Primary school teacher challenges corridors of power

Trained on advocacy and lobbying in May 2007, Giyani Moyo, a 45 year old male primary school teacher, cannot help but beam with enthusiasm as he reminiscence his transformation from a child rights advocate to a bellowing voice for alien rights and accountable resource utilisation and management.

‘The successes that we scored as the Habakkuk Trust Ward 17 Advocacy Action Team advocating on children’s rights, propelled my confidence and I took the calling to begin advocating for other pertinent issues affecting my life and my kinsman’. 

Giyani has been utilizing his arsenal of community engagement and accountable governance at various fora. ‘During the year 2010 I worked with the Tsholotsho leadership to spearhead a massive advocacy campaign for Tsholotsho timber and wildlife management and utilization’.

Under this project, Giyani succeeded in mobilizing the community, elected and traditional leadership for a workshop on resource utilization and management. This marked the beginning of a major campaign for CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme For Indigenous Resources) funds, timber logging and community beneficiation in Tsholotsho.

To date, three Council officials have been arrested for alleged embezzlement of CAMPFIRE funds. ‘I also helped the Tsholotsho leadership to demand that CAMPFIRE funds be directly channelled to the community accounts which has now begun’, recounts Giyani visibly oozing with buoyancy for having done all this work.

Giyani is one of more than 1 700 community leaders from Bulawayo, Mangwe, Gwanda and Tsholotsho districts who have been empowered and capacitated by Habakkuk Trust since 2006 to meaningfully advocate for community development and accountable governance.

Habakkuk Trust is a partner to AAI Zimbabwe

This article was written by Khumbulani Maphosa, Habakkuk Trust Advocay and Information Officer