The funeral of Joshua Nkomo, Heroes' acre.

When Solomon Tavengwa died recently, he was immediately declared a National Hero, and buried at the National Heroes Acre at Warren Hills. Many raised eyebrows and queried the rush to honour this man, remembered primarily for the unprecedented corruption which took hold of the administration of Harare during his tenure as mayor. He allowed the city infrastructure and services to deteriorate to an alarming level while millions of dollars of public funds ended up in private pockets. In spite of being a ZANU PF nominee, he had to be removed and replaced by a hand-picked Commission. Is this the calibre of our so-called heroes today? What has happened?

Mugabe's mansion

A visit to Phillip Chiyangwa's luxurious villa or Robert Mugabe's mansion on the outskirts of Borrowdale (Harare) might suggest that life in Zimbabwe is very pleasant, and so it is for the few super rich of the ruling party. For ordinary Zimbabwean however it is an altogether different reality, as a visit to one of the high-density areas around Harare will confirm. The high-density suburb of Mbare, to the south of the central business district of Harare, is a case in point.

Life in Mbare especially at Nenyere, Matapi, Matererini Flats and Mbare hostels is unbearable because of the dilapidated state of the housing units. The residential flats are no longer suitable for human habitation, and more so the Mashonaland Turf Club units. These flats, which were originally built for bachelors during the colonial era, are now grossly over-crowded, stretching the sewerage facilities to the extreme. It is rare to find a unit with complete windows. Most residents have replaced the broken windows with iron sheets, plywood, plastics or cardboard boxes.

Harare airport

Kojo Annan, son of the Secretary General of the United Nations, is under investigation for his role in a company that negotiated to sell millions of barrels of Iraqi oil under a UN oil-for-food scheme which proved to be cover for massive corruption. The question is when the dubious role he played in the same company in another scam - the construction of the new international terminal at Harare airport - will also be investigated.

Clearly Kojo, a young man in his twenties, has many questions to answer in relation to both major financial scams, and the extent to which his father's reputation and indeed the good name of the UN itself, have been tarnished, remains to be seen.