My friend told me how her brother (who lives in Harare) took his 7 year old daughter to an orthodontist yesterday. He was informed that they do not accept medical aid and that he would need in the region of $35 million CASH for the appointment and compulsory x-ray. He was quoted a further $380 million for one set of braces for his daughter. He cannot afford the appointment fee, let alone the x-ray and braces. He has been paying medical aid (private hospital cover) for his daughter since she was born. Not much good now when some medical practitioners are refusing to accept it because they do not want to have to wait for the medical aid companies to reimburse them. He asked if they would give him credit facilities and was turned down. Cash upfront or nothing.

With the value of our dollar literally deteriorating by the day, fees charged have to be paid on the day of service or else the practitioner loses money.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, inflation, health, orthodontist

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This story comes from a close friend. It grabbed my attention immediately, not just because he is a friend, but because the depth of his caring has helped reinforce my belief that there is hope for us all yet.

Some years ago, he employed a gardener called Simon. He was a rare breed - one of those people that you like as soon as you meet them. Over the years I got to know him quite well on visits to my friend’s home, and on the odd occasion when he came to help us out with a special task. He was the proverbial gem - polite and hardworking, with an air of wisdom about him. It was surely one of God’s unfathomable mysteries that had made him accept the menial post of gardener.

After about five years, Simon was summoned by his father. His father was a Veteran from the Liberation War, and had been allocated a piece of land as a gratuity. His father was getting older now, and could not continue developing his small farm. Accordingly, he called his son to take over from him. Just to take the shine off the deal, the farm was in one of those real undeveloped middle-of-nowhere places that had a dodgy rainfall record. It was about 400km away by road and about 250km North of Bulawayo as the crow flies. Simon’s elder brother had actually refused his father, but Simon - being Simon - reluctantly but dutifully agreed to his father’s request. To our shame, I have to admit that we all tried to sway Simon’s decision, but he would have none of it. My friends finally and sadly accepted the fact that he was leaving. We all pitched in and gathered together for him all sorts of useful tools and materials that would help him set up a home and a new life, and said a tearful goodbye to Simon, his wife and two young children. We heard nothing from Simon for some time, but about 6 months later my friends finally received a letter from him. It was an upbeat letter - he and his family had been blessed with a good rainy season, and were literally reaping the rewards of their hard work. Some months later, came another letter. Simon had taken the plunge, and taken up a position as a Christian Minister in his rural home area. His family were leaving the farm in the hands of a co-operative, and following him. All seemed set for him.

No-one heard from Simon for about two years. But, this is Zimbabwe - there are few fairy-tale stories to be heard - unless you listen to Gideon Gono and his financial plans for the economy! Drought happened to drop by, closely followed by political devastation of the economy. Late last year, another letter arrived from Simon - bad news this time. He was in serious financial difficulties, and could someone help him to get a job? My friends wasted no time in welcoming him back, and he arrived in early December, leaving his family at their rural home. He settled in and things were going smoothly until Simon received a message from the co-operative who were running the farm. They had a bank account, but their signatories had left and could not be traced. Could Simon, who was still a signatory, come and help them sort their account out? It really was urgent! True to form, Simon agreed to go back to the farm and help out. He would also visit his family on the way back. Reluctantly my friends gave him an advance and he left on a truck that was heading past the farm.

That was the last they heard of Simon until about 10 days ago - nearly 2 months later! They had been extremely worried - Simon was not the kind to take the money and run. Was he sick? He often had recurring bouts of malaria in the rainy season. Had he run out of money? Had he been robbed or injured? All the awful pictures sprang to mind! The longer they waited, the more they worried. Then came the phonecall! It was from someone who they had never heard of, calling from a place they had never heard of, near Simon’s rural home. The caller said that he had received a letter from Simon, who had asked the caller to contact his employer. Simon had run out of money, the caller said. He had found his family on the verge of starvation, and had spent all of his money buying food. He was now stranded with no money, no transport, and was running out of food. How could they help Simon, my friends asked. The simple answer was - money! If they would just transfer money to the caller’s bank account, he could then draw it and give it to Simon, and all would be okay. How much money was their next question. Oh - about four or five million should be okay, came the reply. Four or five million! They gasped - inflation is hitting them hard, and that was still a large amount of money for them. What would he need that much for, they queried. Well, he explained, first there is the bus fare back, which is about one and a half million. That sounded right - a trip of about 600km with the black market price of fuel running at over Z$200,000 a litre! And the rest? Well - you know how it is in the rural areas, went on the caller. Ordinary people are not allowed to buy maize from the Grain Marketing Board depot - only people with political clout are allowed to purchase grain - at the subsidised government-controlled price. They then resell it to the “ordinary” people at a fat profit! The current price for a twenty litre bucket of unmilled grain was Z$800,000! (It sells on the black market in Bulawayo for about Z$300,000!) Their blood ran cold!

