Margaret Dongo
Encyclopedia
Liberation war
In 1975 she left secondary school to cross into Mozambique to join the guerrillas, adopting the chimurengaChimurenga
Chimurenga is a Shona word for 'revolutionary struggle'. The word's modern interpretation has been extended to describe a struggle for human rights, political dignity and social justice, specifically used for the African insurrections against British colonial rule 1896–1897 and the guerrilla war...
(liberation war) name of Tichaona Muhondo ("The Battle will Decide"). She described the ZANLA leader Josiah Tongogara
Josiah Tongogara
Josiah Magama Tongogara was a commander of the ZANLA guerrilla army in Rhodesia. He attended the Lancaster House conference that led to Zimbabwe's independence and the end of white minority rule...
as "principled. He was unwavering in knowing what he was fighting for and could not easily be driven into corruption. I believed in him." In December 1979 Dongo was one of the last people to see him alive, explaining later that "We were 18 girls who were having a function and he came to say a few words to bless the occasion."
With the ceasefire, Dongo took a typing course and obtained a telex diploma. In 1980 she worked for the ruling ZANU-PF party in a variety of roles, and then in Mugabe's Prime Ministerial office. She gave birth to three children.
Parliament
In 1989 she co-founded the National Liberation War Veterans' Association to secure the rights of marginalised war veterans. In 1990, sponsored by the war veteranWar Veteran
War Veteran is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick. It was first published in If magazine in March 1955.-Plot summary:The plot concerns an old man who claims to have travelled back in time from a future in which Earth has lost a devastating war to its own Martian and Venusian colonies...
s, Dongo became an MP for Harare East. In Parliament she was an advocate of democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, and marginalised groups in Zimbabwe. Her willingness to challenge the ZANU-PF leadership when she felt they had not helped on these issues led to her deselection, and at the 1995 election the boundaries of her constituency were altered in a way unfavourable to her chances of holding the seat.
Opposition to Mugabe
She stood again for Harare South as an Independent against ZANU-PF's Vivian Mwashita in 1995. After her defeat by 1,000 votes was announced, Dongo was convinced that the election had been rigged, and challenged the result in court. The subsequent case revealed serious defects in the electoral roll, including the registration of many non-resident voters, suggesting that at least 41% of the names on the roll were inaccurate, and the court judgment in August 1995 invalidated the election. She went back to Harare South as an independent candidate in the re-run. On November 25, 1995 she won the rerun with 3,075 votes to 1,630 for Mwashita, and continued her fight in parliament as a strong advocate for human rights and democracy. She was one of only three opposition MPs.Dongo hoped to oppose Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
in the 1996 Presidential elections but did not meet the minimum age requirement of 40 years. She called on Bishop Abel Muzorewa
Abel Muzorewa
Bishop Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement to the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979...
and Ndabaningi Sithole
Ndabaningi Sithole
Ndabaningi Sithole founded the Zimbabwe African National Union, a militant organization that opposed the government of Rhodesia, in July 1963. A member of the Ndau ethnic group, he also worked as a Methodist minister. He spent 10 years in prison after the government banned ZANU...
to withdraw from the election because their participation lent it legitimacy, remarking that "the presidential elections are only for the consumption of the international and donor community, and not for oppressed Zimbabweans". Both did eventually withdraw. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation was said to have banned its reporters from covering her activities.
On December 19, 1998 Dongo formed the Zimbabwe Union of Democrats in preparation for the 2000 elections. However, she did not get on with Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Richard Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He is the President of the Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai and a key figure in the opposition to President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 11 February 2009...
and the Movement for Democratic Change when that party was created to challenge ZANU-PF control, and the ZUD remained small. Dongo regarded the MDC as being comparable to the Movement for Multiparty Democracy
Movement for Multiparty Democracy
The Movement for Multi-party Democracy is a political party in Zambia. Originally formed to oust the previous government, MMD controlled an absolute majority in parliament between 1991 and 2001, when its past leader, Frederick Chiluba was president of the country...
in Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
which had failed, in her analysis, to live up to its name despite defeating Kenneth Kaunda
Kenneth Kaunda
Kenneth David Kaunda, known as KK, served as the first President of Zambia, from 1964 to 1991.-Early life:Kaunda was the youngest of eight children. He was born at Lubwa Mission in Chinsali, Northern Province of Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia...
.
Land Reform
After the 2000 land redistributionLand reform in Zimbabwe
Land reform in Zimbabwe officially began in 1979 with the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement, an effort to more equitably distribute land between the historically disenfranchised blacks and the minority-whites who ruled Zimbabwe from 1890 to 1979...
, she requested and received a parliamentary written answer in January 2001 detailing beneficiaries. Including land rented out under the tenant farm scheme since 1990, only a handful of these, which range from very large farms to smallholding
Smallholding
A smallholding is a farm of small size.In third world countries, smallholdings are usually farms supporting a single family with a mixture of cash crops and subsistence farming. As a country becomes more affluent and farming practices become more efficient, smallholdings may persist as a legacy of...
s, had been given to genuine farmers. According to her, the majority of state-owned commercial farms leased out under Zimbabwe's land resettlement programme had been given to well-connected individuals, most of whom are absentee landlords with no farming experience. Many of the new owners had been given leases for 98 years at advantageous prices, while others have yet to have their lease rates assessed.
She said: "I appeal to my fellow war veterans not to let your suffering be used by selfish and greedy politicians who caused your suffering. This will not benefit you at the end of the day. Comrades, you should stand up and be a watchdog of the government. If you do not, you will have fought for nothing."
Other sources point out that over 350,000 families have been the recipients of land reform, and in Masvingo Province, only 3% of farms were found to have gone to politically connected individuals.
2000 election
Attempting to retain her seat in the 2000 election, Dongo's house was attacked by a group of 60 opponents who threw rocks through the windows. She lost heavily with the MDC taking the seat.See also
- Zimbabwe parliamentary elections, 2005Zimbabwe parliamentary elections, 2005A parliamentary election was held in Zimbabwe on March 31, 2005 to elect members to the Zimbabwe House of Assembly. All of the 120 elected seats in the 150-seat House of Assembly were up for election. A parliamentary election was held in Zimbabwe on March 31, 2005 to elect members to the Zimbabwe...
- Politics of ZimbabwePolitics of ZimbabwePolitics of Zimbabwe takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential republic, whereby the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government...
- List of political parties in Zimbabwe
- Land reform in ZimbabweLand reform in ZimbabweLand reform in Zimbabwe officially began in 1979 with the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement, an effort to more equitably distribute land between the historically disenfranchised blacks and the minority-whites who ruled Zimbabwe from 1890 to 1979...