As I write 35 brave women belonging to the protest group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) are on the road somewhere between Bulawayo and Gweru. They set off from Bulawayo on Sunday (19th September) at the start of a 440 kilometer walk to Harare. The first day's march took them as far as the Matabeleland War Memorial, some 7 ks on the Gweru side of Shangani. Their walk is in protest against the Non-Governmental Organization Bill which may become law as soon as 5th October, a draconian piece of legislation which threatens to close down the vast array of humanitarian, relief and development work now carried on by NGO's, church organizations and others across the length and breadth of Zimbabwe. Most of the women taking part in the protest march are themselves beneficiaries of donor food and have in their care AIDS' orphans who depend for their survival on donor support. Should the NGO Bill be passed into law without amendment the well-being, indeed very survival, of their families would be placed in jeopardy. The ruling party would then have the means to refuse to register groups like WOZA and thereby render their charitable and human rights' work a crime under Zimbabwean law.
Opposition to the NGO Bill has been growing steadily across the country among NGO's, churches and those groups concerned with human rights' abuses and issues of governance. Other protests have taken place sporadically but once again the WOZA women have provided a focus for the opposition by a bold move that captures the imagination of the nation. At this early stage of the walk it is impossible to say whether the repressive forces of Robert Mugabe will permit them to reach their target, the capital, but already the analogy of Mahatma Gandhi's celebrated "salt march" in protest against British imperial policy in India in the 1930's comes to mind.
The women taking part in the walk are aged between 20 and 60. Many of them are seasoned human rights' campaigners, having been arrested, imprisoned, charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and otherwise harassed by Mugabe's politicized police force many times before. They are fully aware of the risks ahead of them, to say nothing of the hardships of the journey. Little or no provision has been made for their comfort. The women are to sleep out in the open along the way, and so the sudden spell of cold weather can be expected to add to their discomfort. Plans to feed the marchers are extremely rudimentary. In large measure they will be dependent on the sympathy and generosity of those they meet by the roadside or in the towns they visit en route.
Nevertheless the women were in high spirits when they set off from Bulawayo on Sunday. Two days before they had gathered in St Mary's Cathedral for a prayer vigil marked as much by the singing of rousing hymns as by fervent prayer. There can be no doubt that theirs is a spiritual force, not unlike Gandhi's "Satyagraha" - derived from "satya", meaning truth (or love), and "agraha", firmness or force: thus truth-force or love-force. Indeed many of WOZA's former imaginative protests against tyrannical mis-rule in Zimbabwe have featured symbols of love and truth. These few brave women therefore protesting against the NGO Bill and walking with resolution for the cause of freedom and democracy, present a huge challenge to all Zimbabweans. If we truly believe in the same virtues of love and truth what are we doing to show it ? We should at least be demonstrating our whole-hearted support for the WOZA march, and a practical concern for the well-being of the women taking part, who may yet awaken the conscience of the nation.