Staff Reporter
Women have commended President Mnangagwa for empowering them in the civil engineering sector.
Speaking to this publication at the side-lines of the just ended ZANU PF Women’s League Conference over the weekend, a member of the Young Women for Economic Development (YWED), Tendai Ngarande said the President’s stance to empower women financially in civil engineering sector would allow women to penetrate the civil industry which was currently being dominated by men.
“I commend President Mnangagwa for his zeal to empower women, particularly those in the engineering sector. The President said that his Government was ready to provide funds for women who want to engage in civil engineering and road rehabilitation. As women, we want to play a part in developing our country and we will take heed of the President’s advice and start engineering companies,” said Ngarande.
Ngarande added that the President’s stance to financially empower women who were into civil engineering would allow women to penetrate the industry that was mainly dominated by men. She added that women had effectively shown that they were capable of carrying out tasks which were traditionally believed to be for men.
“Women are approximately 52 percent of total population in Zimbabwe, but we lag behind men when it comes to economic contribution due to gender discrimination. If we are empowered financially in civil engineering which often requires massive funding, it will surely be a double achievement for Zimbabwe in that, it will create opportunities for women to break the industrial monopoly whilst we also contribute to economic growth,” said Ngarande.
Ngarande further applauded the President’s resolve to amend the constitution to extend the woman’s quota in Parliament and reserving 30 percent of local authority seats for women.
Meanwhile, women have also encouraged Government to speed up land audit process so that they too can be considered into the land allocation programme. They bemoaned bias in the system and implored the President to urgently take their needs into consideration.
