By Daily Revelation Editor
Saboi Imboela is asserting that the Non-Governmental Gender Organisation’s Coordinating (NGOCC) has only seen the need to visit embattled Speaker Nelly Mutti because she is a powerful woman in government, saying they have only done so because they are job seekers.
Saboi asserts that there are many women in the country that have been victimized and have faced arrests, such as herself, Chiengi member of Parliament Given Katuta and Edith Nawakwi but women organisations like NGOCC have not seen the need to visit them let alone issue any statement in solidarity, and that they only issued a half-hearted statement after Mumbi Phiri was discharged from custody having spent hundreds of days in police custody.
Saboi’s observations deserve serious reflection from the NGOCC and other women organisations that defend and champion the rights of women. There is definitely something wrong with the women’s movement in this country in terms of the vocal advocacy which once defined organisations like Women for Change and the NGOCC of yester years.
We do not wish to condemn NGOCC for visiting Nelly. It was perfectly within their rights. We may disagree with them on many issues including some substance of what they brought out from that meeting. However, we hope they can do so with all the women folk regardless of their affiliations or what they have done. It will not help them to only be seen to be associating with those in the government and ignore others. If they continue on this path, they will lose their relevance.
And we certainly hope they will be more clear cut in their positions on matters, in the same manner they came out to state their solidarity for Nelly. In that way, they will earn more relevance and respect from potential members and the general public. Because what has been observed from them is that when there are serious national matters on the table, especially those bordering on women, their statements have often bordered on ambiguity in order not to hurt any parties involved. Oftentimes, they usually choose to hide themselves under the cover of silence. There is no other way to describe that than outright cowardice. A society that aspires for greatness surely has no room for cowards.
George Sewell plainly puts it in his famous quote, “The coward sneaks to death, the brave live on.”
We were actually caught by surprise, like many others who might have been wondering whether NGOCC still existed after they appeared to offer solidarity to the Speaker. They have been so quiet such that one wonders whether they are the same NGOCC of yesteryear that spoke vigorously for the advancement of women.
We hope their appearance for the visit of Nelly is not the last we are seeing of them until some other opportune time. We want to see them out there fighting for the advancement of women and other just causes in society.
Saboi is accusing them of only coming out when they see an opportunity for employment. Well, they are there. Let them prove her wrong by being more visible and seen to be doing what they were established for. And their coming out should be about just causes, for it defeats the very essence of their existence if they will just be speaking out in favour of women even when the women they are speaking for are in the wrong.
We are not urging them to take sides between the ruling party and the opposition. We are urging them to advocate and fight for just causes, and be more visible and relevant in society.
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By Daily Revelation Editor
Saboi Imboela is asserting that the Non-Governmental Gender Organisation’s Coordinating (NGOCC) has only seen the need to visit embattled Speaker Nelly Mutti because she is a powerful woman in government, saying they have only done so because they are job seekers.
Saboi asserts that there are many women in the country that have been victimized and have faced arrests, such as herself, Chiengi member of Parliament Given Katuta and Edith Nawakwi but women organisations like NGOCC have not seen the need to visit them let alone issue any statement in solidarity, and that they only issued a half-hearted statement after Mumbi Phiri was discharged from custody having spent hundreds of days in police custody.
Saboi’s observations deserve serious reflection from the NGOCC and other women organisations that defend and champion the rights of women. There is definitely something wrong with the women’s movement in this country in terms of the vocal advocacy which once defined organisations like Women for Change and the NGOCC of yester years.
We do not wish to condemn NGOCC for visiting Nelly. It was perfectly within their rights. We may disagree with them on many issues including some substance of what they brought out from that meeting. However, we hope they can do so with all the women folk regardless of their affiliations or what they have done. It will not help them to only be seen to be associating with those in the government and ignore others. If they continue on this path, they will lose their relevance.
And we certainly hope they will be more clear cut in their positions on matters, in the same manner they came out to state their solidarity for Nelly. In that way, they will earn more relevance and respect from potential members and the general public. Because what has been observed from them is that when there are serious national matters on the table, especially those bordering on women, their statements have often bordered on ambiguity in order not to hurt any parties involved. Oftentimes, they usually choose to hide themselves under the cover of silence. There is no other way to describe that than outright cowardice. A society that aspires for greatness surely has no room for cowards.
George Sewell plainly puts it in his famous quote, “The coward sneaks to death, the brave live on.”
We were actually caught by surprise, like many others who might have been wondering whether NGOCC still existed after they appeared to offer solidarity to the Speaker. They have been so quiet such that one wonders whether they are the same NGOCC of yesteryear that spoke vigorously for the advancement of women.
We hope their appearance for the visit of Nelly is not the last we are seeing of them until some other opportune time. We want to see them out there fighting for the advancement of women and other just causes in society.
Saboi is accusing them of only coming out when they see an opportunity for employment. Well, they are there. Let them prove her wrong by being more visible and seen to be doing what they were established for. And their coming out should be about just causes, for it defeats the very essence of their existence if they will just be speaking out in favour of women even when the women they are speaking for are in the wrong.
We are not urging them to take sides between the ruling party and the opposition. We are urging them to advocate and fight for just causes, and be more visible and relevant in society.
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