I blew my top at this news! How can you not get angry at such a blatant, murderous abuse of power! Villagers in an underdeveloped and impoverished rural area have virtually no hope of finding this sort of money! Without outside help, they WILL starve to death, while those with political clout will live to deny their part in what can only be called genocide!

My friends were now in the most awful quandary! How could they help Simon? Should they borrow money (they have a big family). If they did that, could they really consider sending money off to a total stranger in the middle of nowhere in the vain hope that some of it might get to Simon? We talked it over with them. It was probabably true that Simon and his family were stranded and short of food. But then, was this person - the caller - with both a phone and a bank account, a real friend? Or was he another of those with “political clout” who had figured out a way to take Simon’s starving family for their final ride?

Our thoughts and prayers are with Simon and his family, wherever they are now. We are desperately trying to track down a relative, to try and find another way to get in touch with Simon, so that we can help them. Please pray with us that we get there in time!

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, rural, maize, food supply, inflation, poverty, corruption

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I’m sure that are some people who still wonder why I do this - why I bare my heart, why I vent my anger and frustrations on cyberspace. There is a simple answer to that - because I care! I care for my country. I care for my people. I care about the things that make life liveable - democracy, justice and peace! I know that there are millions of other people out there who care for these ideals just as deeply as I do, and I hope and pray that they will in turn pass on my message - and indeed that of Sokwanele as a whole - to others who care. This is my public contribution to the struggle that we wage against opression and injustice in Zimbabwe. As a simple blogger, I stand proud in the knowledge that - in this small way - I am supporting Sokwanele, and in doing so, supporting my country and my people. Congratulations, Sokwanele, on the first anniversary of your Blogsite! You have done Zimbabwe proud!

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, Sokwanele, blogging

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We are now told that coke is on ration. I tried to buy one to take away yesterday and they told me this. I am thinking how many countries are there in the world that do not have coke..?

What I don’t understand is why, when a government has failed in running the country, they should not step down. It is their job to provide everything for us and we have nothing. Like a company, when it fails, the boss must be fired or he resigns.

Even if we have the money to buy just one nice thing for ourselves, we cannot. Just because they say there is no foreign currency. Why is this the case? They have stolen our money and destroyed business and jobs in this country. Now we are left with nothing.

Sokwanele Update: The BBC has a report on this as well today - here’s the link.

However, Coca-Cola agents told shop and bar owners that syrup had not been imported owing to foreign currency shortages, AP news agency reports.

Coca-Cola is normally available even in small villages in Zimbabwe, and supplies continued even throughout the bush war that led to independence in 1980.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, poverty, coca-cola, coke

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We are fast approaching Zimbabwe’s 26th “celebration” of independence and I cringe at the extent to which this country has slid into a quagmire of decay. Just this morning as I drove through town I shook my head in disbelief at the filth that now characterizes our once pristine home – this putrefication a perfect metaphor for the iniquity that rules our lives in our sad nation. Dustbins overflowing, beggars abounding, their only food source the muck they can filch from the rubbish of others. Rust bucket cars, petrol gauges always poised on the red for fuel about to run out, ignore basic safety rules, traffic out of control with non-functional robots, rutted, pot-holed streets a constant threat to life as drivers swerve around the ever deepening pits in the tarmac. The faces of the people on the street tense, angry, disappointed, hopeless and, for the vast majority, HUNGRY.

Recently I gave vent to frustration in a blog When is the time right for revolution and I was not surprised at some of the comments which included one anonymous author who wrote, “Quit moaning about it and get it done, it is your country take it back from that evil man. The time for revolution is now, who will lead?”

Looking back over a year of blogging for This is Zimbabwe, six years of commitment to toppling the regime and twenty six years of wasted opportunity I ask the same question: who the hell is going to lead? Heaven knows, I have done my best to galvanise resistance in a variety of ways, often putting myself and my family at risk and I am sick of the wasted opportunities that have flitted by through the ineptitude of our so-called leaders.

I blog and blog while the self-involved, schizophrenic opposition ranted and raved at the second episode of the Movement for Dithering Change congress held in sunny, but filthy, Harare.

