Rural woman wins land battle where women’s rights are contested

 

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For Barbra Saunyama (58) of Nyanga District in Manicaland Province, east of Zimbabwe, participating in the #women2killimanjaro 2016 women’s land rights campaign not only gave her an opportunity to learn from others, but allowed her to project her voice even louder than ever before.

A widow, who gave birth to three children who were all girls, but now adults, Barbra was not an envy of many society members who believed that female children were second class citizens.

My husband died in 1996 when my oldest daughter was in secondary school. The other two were in primary school. I saw the wreath of my brother in law who said I should vacate my homestead and go back to my parents because I did not have a male child who was supposed to inherit my husband’s land.

A farmer who currently produces potatoes, beans and vegetables from the then “disputed” rural land, Barbra said she was not shaken by her late husband’s brother threat to take her land. He said he wanted to convert her land into paddocks while she and her “girl” children vacate the property.

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