Margaret Dongo
Margaret Dongo is a Zimbabwe Parliamentarian, and ex-freedom fighter.
She left Secondary School at 15 to cross into Mozambique to join the guerrillas, adopting the chimurenga (liberation war) name of Tichaona Muhondo ("prepared to face trouble"). Of the ZANLA leader, she said: "Tongogara was principled," she says. "He was unwavering in knowing what he was fighting for and could not easily be driven into corruption. I believed in him." Dongo was one of the last people to see him alive. "We were 18 girls who were having a function and he came to say a few words to bless the occasion."
At Zimbabwean independence in 1980 she worked for the ruling Zanu-PF party in a variety of roles.
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 veterans, Dongo became an MP for Harare East. In Parliament she has been an advocate of democracy, human rights, and marginalised groups in Zimbabwe. Her challenges caused her removal from Parliament.
She then founded the Zimbabwe Union of Democrats, and stood for Harare South against Vivian Mwashita in 1995. The election was rigged, Dongo 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. She went back to Harare South as an independent candidate in the re-run. She won, and continued her fight in parliament as a strong advocate for human rights and democracy.
Land Reform
After the 2000 land seizures, 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 smallholdings, had been given to genuine farmers.
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."