Why do I stay? Why do I continue to fight the good fight? Why do I blog and blog? I don’t know, but I think it is because I could never, ever do the ostrich routine – bury my head and pretend all is well in the rotten state of Zimbabwe.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, MDC, poverty

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Podging the dotholes - that’s the way we start most days at the moment in Zim. For those who don’t know us, that’s my mad family’s name for the increasingly popular Zimbabwean sport of dodging potholes in the - previously good (tarmac) - roads. It has become so popular that everyone is doing it - except the drunk drivers! Nearly every second well-to-do businessman or zanupf apologist is buying at least one huge shiny new four-by-four to join in the fun. Some have even bought one each for every member of the family! The craze has hit the yougsters as well, with Creamy Inn reporting a massive increase in the sales of ‘Rocky Road’ ice creams! In a short stretch of road (about 200m) to my youngest son’s school, I counted no less than 33 potholes ranging from biscuit-tin size to small crater! Okay, I hear you Harare residents boasting that you can do better, but by our standards, this is quite awesome!

Given the unprecedented demand for potholes, I have been seriously thinking about pioneering a new sport called speed potholing. It would be a bit like drag racing, but the contestants would have to dodge a standard number of small to crater-sized potholes in the process. There could also be several different classes; e.g. there could be “Clear Road” Class for novices (no other vehicles on the drag strip); “Omnibus” Class for experienced drivers (Commuter Omnibuses would be parked at crazy angles all over the drag strip, and at least one would pull out onto the strip at the last second), and “Oncoming Traffic” Class for expert drivers (drivers would be subjected to a number of oncoming cars both on the right and the left sides of the drag strip, whilst dodging potholes and Commuter Omnibuses). Who knows - I might be able to franchise the sport and export it for forex! That way the zanupf apologists would be able to forcibly buy the forex off me at the controlled bank rate, sell it on the black market for 10 times what they paid, and grow ever more obese and greedy.

And you think I jest? You should have been in the car with me today, trying to remain calm and remain a law-abiding driver and citizen! I artfully dodged potholes to the first school, dropped off one child, carefully negotiated the next wave of advancing potholes, calmly avoided several cyclists with death wishes, skillfully circumvented numerous pedestrians walking two or more abreast on blind corners on a narrow road (they can’t walk on the verges any longer as they are so overgrown that you would need a 4×4 and a trained guide) without even touching the hooter once, and politely followed a truck travelling at 40km/hr in a 60 km/h road most of the way to the next school.

As I pulled off from there, I thought - time to relax - that was the worst part of the morning journey over. Yeah right! As I headed into town on the 4-lane main road, I managed to dodge past two slow-moving vehicles and get into the leading position in the right-hand lane. Watching my rear-view mirror I saw an old Datsun 1200 weaving its way through the traffic behind me. I continued on my way up the road at the speed limit, noting that the energetic driver was following my lead, and rapidly catching up with me. All of a sudden I saw a movement on the road ahead! A young schoolboy had decided to run across a pedestrian crossing leading across my path! My foot went for the brakes, but my eyes were flashing back and forth from the rear-view mirror to the the running child. After a few seconds I had resigned myself to a rear-end shunt, when the child realised what he had done and suddenly stopped just short of my path. Cursing inwardly at myself and the cowboy behind me I reluctlantly floored the accelerator and got out of the impact zone. Yes - I thanked God for stopping the child! At least it seemed to have woken up the agressive driver behind me, as he slowed right down after that.

I continued into town without incident, besides the “floaters” (the drivers who seem to find it impossible to drive down the road in a straight line and stay in one lane, encroaching on lanes either side of theirs at random). I pulled up at a Give Way intersection in the right hand (turning lane). A Commuter Omnibus pulled up at the intersection in the middle (straight only) lane. It didn’t take more than a glance to tell what he was going to do. I told my passenger “watch this guy”. I was not to be disappointed! At the first sign of a short break in the traffic, and in the face of oncoming traffic, the driver pulled out, turned right across the front of my car and tore off down the road. Amazingly enough, there was not a single hoot, not a single curse - drivers just avoided him and went on their way!

Still quite calm, I approached the drop-off for my passenger, I had to brake for a vehicle that was reversing out of a parking in front of me, and I hooted both to warn the driver and in annoyance. In the first place, the vehicle had very obviously approached from the opposite direction, and had turned into the parking on the opposite (my) side of the road across a double solid white line, stopping straddled across a couple of parkings. The driver turned and abused me angrily, then just as I had expected an incident to erupt, he seemed to think better of it and moved out of the way. Maybe it was the sight of the group of policeman walking along the pavement? But then again, they just glanced across and went on their way! Sayings thanks for another problem averted, I dropped off my passenger and headed for work, winding my way through the pedestrains that continuously wander aimlessly - and with no open sign of fear - through the traffic around that area of town. I turned right at a traffic light after having waited in the intersection until a very late orange light. A vehicle that had been oncoming, and who had more than enough time to stop, calmy continued through the red light and turned to follow me. Still calm? Doing good today, I thought!

