Reflections: Celebrate Yourself !
This International Women's Month has seen me reflecting on a lot of things and reminiscing about the days I used to blog a lot about hashtag#mylifeandlaw and so many articles I used to write. Today, a colleague passed by my desk and was talking about the Mazowe Tollgate Relocation and how this would make my life easier since I use that road on a daily basis and had been quite vocal about it's effect on us. It then got me to reflect on how instrumental I was in the petition for the relocation of the tollgate - in fact, I drafted the first petition for the relocation of the Mazowe-Eskbank Tollgate on the 28th of March 2024. This had been after several neighbours and friends had also nudged me to do something about this as we were suffering with having to pay tollgate fees twice a day without exemption yet we are just 39km away from Harare. I engaged the Mazowe Low Density WhatsApp Group on 28 March 2024 with the petition I had drafted requesting for input and this was also distributed to several other groups within the area.
After circulation of the document, Mazowe residents assisted with valuable contributions and insights which we used to perfect the document. Special mention goes to Valentine Masaiti, Advocate Garie Sithole, Jonathan Chideme and others. To be honest it was not an easy road and finally on the 15th of April 2024 we had a final document which was printed and distributed to main areas within Mazowe. I have attached the petition here so that it may also assist other people who may find themselves in the same situation. We created a Facebook page and published the petition online as well. Valentine Masaiti and I stayed up at night on 15 May 2024 stapling and sorting additional petitions for Jonathan to pick up and distribute and I remember we were chatting until 10pm to ensure that all the petitions were in the correct envelopes. Jonathan collected the petitions early morning and delivered to several councillors within our wards, to the various Ministers within Mazowe and even the President. It was a lot of work! Mazowe residents chipped in to assist in any way they could and attended the various town halls and meetings which were called on this.
So imagine my happiness when on the 17th of March 2025 (a year later), I was advised that there was General Notice 350 of 2025 Notice of Relocation of Eskbank (Mazowe) Tollgate. To say I was happy would be an understatement! Our collective efforts have finally paid off. As a woman, I was instrumental in this change and I am so proud! As women, we are special and get things done. I can say I have been a community leader and have impacted communities. hashtag#communityactivism hashtag#internationalwomen'smonth hashtag#servingcommunities.
This is also a reminder for women to celebrate themselves and their achievements because they matter! Do not dim your light , you have earned the bragging rights :)