By Sakhile Sifelani-Ngoma
The necessary and critical public debate regarding the Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Bill in Zimbabwe has highlighted many aspects that are of concern.
One of the most contentious arguments proposed in the 16 February 2026 gazetted amendment and the subsequent arguments, is that the
merger of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) will streamline government operations, enhance efficiency and reduce costs. This is untenable. It is not about the money.
The proposal to merge the ZGC into a department of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission on the basis of prudent public financial management requires open and direct clarification from the Government of Zimbabwe.
Fiscal Silence
The ZGC, established by the 2013 Constitution, was a paper tiger until its operational setup in 2016 which essentially meant for 3 years there was fiscal silence as the government of Zimbabwe incurred zero costs under the National Budget to provide an essential element of the Gender Equality mechanism in Zimbabwe.
Never a full percent
The ZGC, with a mandate to address identify and facilitate the systemic nature of inequality in Zimbabwe was allocated a state budget allocation of merely half a million dollars (USD$555,558,00) to get up and running.
This was a paltry 0.02% of the 2016 National Budget Fully cognisant of the critical nature of this institution, and keen to ensure it was not hobbled from the get-go, stakeholders directly supported the institution by donating in-kind support of desks and chairs to support the ZGC to get off the ground.
The reasoning was incredibly pragmatic, both the public and staffers would need desks and chairs to get to the business of the day.
There was collective sectoral commendation when in 2017, the Treasury allocated the first one million dollars which represented a 0.03% of the national budget. The Gender Commission was well underway – consistently punching above its weight class.
Between 2016 and 2019 with the pressure of public expectations of an already delayed institution the Gender Commission strengthened its engagements supported the Government of Zimbabwe in regional and domestic monitoring, addressing and providing mechanisms to address persisting inequalities.
Indeed, the whole of Government approach to gender equality was strengthened by the Gender Commission picking up where the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises does not have a mandate – the monitoring and systemic address of inequalities across-sectors.
Pandemic Pressure and Panic
In the horrific pandemic year of 2020, when inequalities expanded and the vulnerable were truly left behind, the Gender Commissions’ National Budget allocation was the lowest since inception, a scandalous amount of only USD$403 899.72 representing 0.02% of the National Budget.
This needs restatement – The Gender Commission was holding only USD$403K when the GBV Hotline recorded an increase of 175% cases and 69.5% of the perpetrators were intimate partners- women were not safe in their homes.
This was the only state funding available to support redress. By March 2021, over 5 000 schoolgirls under the age of 18 had become pregnant during the
pandemic, with 1 174 cases of child marriage recorded.
These cases, representing the tip of the iceberg and the role of the Gender Commission being able to support the big picture impact of women and girls as part of the national gender machinery with the power to monitor, cannot be understated. All of this on USD$403K.
Value for money anyone?
Post-pandemic to 2026, the National Budget allocation of the Gender Commission has consistently hovered between 0.02% to 0.04% of the National Budget allocation.
It is important to note that allocation does not mean amounts released by the Treasury. Treasury releases are often far below the allocated amounts as seen in budget debates in 2025 of the ZiG$177 260 000, where only ZiG$88 949 584 was released to the Commission.
In all the 10 years of its operation, at no point has the ZGC ever been allocated a full 1% of the National Budget.
This chronic and persistent underfunding, despite the execution of a constitutional mandate that spreads beyond human rights and provides substantive progress for systemic exclusion in political, economic, and social spheres, continues to hinder gender equality.
This proves that any “savings” the government might make are not balanced out by the economic and social costs of weakening standalone gender oversight.
Look Elsewhere
The ZGC over its period of 10 years has received state support averaging at USD$2 million per year. The Gender Commission, hamstrung by limited resources, has continued to deliver on its constitutional mandate and unwittingly become a state poster child of low-cost state investment and high yield returns, which is in itself discrimination within government institutions.
Perhaps this is why the Zimbabwe Gender Commission CEO just in 2025, was awarded in the Zimbabwe Government Awards, the Best Overall Performer in the category of Independent Commissions. Was it possibly for doing the most with the least?
Any citizen, anywhere in Zimbabwe, could list several ministries, departments or agencies that could survive if they received less resources or already receive significant budget amounts per year but, have limited state services and limited returns to citizens and communities.
In January, Zimbabwe attained 4.1% annual inflation and continues to demonstrate indicators of economic stability.
The amendment cannot be read as though Zimbabwe cannot afford to invest and sustain measures for attaining gender equality. But this is not the point – this line of reasoning and proposals is reductive and not appropriate when considering constitutional matters such as the Zimbabwe Gender Commission.
The Zimbabwe Gender Commission is part of the Constitutional design which means that at the point of the collective creation of this constitution, Zimbabweans, who were consulted for over one year, considered it appropriate and prudent use of our collective public finances, at whatever expenditure a
year, to establish 5 Independent Commissions which includes the Zimbabwe Gender Commission.
This means fundamentally, Zimbabweans collectively, considered the 5 Commissions to be necessary to independently support the democracy that is Zimbabwe.
Accordingly, the argument that the merger is financially prudent is a misplaced austerity proposal. If the state is serious about financial discipline in government, there are many areas available to rationalise before fracturing a constitutionally mandated gender monitor. Balancing the books on the backs on women is not reform – it is regression dressed up as efficiency.
Written for: Women in Politics Support Unit ( WiPSU)