A couple of blocks away from work, I pulled up behind a Commuter Omnibus at a traffic light. He had stopped in the left turning lane to drop off a passenger, then turned across the solid white lines to get into the centre lane. Not to be outdone, a second Commuter Omnibus - ignoring me - did a U-turn (across the solid white lines - need I say?) from the right-hand side of the road, and the pair of them started to “jostle” for the centre lane. By the time the lights had turned green, they were almost in the centre of the intersection! I have to admit - by the time I got to work I desperately needed a cup of coffee!

Later, at lunchtime, I decided to brave the traffic jungle again and go to the bank. I was just approaching a Give Way intersection where there was a stationary car parked on the left verge, and a vehicle in the right turning lane waiting to turn right onto the main road. Blow me down if a driver on the main road doesn’t try and turn right into the road I was approaching on, cutting the corner on the INSIDE of the vehicle waiting to turn right - and this all in the face of oncoming traffic on the main road, and with me oncoming! Happily, everyone managed to stop in time, and the driver who caused the chaos just sat there smiling and laughing at everyone until everyone managed to move away!

And this all in the space of 4 hours! Should we marvel at Zimbabwean drivers, and just accept their abuse of traffic laws in an attempt to remain sane? Should we just cry for a country where standards are being swept aside in the face of blatant corruption and abuse of power, with the rot pervading all levels and aspects of society? Or do we stand up against the rot with the sane voices and brave hearts among our people? For me there has never been, and never will be, a choice. That is why you are reading this. I hope you are with me - with us - as we continue podging the dotholes all the way to the end of the road.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, potholes, democracy, activism, activist

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The defeat of another lost election, Operation Murambatsvina, the shambles within the MDC, and the highest inflation rate in the world (estimated by economists to now have reached 1000%) has left most Zimbabweans dazed. Unemployment rates are high and, as a result, theft of anything and everything is rife. We regularly experience power cuts - those caused by faults and breakage, and also as a result of load shedding because the government cannot pay the bill. Some residential areas still have no water.

Looking back over this year of blogging, it’s very sad to remember the many friends and business acquaintances we have lost over a period of just 12 months. Every week there is another garage/boot/household goods sale - another family selling up and moving on. It’s abnormal to have to say goodbye to so many people who have become part of our lives.

People living outside the country often say things like ‘in our country this would not happen’, or they ask, ‘why do the Zimbabwean people not do something?’ People living in normal environments just cannot understand why things have not changed, and everyone has a piece of advice on how to make things happen.

I wish it was as easy to solve as it is to say it, but that’s just not reality. Believe me, if Zimbabweans knew how, we would have done it; if it was possible, it would have happened. No one wants to live the way we do, and no one knows better than Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe how desperately change is required. It’s hurtful in a way to be treated like ‘fools’ - as if we are somehow responsible for what has happened because we are ‘accepting’ this.

Zimbabweans are a peaceful people. A friend of mine said the other day that the problem was that so many of us had been naively trusting of a government that had ‘liberated’ us from a terrible colonial past. She asked me: “Is a child responsible when a parent that it trusts beats it?” That same government went on to spend 25 years lining their pockets while ordinary citizens were left dealing with steadily increasing unemployment, inequality, poverty and hunger. The government has us by our throat: it controls the newspapers, radio and television channels as well as the police force and army. Now the government wants to control the internet and email too. How do we share ideas or communicate with each other when information is so controlled? A person can be arrested and held for days without charge in our country. In Zimbabwean prisons, as well as out, people are beaten, intimidated and tortured.

Most Zimbabweans now live from day to day, trying to make ends meet. When you battle to feed yourself and your family just one meal a day (if you are lucky) then how do you possibly find the strength to fight a ruthless, cruel regime? Living is a fight for survival.

So, why do I stay in this country that has deteriorated so badly? Because I was born here, because my children were born here, because my extended family live here, because this is my home. We continue to live in the hope that something will change. Evil never prevails.

