My heart bled, when our woman boxer, Kuda Chiwandire won the WBC world boxing crown in Zambia. I never saw any women celebrating or honouring her. She cast a lonely figure, until President ED invited her to the State House to reward her, 2 months later. Not even one corporate run by a woman came up with something as an incentive.
Winning a World Crown is actually a marketing magnate. But with most companies having female marketing directors and executives, not even one came forward to use her for any marketing material. What a lost opportunity!
Then came the time she was supposed to defend her Silver World Title in Harare. The fight was postponed several times due to a lack of funding. She was on the verge of being stripped of the title. No prominent top business corporates led by women, came forward to assist and bask in the glory …until the government chipped in to save the day, on the 11th hour. She won the fight at HICC. After the fight, all I saw were men in the boxing ring, led by honourable Tino Machakaire, celebrating and pledging incentives for Kuda. The Arena was jam-packed with men and very few women supporting Kuda during the fight.
After defending her silver crown she got the shot to challenge for the Gold World title, in Mexico. Again, she struggled to raise money to fund her trip to Mexico. The trip was almost cancelled and the chance taken away. She finally made it, God knows how, and only arrived in Mexico, a few hours before the title fight. Imagine a transatlantic journey, across 4 different time zones, and arriving a few hours from the fight, fatigue, jet lag and all. But she still gave a good account of herself and lost narrowly on a points decision. How would she have fared if she had trained well, travelled well, arrived a few days before the fight, acclimatized and rested???
After such a gallant fight in Mexico, Kuda Chiwandire arrives quietly back into the country, like nothing ever happened. Were we not supposed to celebrate this woman? Were we not supposed to give her a hero’s welcome at the airport, LIVE on ZTV? Where are the women in all this? Isn’t the ZTV CEO a woman by the way?
Alois Bunjira
