compete with men.
“Under the old constitution women could not inherit wealth and there was discrimination in favour of boys regarding access to education. This left girls in disadvantaged social, political and economic positions. The historical injustices put men in better stead regarding occupying influential positions at the work place and positioning themselves for political gain.
“Until Zimbabwe attained political and economic independence from its former colonial master, women were struggling to compete with their male counterparts due to lack of adequate resources,” said Mangora.
Mangora said there was no equitable gender representation in essential sectors of the economy. She said if the draft constitution came into law and is respected by the nation, in the long run women would eventually outnumber men in positions of influence.
Mangora believes that if issues affecting women such as maternal user fees and sanitary items were advocated by women, they would be better understood by the targeted audience. Like most other young women, Mangora followed the Copac Referendum process from the beginning.
“I never missed a single Copac or NGO programme which came to Marondera with the aim of educating communities of the drafting of the new supreme law of the land. Copac NGOs such as Zimrights, Centre for Community Development and Zimbabwe Election Support Network educated us about importance of the draft.”
Mangora said she could not wait for the draft to become the new supreme law of the country and was already positioning herself for higher offices.
Mangora joined MDC politics in October 1999 and went on to lobby for the 2000 Referendum No Vote with other party cadres. She later participated in parliamentary elections held in the same year as a polling agent.
In 2001, she was the youngest member of the disputed election verification team that went to the High Court to clarify issues between Marondera Parliamentary candidates Zanu (PF) Sydney Sekeramayi and the late MDC Didmus Munhenzwa.
Sekeramayi reportedly garnered 10 692 votes against Munhenzwa’s 10 692. The two were separated by 63 votes, which were disputed by MDC.
In 2005 she played the role of voter educator and polling agent for Marondera Constituency. When MDC split over disagreements regarding participation in the re-introduced Senatorial elections, Mangora remained with the mainstream faction headed by Morgan Tsvangirai.
“I chose to remain with Tsvangirai since he is the beacon of democracy and good national governance. Tsvangirai had reasonable reasons for not participating in the Senatorial vote since there was no clear roadmap,” said Mangora.
She continues to be inspired by the charismatic and youthful party national organising secretary, Nelson Chamisa.
“Chamisa urges party cadres to further their education both academically and professionally since education is a valuable asset for high level decision making.”
Mangora expressed some gratitude for the GPA, which she said helped restore some hope among Zimbabweans.
“I remain optimistic that things will one day normalise in the country as MDC objectives are gradually materialising.”
Post published in: News