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This is Zimbabwe is one year old today - one year since our very first post. Some of our contributors have written anniversary entries, which we will publish each day through the course of this week. Our first anniversary coincides with reports in our local media that Mugabe’s government is planning to fast-track the ‘Interception of Communications Bill’ through parliament. Previous attempts by the government to enact repressive laws designed to control private communication have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court because they violate Zimbabwean rights to freedom of expression, freedom to receive and impart ideas, and freedom from interference with one’s correspondence. The government plans to ignore all those rulings and proceed regardless - more detail from The Zimbabwean Independent:

The Bill restores the provisions that were ruled unconstitutional. It seeks to empower the chief of defence intelligence, the director-general of the Central Intelligence Organisation, the Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to intercept telephonic messages passed through fixed lines, cellular phones and the Internet.

The Bill also empowers state agencies to open mail passing through the post and through licensed courier service providers.

It authorises the Minister of Transport and Communications to issue a warrant to state functionaries to order the interception of information if there are “reasonable grounds for the minister to think that an offence has been committed or that there is a threat to safety or national security of the country”.

If passed into law, government will use it to set up a telecommunications agency called the Monitoring (and) Interception of Communications Centre from where spy units will operate facilities to pry into messages from both fixed and mobile phones. Sources yesterday said government had already ordered equipment to be installed at monitoring centres in Harare and Bulawayo.

The Bill says operators of telecommunication services will be compelled to install software and hardware to enable them to intercept and store information as directed by the state. The service providers will also be asked to link their message monitoring equipment to the government agency. Such equipment should be able to render “real time, full time monitoring facilities for the interception of communication”.

Are laws like these a threat to the writing of a blog like ours? Well, consider this: on Tuesday last week the press carried stories that a legislator for the Movement of Democratic Change had been arrested for ‘insulting the president’, a crime that can carry a prison sentence. His offence was to ask this question of soldiers that he’d been giving a lift to: “Why do you let Mugabe let you suffer?” In democratic countries (Zimbabwe is supposedly a democracy) that would be considered dialogue, an opinion, a point to debate, a normal function of a free society. In our country we discover that to even question the president, let alone call him names or publically vilify him, is deemed insulting and therefore criminal. What chance do we have? Or any group like ours that feels it is their moral duty to call to public attention the fact that the Zimbabwean government, and therefore also the Zimbabwean president, has profoundly failed the people in our country? When does a fair-minded reasonable objection to squalor, corruption, mismanagement and poverty stop being a question and turn into a presidential insult?

Sokwanele started This is Zimbabwe shortly before the parliamentary elections last year. We were looking for a medium that would enable us to get information to the world easily and quickly before and immediately after elections which we knew (as everyone did) would be very controversial. On March 30th - the day before elections - The Guardian (UK) identified This is Zimbabwe as their ‘Pick of the Day’ and the result was a surge in visits to our website. We decided there and then to try and keep the blog going beyond the elections and our webstats now reveal a whopping 650% increase in visitors to our blog and website since March 2005, with a continuing steady increase every month.

The success of that is down to ordinary people who have contributed entries on a regular basis, and it hasn’t always been easy for them. Writing anonymously, unable to discuss or share an idea with a friend or family member, is lonely work. Trying to communicate a surreal experience to an invisible and unknown audience is also difficult - especially if you are a person who would not ordinarily describe themself as ‘a writer’. But the hardest thing to do, when tired, disheartened and battered by relentless repression, is to find words that will contribute to our broader committment, which is to make a difference to the people in our country who need it the most; people who are homeless, hungry and struggling to survive. To find those magic words - say something, anything, that will keep Zimbabwe in the mind of the world - that’s the hardest thing of all. Yet our contributors have managed to keep going and as a result people from all around the world visit our blog every day to read their words. Your comments and your emails are appreciated and help us to keep going. Thank you for your warmth and support.

Sokwanele has never been under the illusion that This is Zimbabwe would reach the people who crave and need truthful and honest information the most - namely, Zimbabweans living in Zimbabwe - but we hoped that it might give the outside world a feeling for what life was like for ordinary people in Zimbabwe.

Our nation has slid into the ‘African basket-case’ category, but we, the Zimbabwean people, are unwilling participants in this train-smash - we have been force-marched with repressive legislation, violence and intimidation, into a tragic cliché which we reject and want no part of. We ask ourselves the same question that you would ask yourselves every day if it happened to you: ‘I cannot believe this is happening to me; what have I ever done to deserve this?’. Just because we are African and living in a poverty-stricken and war-torn continent doesn’t make our experience any easier for us to live with or adapt to. We are - as you would be too - shocked, stunned, horrified, frightened and angry. Zimbabweans are more than catastrophic headlines in the mainstream media: we are individuals, families, and communities, and we are living in a state of seige.

