Stop senseless attacks, hateful defacing of Grace Mugabe and UZ

The Zimbabwe Unemployed People's Association (ZUPA) which represents the interests of millions of economically disadvantaged people is saddened and shocked to hear, read attacks and insults against the First Lady. The attacks against the First Lady show that male aggressions against women have not stopped. Regardless of political affiliation, background, culture and religion, all women must be mindful of the many ways that they can be attacked and must always be ready for such micro and macro-aggressions, micro and macro-insults, micro and macro-invalidations and disqualification.  It appears we are living in a society, where it is ok to hurl insults at the First Lady. We however believe this is the epitome of disrespect for the First lady, the President, and the office he holds. Someone may read this and say that, we are taking a side. This is far from it. We should recognize that gender discrimination is alive and we should be concerned that it is rearing its' very ugly head with verbal attacks against our First Lady. It is correct that the First Lady always and will be subject to criticism and some of it not kind. However, the insults about the First Lady's life style, appearance, intelligence, qualification   are not appropriate. We believe they are being used in part to distract our attention from the serious daily issues of governance and job creation. We urge all Zimbabwean to respect the First Lady and avoid dragging her into government business.
 
As ZUPA, we are of the view that the First Lady is not part of government and, therefore, should not be dragged into matters which concern the running of our government or institutions of high learning. The First Lady is the mother of the nation state as well as a citizen in her own right and therefore, she should be allowed to take part in politics, education, and carry out any role as mandated by whoever voted for her and not be thrown or dragged into issues which are purely Government or academic. The attack aimed at the First Lady risked the reputation, the name even the life of the university itself. We are concerned that a number of these critics are fashioning themselves as detached authorities, and rarely admitting what they don't know about the First Lady and her qualifications. In these attacks there is, however, a degree of confusion in the minds of many as to what evidence is actually available to sustain such attacks. Recognising existing concerns,   we encourage everyone to exercise restraint and allow appropriate authorities to attend to this, or risk putting our education system between a couple of rocks and a hard place.

We also consider that there is a serious disconnect between the view of the First Lady and her good work in child protection. Some of the work of the First lady has indeed benefited the unemployed, orphaned children in our country in terms of support and care. We have also seen vulnerable children prospering because of these programmes. It is more likely than not that some of these children could have fallen into the hands of people like Peter Roebuck if it were not for the work of the First Lady and many others. It must be acknowledged that this work of the First Lady and its results remain largely unknown and possible inaccessible to many because of the politics in our country.
 
In 2012, ZUPA made a deliberate decision to highlight the right of the child because Zimbabwe is failing to uphold the articles of the Convention on the Right of the Child which became law on 11th October 1990.We called for a public enquiry into the case of the late Peter Roebuck who has been accused of sexually abusing young boys he recruited from orphanages in Zimbabwe. A common problem identified by ZUPA was that children are vulnerable, desperate to find ways to survive hence fall prey to such dangerous perpetrators. In response to this social problem, the First Lady has indeed become the leading figure in this national campaign to ensure that all orphaned children are provided shelter and have their basic needs met whilst being protected. 
 
As citizens, civil society organisations and some political parties we must always avoid   jealousy based criticism of other people's achievements. As ZUPA we have observed that most citizens and organisations have departed from their original agenda of promoting a fair and just society premised on the respect of the individual. Many organisations and individuals appear to be pursuing political agendas instead of facts and community cohesion.

If the First Lady is to be criticized by us, the Zimbabwe Unemployed People's Association, it will involve lack of support for a public enquiry into the case of the late Peter Roebuck.  ZUPA has called on the Ministry of Labour and Social Services to set up a commission of inquiry, including a thorough investigation of all the orphanages and boarding schools.  Roebuck (55) committed suicide on November 12, 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa when police were poised to arrest him on charges of indecently assaulting a 26-year-old male, Zimbabwean university student Itai Gondo.

If we don't stop this foolishness as a society, we are by default condoning it and sadly maybe opening a door to more harmful and dangerous expressions towards women, First ladies to come, and our education system. Don't allow yourself to be distracted,  be one of the first people to state your support for the First Lady and UZ.
 
thepresidiumzupa@yahoo.co.uk