Cecilia Chimbiri
Cecilia Chimbiri is a Zimbabwean youth campaigner for the Movement for Democratic Change led by Nelson Chamisa. She is the first female National Youth Vice Chairperson in the MDC youth Assembly since its formation elected by Congress 2019. She was abducted for two days at an anti-government protest in May 2020.[1]
On 13 May 2020, she and two other women, including MP Joana Mamombe, were abducted by masked assailants at a Harare protest against the government's failure to provide for the poor during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two days later, the women were found, badly injured and traumatised, by the side of the road sixty miles from Harare. They reported having been tortured and repeatedly sexually assaulted.
She joined politics at age 21 as an intern in MDC and later worked in the Prime Ministers office under Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara as a Press Secretary. She was then appointed to the Constitution Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) from the consultative process and sat as technical assistance in the Drafting Committee.
She became a blogger at the referendum and the Constitution in use now was voted Yes. She was later appointed in the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) were she worked for Peace as a Political Liaison Officer Mashonaland Central Province in Zimbabwe ahead of the 2013 election. She currently is the Deputy Secretary for the Women's Academy For Africa (WAFA) Southern Region were she represents Zimbabwe.[2]
References
- Shingai Nyoka, 'Tortured Zimbabwe abductees' may face prosecution, BBC News, 19 May 2020. Accessed 30 May 2020.
- Jason Burke and Nyasha Chingono, Zimbabwean MDC activists 'abducted and sexually assaulted', The Guardian, 17 May 2020. Accessed 30 May 2020.