Single Mothers4ED Bulawayo Chapter launchedSINGLE Mothers for Economic Development (ED) launched their Bulawayo Chapter on Saturday with calls to involve single mothers in the mainstream economy through empowerment programmes that are responsive to their needs.
Speaking at the launch of the Bulawayo Chapter, Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial chairperson Cde Jabulani Sibanda said single mothers should not look down upon themselves as they were equally important in the socio-economic development of the country.
“You are not single mothers, you are simply mothers. Why do you want to single yourselves when you are already single? Actually, you are the most blessed women because of the responsibility you have, you brought life to the world.”
He said such initiatives as Single Mothers4ED had the responsibility of ensuring that the welfare of the women was catered for through empowerment programmes. Cde Sibanda urged the women to come out in their numbers to vote for President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF whose administration was championing a number of developmental projects in the country that were in line with the vision to attain an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
He bemoaned some of the practices that were taking place in some Western countries such as same sex marriages and commended Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni who defied international calls to rescind an anti-gay law.
Single Mothers4ED national chairlady, Cde Martha Munondo-Tafirenyika said they were rolling out a number of projects for single mothers nationwide in various sectors such as agriculture, mining and SMEs.
“We registered this affiliate to empower these women so that they can also be respected in society. Some of these women are widows, some were left by their husbands while others were raped. We are empowering these women through various projects that include detergent making, uniform sewing and baking among others while most have also benefited from the First Lady Amai Mnangagwa’s Agric4She,” said Cde Munondo-Tafirenyika.
She said most of the single mothers will be first-time voters and they will be rallying behind President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF Members of Parliament (MPs) and councillors. The national secretary for administration for the grouping Cde Julia Siwetshe said single women have mostly been neglected yet they play a critical role in society.
“We are a group of single mothers and for a long time, we have been marginalised socially, religiously and economically. We have come up to say we have embraced President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 of achieving an upper middle-economy status and his mantra of leaving no one and no place behind, said Cde Siwetshe.
She said the weekend meeting was for single mothers from Bulawayo but was attended by women from other provinces such as Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Harare, Mashonaland West and Mashonaland East to support the Bulawayo chapter.
