Lazarus Sauti

Lazarus Sauti The issue of land has dominated discourses, as well as practices of development in Zimbabwe and other African countries. The primary goal of land reform in Zimbabwe, for instance, has been and is still to redistribute land to black people without discrimination on the basis of gender, race and class. However, women are still mistreated when it comes to access to land for residential, commercial and/or agricultural use. In fact, they are vulnerable to abuse and sexual extortion. Gamuchirai Chido Chiwere (36) from Chikomba District in Mashonaland East Province said she was forced by community leaders in her area to trade her precious body for a piece of land. “Community leaders in my district demanded sex in exchange of a piece of land,” she told 263Chat.com. What a shame? Governance analyst, Farai Mutondoro, concurs that women in rural, urban and peri-urban areas in Zimbabwe are ‘sexploited’ for land by local authorities and land officers.

Lazarus Sauti In Zimbabwe, just like any other country, a new born child is looked upon as a gift to the family and society at large. Because of this, pregnant women expect the successful delivery of a healthy, bouncing baby. Nevertheless, maternal mortality remains insidious, especially in rural areas as pregnancies end in losses, killing the mother, baby or both. “The causes are numerous, the occurrences diverse and the circumstances complex,” said researchers, Munyaradzi Kenneth Dodzo and Marvellous Mhloyi. In the study titled “ Home is the best: Why women in rural Zimbabwe deliver in the community ”, published in the PLoS ONE journal in August last year, Dodzo and Mhloyi assert that the main causes of high maternal mortality in rural areas are deliveries without skilled staff, equipment and drugs, as well as deliveries in conditions that are not conducive for safe delivery. Moreso, the study confirms that women prefer home deliveries due to perceived low s

Lazarus Sauti An increase in the number of people using cellphones to bank is boosting financial inclusion in Zimbabwe, where 55 percent of the adult population now have accounts with financial institutions, compared with 33 percent in 2014. The Global Financial Index 2017 notes that Zimbabwe has accomplished a considerable achievement in enhancing financial inclusion, but also indicated that the country has a long way to go in order to catch up with nations like Kenya, where account ownership is over 80 percent of the adult population.   “Financial inclusion is vital in facilitating people to save money and break away from griping poverty,” noted the financial index. “Zimbabwe can, thus, drive its financial inclusion agenda further up if it digitises payments in sectors like agriculture, insurance and savings.” Financial intelligent specialist, Precious Santana, agrees that financial inclusion is increasing in Zimbabwe, accelerated by cellphones, but gaps still remai

Lazarus Sauti Poor and marginalised people in rural Zimbabwe depend on wood, cow dung, crop residue and charcoal for basic energy needs like heating and cooking, thanks to energy poverty, which takes a significant toll on women and girls as they are the primary energy producers for the household. “Without access to clean, safe, efficient and affordable energy sources, women in rural Zimbabwe have limited opportunities for socio-economic advancement,” said Practical Action’s Gender Advisor, Tonnie Zibani, adding that energy poverty leads to drudgery, greater health risks, as well as lack of time to focus on income-generating activities. He also says energy poverty exposes women, girls and boys to indoor air pollution. “Indoor air pollution from the use of wood, cow dung, crop residue and charcoal is a serious health problem for women, girls and boys under the age of five and according to the World Bank, this pollution is likely to cause more than 1.5 million deaths per

Lazarus Sauti When Kuipa (14) from Tafara fell pregnant recently, her mother visited a popular n’anga in the high density suburb and secretly arranged for an abortion. She risked the life of her daughter, as well as a five year jail term. “The Bible says don’t kill, but I think termination was the only wise option. Honestly, my daughter was not ready to be a mother. Sadly, she died,” said Mai Kuipa, who declined to give her real name. Pregnant teenagers like Kuipa, who are not ready to be mothers, account for almost one in three of the country’s abortion-related maternal death as they opt for termination. “Zimbabwe’s maternal mortality rate stands at 443 deaths per 100 000 live births,” said the ministry of Health and Child Care, adding that illegal abortions are contributing about 16 percent of maternal deaths in the country. Furthermore, a cross sectional study in the BMJ Open Access Journal (2018), approximates that maternal mortality attributable to aborti

Lazarus Sauti For many years, Lillian Shava, who resides in Mungate village in Domboshava, Goromonzi District lived a tough life. Her daily chores included tending her only cow, working in her small field, growing vegetables, as well as collecting firewood for heating, lighting and cooking. Shava had to prepare meals in a smoke filled kitchen using either cow dung or firewood as fuel. Now Shava is using biogas to heat water and cook her meals, thanks to Mungate Community Biogas Scheme, a project supported by the government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Energy and Power Development in partnership with the Netherlands Development Partners (SNV). “I am now using biogas to cook meals in minutes and without having to breathe in soothe from cow dung and firewood, which used to cause me to cough up,” she said. “I am very grateful to the Mungate Community biogas project, which started on the 30 th of June 2014 and totally transformed my life.” Prosper Warikandwa

Lazarus Sauti Esther Mukadiro-Nyahoda of Sanzaguru in Rusape, who had an ultrasound scan that recommended a Caesarean section but snubbed medical instruction all in the name of religion, died in labour at an apostolic shrine recently. Her husband, Mandi Nyahoda, prioritised apostolic religious beliefs when an ultrasound scan had detected that Esther, who was carrying her first pregnancy and registered at Sanzaguru Clinic, had twins, one of whom was in a breech presentation – a foetus in a longitudinal lie with the buttocks or feet closest to the cervix. Esther lost a lot of blood as the apostolic midwife tried to induce her into delivering the second baby without success. Sorrowfully, she died, together with her twins. In a related case, Esnath Sengamayi also died soon after giving birth at an apostolic shrine in Wedza. She visited Madzimai Prisca Bvekwa’s holy place at St Barnabas seeking divine assistance over her pregnancy and delivered a baby boy after thr