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Charity Ruzvidzo Business Reporter
THE economic participation of citizens as owners of resources and allocation of posts in big corporates in Zimbabwe remains generally skewed in favour of men.While women are making strides to prove their mettle, very few have ventured into fields such as engineering, mining and other technical pursuits previously deemed a preserve for males.

Anakileta Gumba, 50, is one woman who has defied all odds by venturing into the mining sector using proceeds from garment design and selling business.

She is a proud owner of a thriving small scale mining business on a 25-hectare claim in Nyathi, Bubi District.

Gumba, who also leads the Women in Mining Association that promotes women empowerment in mining in the country, has 11 workers who use hand tools.

Her childhood years in a family of four were not a smooth sail as she was raised by a stepfather after her parents separated.

The family was against the idea of her attending school as it believed sending a girl to school was a total waste of money even though they sent her to school.

While she managed to attend primary education classes at Dibutibu Primary in Tsholotsho, Gumba could not complete secondary level after she fell pregnant in 1982 and later got married.

“After dropping out of school, l moved to Shangani to stay with my husband who worked at Shangani Mine. In 1984 l came to Bulawayo and attended night school classes to finish off my ‘O’ level.

“Balancing marriage and night school was tough and eventually I couldn’t cope. l then opted for cutting and designing at Lutheran College for one year,” said Gumba.

She said she used the trade to generate income from selling her wares to assist her husband who later died in 1996.

“Selling clothes at the mine enabled me to support my family after my husband’s death. Through selling clothes at the mine, l managed to meet people who exposed me to the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF),” recalled Gumba.

Rubbing shoulders with players in the mining sector marked a turning point for the widowed mother of four who later became part of a consultancy team under ZMF.

In 2005 she was voted third vice president for ZMF in charge of women. In 2008, she was appointed president for Women in Mining Association.

The association assists women miners to get claims in gold, chrome and diamond operations nationwide.

“I secured a gold claim in Mbalabala in 2004 but it did not bring me tangible results so l abandoned it. Last year in October, l got another claim in Nyathi where l’m mining gold,” added Gumba.

“Our major challenge is lack of machinery like compressors and stamp mills. We’re forced to hire equipment and this poses a great challenge to us as it’s expensive.”

She said she initially faced a lot of criticism when she ventured into mining, which almost discouraged her.

“For a long time mining has been dominated by males. However, everyone has the potential to do anything regardless of sex or race. Women can mine as well as men can.” said Gumba.

“President Mugabe introduced women to mining and farming amongst many other programmes. In other African countries women don’t have the opportunity to mine like we do here. We thank our President for uplifting women and breaking all the barriers against empowerment of the female gender.”

Gumba says she hopes to acquire more machinery at her gold mine claim to improve production and increase gold deliveries to Fidelity Printers.“Women mustn’t shy away from mining. This is a field like any other. Actually women must join the sector in large numbers,” she said.