If the Interception of Communications Bill is passed - which it probably will be - keeping This is Zimbabwe going is bound to be more difficult and more dangerous. The government reveals with this latest legislation that its top priority remains its determination to ruthlessly control the hearts and minds of the people in our country. That is despite the fact that the Zimbabwean economy has failed with inflation at nearly 1000%, despite food shortages, an erratic fuel supply, never-ending power and water cuts, and even sewerage flowing in some streets. This is why it is so important that we find a way to keep going: Zimbabweans are entitled to, and deserve, a government that instead prioritises the eradication of poverty, basic human rights, and freedom and democracy for all. As hard as it may be, we plan to do whatever we can to continue doing what we do until Zimbabweans finally get what they deserve. Our decision to pursue that objective has nothing to do with ‘national security’ or ‘preserving the dignity of the president’; it’s about democracy, pure and simple, and we are exercising our right despite every attempt that has been made to deprive us of it.

Sokwanele - Zvakwana - Enough is Enough

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, Sokwanele, Zvakwana, democracy, Interception of Communications, mugabe, freedom of information

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This joke comes via The Zimbabwean:

A man dies and goes to hell. There he finds that there is a different hell for each country. He decides he’ll pick the least painful to spend his eternity.

He goes to German Hell and asks, “What do they do here?”

He is told: “First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day”.

The man does not like the sound of that at all so he moves on.

He checks out the USA Hell as well as the Russian Hell and many more. He discovers that they are all similar to the German Hell.

Then he comes to the Zimbabwean Hell and finds that there is a long line of people waiting to get in. Amazed, he asks, “What do they do here?”

He is told: “First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. The Zimbabwean devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day”.

“But that is exactly the same as all the other hells. Why are there so many people waiting to get in?” he asks.

“Because there is never any electricity, so the electric chair does not work.

The nails were paid for but never supplied, so the bed is comfortable to sleep on.

And on top of that, the Zimbabwean devil used to be a civil servant, so he comes in, signs his time sheet, and goes out to do his private business for the rest of the day.”

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, humour, joke

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Hullo Tete

I have a problem and ndovimba kuti muchandibatsira ne nyaya iyi. I am a car thief and dealer in Mbare, who has recently been diagnosed as a carrier of the HIV virus. My parents live in Mufakose and one of my sisters, who lives in Mabvuku, is married to a gold smuggler.

My father and mother have recently been arrested for growing and selling marijuana. They are financially dependent on my two sisters, who are prostitutes at the Elizabeth Hotel. I have two brothers, one is currently serving a non parole life sentence at Chikurubi and my other brother is currently at Remand Prison awaiting his sentence.

I have recently become engaged to marry a former prostitute who lives in Highfield.

All things considered, my problem is this. I love my fiancé very much and look forward to bringing her into the family. I certainly want to be totally open and honest with her.

Should I tell her about my cousin who is a Zanu PF MP?

Yours sincerely
Agonised

This joke is doing the rounds on email today - or maybe it has been doing the rounds for a while and has only just hit my cyber-circle. It did make me laugh! But as well as being funny, it clearly shows that Zimbabweans are fully aware of how bad life is in Zimbabwe and the desperate lengths that people have to go to just to survive. It also shows that Zimbabweans know who is responsible for all of it. Zimbabweans have always had the ability to find humour in the darkest of times, a quality that is endearing and makes me so proud, but also leaves me wondering if perhaps that’s how we have endured so much, for too long…? You can understand why mugabe passes laws like the one that makes it a crime to ridicule the president; namely, because when a person can poke fun, they stop being afraid.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, humour, joke, agony aunt, zanu pf

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Thank you to Shaun Dewberry, a South African blogger, for his support and for making us laugh!

Visit his parody site here.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, South Africa, weblog awards

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Just when I think I’ve heard it all about this utterly ludicrous government, this comes along (via the BBC):

Zimbabwe’s government says sanitary towels donated during an international appeal must be quality tested before any duty exemption will be considered.

At the moment Zimbabwean women are forced to use newspaper and toilet paper; those in the rural areas are apparently resorting to leaves and tree bark! And apparently this is leading to infections and illnesses. Has the good zimbabwean government done its duty to Zimbabwean women and quality tested all the newspaper, toilet paper, leaves and bark in the country ..? Of course not! They don’t care about women and the indignity they are having to endure. Wow, this makes me angry!

