Zinha Vaz

Zinha Vaz was born on 4 October 1952 in the capital city of Bissau and received her education in Portugal. She received a diploma in education from the Instituto Superior de Ciências Educativas and in sociology from the Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa. She worked as a primary school teacher in Portugal and Guinea-Bissau. She later worked for the state gas and petroleum company DICOL as treasurer, chief of personnel and director of administration. ==Political career==

During the 1970s Zinha Vaz was critical of the one-party system set up by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) after independence of Guinea-Bissau from Portugal in 1974. During the reign of President Luís Cabral she was imprisoned between 1977 and 1980. Her appointment as mayor led to tension in the city of Bissau as it was expected the PAIGC secretary general Paulo Medina would be appointed. Soldiers blocked off a street and set up roadblocks. When Zinha Vaz tried to enter the city hall she was stopped by 24 soldiers armed with Uzi's. She found the city hall to be in state of chaos, with the airconditioners taken by her predecessor, wages not paid for a year and all out of funds. As the municipality did not have any computers, nor the funds to buy them Zinha Vaz asked with UNICEF if she could get old computers from them. During her time in office she also tried to upgrade the system of garbage collection in the city as to lessen the chance of a cholera outbreak. Zinha Vaz was reelected to the National People's Assembly on 28 November 1999 and gave up her position as mayor. During the same general elections Kumba Ialá of the Party for Social Renewal won the Presidency. A coalition government under Prime Minister Caetano N'Tchama was set up in 2000 with help from RGB-MB and Zinha Vaz was made presidential advisor for political and diplomatic affairs. For Ialá the incident had no further consequences as he wished to appoint Zinha Vaz Minister of Foreign Affairs on 31 June 2003. She however refused. The Guinean Patriotic Union competed in the 2008 parliamentary elections but did not manage to capture any seats, winning 0,61% of the total vote. ==Women's rights==

Between 1992 and 2002 Zinha Vaz was the founder and president of the Women's Association of Economic Activity of Guinea-Bissau, as well as the Popular Creditbank Bambaram. The Bank provided funds for women working in the informal section of the economy. Between 1994 and 1999 Zinha Vaz was also president of the ad hoc Commission of Women and Child of the National People's Assembly. ==References==

• Karibe Mendy, Peter & Lobban Jr. (2013). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. Scarecrow Press. .