Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Special Report Gender and Constitutional Issues 24 High Court judges are currently women, three of whom were appointed in 2001. No women serve on the Supreme Court bench. Four years ago the Faculty of Law at the University of Zimbabwe became the first to have a majority of women students, but women are still a small minority of the faculty’s academic staff, among the partners in legal firms and on the magistrate’s bench. As of April 2001, Zimbabwe’s seven universities had only one female pro-vice-chancellor and not even one female professor. Only a small minority of their associate professors are women. Indeed, women form less than one-quarter of all their academic staff. In March 2001, Wing Commander Rufaro Prisca Maureen Chiweshe became the highest-ranking woman in the Air Force of Zimbabwe when she was promoted to Group Captain. 19 The first female Assistant Commissioner in the Zimbabwe Republic Police took legal action against the force and won her case against discriminatory posting. In the private sector the story is similar. Although competent women may find it easier to gain appointment or promotion to executive posts, the ratio appears, from press reports and company advertisements, to run at four to eight men to every one woman. In 1999, according to the then ZCTU president, Gibson Sibanda, 20 only 25% of Zimbabwean workers were union members. Of these members, only one in five were women. What was the ZCTU Women's Desk became a Gender Desk emphasising gender integration in the labour movement. The ZCTU’s policy of having 30% of decision-making positions filled by women proved difficult to implement through the democratic electoral process in such a heavily male-dominated organisation. However, in the most recent elections (March 2001), three women were elected to the nine-member executive. And yet women are not incompetent managers of domestic, public or private sector resources. In Masvingo Province, micro-lender Credit Against Poverty enjoyed a repayment rate of 98,6% from its predominantly-female debtors. It has reportedly loaned over Z$9 million to 3 200 small borrowers (95% of them women) since it started in 1996.21 Gender discrimination in politics Very few women participate in Zimbabwean politics at either local or national level in any organised party. Various initiatives have been taken to increase women's political representation, by the Working Group on Gender Politics (WGGP), Women and Politics for Democracy and Equality (WOPODE), the Women's Coalition, the newly-formed Women's Election Network, and the Women In Politics and Decision-Making project (WIPDM). The latter was physically housed in Zanu-PF headquarters and located in the Ministry for National Affairs, Employment Creation and Co-operation. In January 2000, opposition parties boycotted a UNDP-sponsored WIPDM workshop designed to involve more women in national politics. Only Zanu-PF members attended. The project then moved to a more neutral location, but its donor-funding was still withdrawn after review. In 2001, there are even fewer elected female representatives in our democratic institutions than in the outgoing fourth Parliament, which had 21 women MPs. The Women’s Coalition supported women candidates for Parliament irrespective of their political affiliation. There are13 elected and one appointed women in our fifth Parliament. The MDC’s 7 elected women MPs are: Nomalanga Khumalo (Umzingwane), Thokozani Khupe (Makokoba), Hilda Mafudze (Mhondoro), Evelyn Masaiti (Mutasa), Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga (Glen Norah), Paulina Mpariwa (Mufakose) and Trudy Stevenson (Harare North). For Zanu-PF, the six elected were: Flora Bhuka (Gokwe East), Shuvai Mahofa (Gutu South), Olivia Muchena (Murehwa South), Sabina Mugabe (Zvimba South), Joyce Mujuru (Mt Darwin North) and Esther Nyauchi (Gokwe West). Regrettably, all of the latter six victories were in constituencies wracked by significant violence, including against women; as was Evelyn Masaiti’s in Mutasa. In April 2001, Justice Devittie annulled Olivia Muchena’s election to the Mutoko South seat because of this violence.22 Among the State President’s 12 handpicked non-constituency MPs was only 19 The Herald 24 March 2001. 20 Interview, Social Change and Development 1999, no. 46, p.10. 21 Financial Gazette 5.10.00. 22 At the time of writing, no change had been announced to her Cabinet position as a result of his judgment. 17