The truth is that the government cannot stand the idea of anyone other than themselves (in this case, the South African unions who organised the appeal and the good South African businesses who donated the sanitary towels) to be seen to be doing the right thing. Here’s the important point in the statement:

Mr Matonga said the organisation should apply to the health ministry for duty exemption and a quality-control test, after this the sanitary ware could be distributed by the ministry.

So in other words, give us the fruits of your efforts and we’ll take all the credit. It’s an admission of failure when someone else has to step in and sort things out, and the government can’t stand to admit they have failed. Well, its too late! Women becoming ill because they can’t afford sanitary ware is also proof of failure!

I hope the South African’s don’t fall for that one because we all know what happens when free goods fall into the control of zanu pf - some corrupt minister will sell them on the black market at an inflated price and net himself a tidy profit.

And Zimbabwean women will continue to endure the indignity of newspaper and leaves.

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, zanu pf, women, gender, sanitary towels, COSATU, South Africa

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Five years ago my friends sold up their house and downsized to a small cottage. Unable to work due to illness and unable to maintain their home, they were left with no choice. They decided that they would invest the money received from the sale of the house and, because they were no longer receiving an income, they would live off interest received from that investment. Their pension, which they paid into religiously every month of their working lives, is now worthless: they get a monthly payment of $40 000 - just enough to purchase half a loaf of bread. They did not have any children and have no living relatives.

Although they battle to pay their monthly expenses, they felt confident that they would be able to financially support themselves for the rest of their lives. They had steered well clear of all the ‘dodgy’ banks that have been springing up over the past few years and instead of taking any risks, they put their whole life savings in the trust of a well known, well respected financial management company.

This week, disaster struck! Notice was given by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe that Sagit Finance House Limited is closed, pending liquidation. My friend was unconcerned as she had not banked with them. And then, she received a phone call to inform her that her money was placed by her investors into an account at Sagit. All transactions have been frozen. Their money is gone! The management company is apologetic. Someone else told me how she had tried to console another pensioner who had also lost everything: “He was sobbing hysterically. I could not get him to stop crying,” she said.

In the past there have been stories of old age pensioners committing suicide. They would rather die than become a burden to anyone. Pride and dignity get in the way, and many choose to suffer, rather than ask for help. I worry about my friend’s future.

In a bid to help her understand, I tried to find out what had happened. I am not a financially minded person at all, but I saw red when I read the public notice printed in the newspaper. It states:

1. SFH has a capital deficit of $93.06 billion
2. Identified potential shareholders are debtors with non-performing loans
3. 95% of a total loan book of $123.79 billion comprise of non-performing loans
4. The institution has been siphoning depositors’ funds to underwrite convoluted non-banking business
5. SFH made a loss of $106.10 billion for the year ended 31/12/2005

Maybe I have a simplified understanding of what that advert means but the facts seem pretty clear to me. Non-performing loans of (95% of) $123 billion, of which ‘most are insider loans’, and a financial loss of $106 billion. I am sure any 10 year old child can work out that there is a problem there. ‘Unorthodox insider dealings’ has to be the understatement the year!

How can this happen? Who is ultimately responsible for allowing this bank to continue operating under those conditions? Where is the security net? Where the hell was RBZ and Gideon Gono when this hole was being dug? One of mugabe’s election campaign promises was ‘no safe havens for corrupt bankers’. His big threat certainly seems to have had no effect on stopping the corruption but then again, it’s a case of follow my leader isn’t it?

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, pensioners, pension, hyper inflation, banking, poverty, corruption, gideon gono

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“The reality of hyper inflation is beyond the telling of it” - a quote from yesterday’s edition of The Telegraph (UK) (via zwnews.com). The article was titled ‘When inflation reaches 782pc’.

It’s a very true statement - there is no way I can begin to convey the experience of living with inflation like this. It is unimagineable. But seeing it written by a newspaper tells me that words have begun to fail even those whose business is writing and explaining.

I can’t explain it, but I know it in my bones. Nevertheless, I wasn’t prepared for the shock I felt - even though I am Zimbabwean - when I read on and saw this:

This is the highest inflation in the world. Second on a list put together from various international inflation sites is Iraq at 40 percent.

Zimbabwe has 782% inflation; the second worse country in the world is Iraq, with approximately 40% inflation.

Think about it…

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, Iraq, hyper inflation, inflation, poverty, hardship, economy

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[This article was sent out to our subscribers yesterday. Click here to subscribe to the Sokwanele mailing list]

Political crises are normally resolved by political processes worked out by politicians and their supporters. But the failure of Zimbabwean political parties to find a way through the maze where we have lost ourselves, induces one to look in other directions. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become a major force in our society - could they not show us the direction and lead us back to political sanity?

