Women, Law and Power:
Perspectives from Zimbabwes Fast Track Land Reform Programme
Women, Law and Power:
Perspectives from Zimbabwes Fast Track Land Reform Programme
Makanatsa Makonese
Published by
Weaver Press, Box A1922, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe, 2021
and
Southern & Eastern African Regional Centre for Womens Law
(SEARCWL)
Harare, Zimbabwe, 2021
Makanatsa Makonese and SEARCWL, 2021
Publishing management: Weaver Press
Cover Design: Farai Wallace
Cover Photograph: by kind courtesy of Bio-Innovation Zimbabwe
Printed by: Directory Publishers, Bulawayo
The publishers would like to express their gratitude to SEARCWL for their support in the development of this text.
All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-77922-396-8 (p/b)
ISBN: 978-1-77922-397-5 (ePub)
ISBN: 978-1-77922-398-2 (PDF)
Makanatsa Makonese (ne Nhengu) was born in Chivi District, Masvingo Province in 1974. She attended St Simon Zhara Primary School, Zimuto Secondary School and St Davids Bonda Girls High School for her primary and secondary education. She obtained a Bachelor of Laws Honours (LLBS) Degree from the University of Zimbabwe in 1997 and a Masters Degree in Womens Law from the same university in 2008. Makanatsa holds a PhD in Law from the University of Zimbabwes Southern and Eastern African Regional Centre for Womens Law, with a focus on womens law, land rights and international human rights law. Her research interests are in the areas of womens law, land law, environmental law, constitutional law and human rights law.
She has worked as the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the SADC Lawyers Association (Botswana and South Africa), a Senior Environmental Lawyer and Gender Programme Coordinator for the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association, an Advocacy Officer for the Child Protection Society in Zimbabwe and as a Magistrate in Zimbabwe.
Makanatsa is currently the Deputy Chief of Party for the American Bar Association-Advancing Rights in Southern Africa Programme based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has also worked with United Nations entities in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Uganda in developing national frameworks for the promotion and protection of women and girls rights and the promotion of gender equality.
Makanatsa is married to Stanley and they have three children, Mufaro, Ruvarashe and Farirai.
North-South Legal Perspectives Series
Professor Julie Stewart, Professor Anne Hellum and Professor
Patricia Kameri-Mbote (eds)
No. 1 Pursuing grounded theory in law: South-North experiences in developing womens law (1998). Agnete Weis Bentzon, Anne Hellum, Julie E. Stewart, Welshman Ncube and Torben Agersnap. Mond Books/TANAschehoug.
No. 2 Womens human rights and legal pluralism in Africa: Mixed norms and identities in infertility management in Zimbabwe (1999). Anne Hellum. Mond Books/TANO Aschehoug.
No. 3 Taking law to the people: Gender, law reform and community legal education in Zimbabwe (2003). Amy Shupikai Tsanga. Weaver Press.
No. 4 Human rights, plural legalities and gendered realities: Paths are made by walking (2007). Anne Hellum, Julie Stewart, Shaheen Sardar Ali and Amy Tsanga. Weaver Press.
No. 5 Women & Law: Innovative approaches to teaching, research and analysis (2011). Amy S. Tsanga and Julie E. Stewart (eds). Weaver Press.
No. 6 Water is Life: Womens human rights in national and local water governance in Southern and Eastern Africa (2015) Anne Hellum, Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Barbara van Koppen, et al. Published by Weaver Press in association with: Southern and Eastern African Regional Centre for Womens Law (SEARCWL) at the University of Zimbabwe and the Institute of Womens Law, Child Law and Discrimination Law, Department of Public and International Law at the University of Oslo.
No. 7 Women, Law and Power: Perspectives from Zimbabwes Fast TrackLand Reform Programme (2021). Makanatsa Makonese. Weaver Press in association with Southern and Eastern African Regional Centre for Womens Law (SEARCWL) at the University of Zimbabwe and the Department of Public and International Law at the University of Oslo
Herewith the presentation of the Series at UiO webpage.
https://www.jus.uio.no/ior/forskning/omrader/kvinnerett/publikasjoner/north-southlegal-perspectives-series/north-south-legal-perspectives-series.html
This book is the culmination of many years of my proud academic association with the Southern and Eastern African Regional Centre for Womens Law (SEARCWL) at the Faculty of Law, University of Zimbabwe. These years, and this book, would not have been possible without the guidance and support of Professors Julie Stewart, the Director of SEARCWL and Anne Hellum, Director of the Institute of Womens Law (University of Oslo). Thank you for holding my hand through my Masters and PhD studies, for guiding the writing and publication of this book and for so generously reading the many drafts that I dropped before you on this journey. I would also like to thank Professor Patricia Kameri-Mbote, of the University of Nairobi, Faculty of Law for reading the final manuscript and for your constructive comments which encouraged me to think beyond the obvious.
I have lived a privileged life of being raised by two exceptional mothers; Betty Takaidza and Felistas Dzidzai Nhengu. Thank you for unreservedly believing in me and for telling everyone who cared to listen how proud you were of me. Your encouragement and love throughout my life gave me the drive to work hard and to push many boundaries.
My husband Stanley and my children Mufaro, Ruvarashe and Farirai, thank you for being my everyday cheerleading team, for the wonderful fun-filled days we have shared in our home and for holding me close when the going got tough. Thank you for giving me the space to read and write and for pulling me from my desk for a drive to the mall or a stroll on the streets of La Montagne to give me time to rest.
My late sister Rudo Belinda, I am certain that you are smiling from heaven, and pleased to see this book finally published. You were always such an inspiration, and you never hid the fact that you were proud of me as your big sister. The heavenly cheerleading team is getting bigger everyday with you, amai, baba and our brothers Munyenyiwa, Hokoyo and Thompson, applauding from beyond the clouds.
To my young sisters Sekai and Harugumi, my older sisters Ottilia and Bessie and my brothers Julius and Collins, thank you for being there for me and for reminding me every time that tiri vana vaTicha Nhengu (we are the children of Teacher Nhengu). Mai Tafadzwa and Mai Hesed, thank you for being part of this winning team.
My nieces and nephews, thank you for being my friends and for your interest in my work. This has kept me on my toes, knowing that there is such a huge squad expecting results from me.
To the Fabulous 40s, thank you for laughing with me, for crying with me and for keeping me sane as I juggled numerous assignments and the vagaries of life.
