Zinha Vaz

Francisca Maria Monteira e Silva Vaz Turpin , better known as Zinha Vaz (born October 4, 1952 in Bissau , Portuguese Guinea ) is a Guinea-Bissau women activist and politician. She was a member of the National People's Assembly of Guinea-Bissau for several legislative terms and served as an adviser to the President.

Life

Youth and education

Zinha Vaz was born on October 4, 1962 in the capital Bissau of the Portuguese colony of Guinea. After completing school in Guinea and Portugal , Vaz studied educational science at the Instituto Superior de Ciências Educativas and sociology, Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa (both in Lisbon). She then worked as a primary school teacher in Portugal and Guinea. She later moved to the state oil and gas operator DICOL , where she worked in administration.

Political career

After the independence of the Portuguese colony of Guinea and its subsequent renaming to Guinea-Bissau, the ruling PAIGC quickly established a one-party state in the country. Vaz expressed himself increasingly critical of the government of Luís Cabral . She was then arrested and spent four years (1977-80) in prison.

In 1986 the PAIGC executed six high-ranking members, including the first Vice-President and Justice Minister Paulo Correia and the former Attorney General Viriato Pã ; they were accused of treason. As a result of the execution, Vaz founded the opposition movement Resistência da Guiné-Bissau - Movimento Bafatá (RGB-MB) with Domingos Fernandes Gomes and other companions .

Political career

After the introduction of multi-party elections and formal democratic structures, Vaz stood in the 1994 parliamentary elections for the Resistência da Guiné-Bissau - Movimento Bafatá . This party became the second strongest party after the (former) state party PAIGC with 19 out of 100 seats. Vaz saw her role above all in strengthening women's rights and fighting corruption and abuse of power. As a member of the main committee of parliament, Vaz tried to mediate between President João Bernardo Vieira and general and coupist Ansumane Mané during the Guinea-Bissau civil war 1998-99 .

In 1999, Vaz was appointed mayor of the capital Bissau. This led to protests by PAIGC General Secretary Paulo Medina , who was originally said to have been promised the office. Soldiers blocked the streets and prevented Vaz from taking office. The situation calmed down, but the city was already bankrupt at the time and Vaz was able to achieve little political success within a few months.

Already at the end of 1999 Vaz was re- elected to the national assembly in the parliamentary elections and gave up her position as mayor. An opposition alliance of various parties including Vaz's RGB-MB formed a coalition government in which Vaz served as the president's adviser on political and diplomatic affairs. The coalition ended just a year after its own party pushed through a vote of no confidence in its own government.

In February 2003, Vaz was arrested for several days on charges of insulting President Kumba Ialá . Ialá had previously called her father João Vaz a traitor and claimed that he had betrayed the national hero Amílcar Cabral to the PIDE . Vaz was released after a few days, but was banned from traveling.

In 2003, the RGB-MB, co-founded by Vaz, disintegrated and left the party. In 2004 she founded the União Patriótica Guineense ( Patriotic Union of Guineas ). However, this could not gain significant votes in any of the following elections. Vaz himself, who ran for the 2009 presidential election, won only a few votes.

In the early 2010s, Vaz was appointed Guinea-Bissau's ambassador to the Gambia . She held this office until November 6, 2012.

Women's rights

In 1992 Zinha Vaz founded the Associação das Mulheres de Actividade Económica , a women's rights organization that should make it easier for women in Guinea-Bissau to participate in economic life. She headed the organization until 2002. Vaz also founded the Bambaram bank, which gave women microcredit for informal trade.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Peter Mendy / Richard A Lobban (ed.): Historical dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau . 2nd Edition. Scarecrow Press, 2013, ISBN 978-0-8108-5310-2 , pp. 393 .
2. ↑ opposition MP's naming as mayor raises tension in G. Bissau . AFP. April 23, 1999. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
3. ↑ Wim Bossema: guinea THE FIGHT met verleden van nietsdoen ( Dutch ) de Volkskrant. November 26, 1999. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
4. ↑ Guinea-Bissau Report 2004 . Amnesty International. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
5. ↑ União Patriótica Guineense discorda da presença de militares angolanos ( Portuguese ) Lusa. March 24, 2011. Archived from the original on May 22, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 22, 2014.