NGOs are the direct descendants of charitable and welfare organizations, but they have evolved in different directions so that they now present a wide variety of programmes and structures. For the sake of clarity we can group them into three broad categories. First we have what can still be referred to as welfare organizations, devoted primarily to assisting individuals who have failed to achieve the basics of a decent life on their own - orphanages, old people’s homes, soup kitchens, feeding programmes and shelters for the destitute and street kids, and AIDS and counseling organizations. Secondly there are the development organizations, engaged in income generation and capacity building for communities to promote sustained economic growth. Examples of these are Plan International, ORAP, and micro-finance lending organizations such as Zambuko Trust. Third, and generally more recently on the scene, are the civil society organizations. These concern themselves in one way or another with issues of governance and policy formation and implementation. Some focus on specific interest groups. Here we find the human rights groups, civic educators, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), those promoting democracy or specific policies such as the Women and Land Lobby Group or the Community Working Group on Health.

Just as the animal kingdom encompasses both insects and elephants, NGOs come in all shapes and sizes; some are home-grown, others are internationally connected. In all three categories we have faith-based or church related organizations as well as others which are purely secular. Many cross over the category boundaries, with objectives in two or even all three broad areas. An environmental NGO may teach water harvesting for rural development but may also be engaged in lobbying for more effective environmental protection legislation. An integrated rural development organization may facilitate leadership training and human rights education while teaching the scientific application of fertilizer and running a school feeding programme.

In spite of the differences, all NGOs share certain common features and face a number of common dilemmas. First, they all originate from a vision, ideological or otherwise, of an improved society, social justice if you will, where individuals can satisfy their basic needs and strive to achieve their human potential. They are based on idealism. Second, virtually all depend on foreign donors. Third, all must negotiate a position within the parameters drawn by government policy. Balancing these three conditions can be tricky.

While NGOs of the first two categories (welfare organizations and development organizations) share the vision of a just society, their methods of achieving it usually do not involve direct action relating to governance. Their role in the present crisis has often been simply to keep people alive and help them to adapt to the new environment as well as they can. It is the civil society organizations to which we turn to find a direct role in impacting on the crisis. Can they assist?

Our response to this question will be influenced by our analysis of what is wrong and how it must be corrected. If it is simply to put a new political party into power, then that is best left to political organisations. But most civil society organizations have recognized that the problem is not just ZANU PF’s criminality. The problem lies deep in the society itself which has permitted such an aberration of democratic governance to develop and survive. The solution can not therefore be found simply by replacing the present governing incumbents by others, no matter how genuine or even angelic they may appear. The lessons of Zambia, Malawi and Kenya are not lost on Zimbabweans. And the current rupture in the MDC reinforces them. ZANU-like tendencies toward the corrupt use of power exist everywhere in Zimbabwe. They have almost become part of our culture.

If we identify the problem not just as a need for a new governing party, but as a need to create a whole new democratic culture from the grassroots upwards, then civil society organizations do have a key role to play. In most developed societies, state education institutions teach the fundamentals of democratic practice - through both theoretical and practical lessons. But the ZANU-ised government institutions have forfeited the opportunity to play this role as they have become rather tools of oppression, mistrusted by the people.

What can civil society organizations do? A variety of possibilities exist, depending on the particular focus of each organization. All are essential to the development of a new democratic dispensation. Here are some suggestions:

1. Civic education organizations can promote a cultural revolution towards democracy through work at the grassroots. The aim would be to bring people to an understanding of participatory democracy, to a knowledge of their rights and a willingness to claim them, while respecting the rights of others. One of the reasons that ZCTU was in the forefront of the push for change in the 1990’s was that they had already gone a long way with this educational work.
2. Information and legal organizations can expose the failings in the present governance by:
• Research and publication of information on a wide variety of issues, including abuses of rights, corruption and policy failures
• helping people to seek justice through the courts where their rights have been abused
3. Membership organizations can provide examples of democratic practice in their own structures, giving people the necessary experience of democratic leadership, democratic decision-making, transparency of financial accounting, respect for rights and tolerance for differing opinions, where the emphasis is on argument and persuasion rather than manipulation, intimidation and violence to promote one’s views.
4. Special interest organizations can develop model legislation such as constitutions and policies on issues such as land, foreign trade and production modes, challenging people to imagine a better future and think both creatively and critically towards it. The development of models needs to be accompanied not just by campaigning but also by discussion and production of alternatives, so that people fully understand the range of possible policy choices.
5. Membership organizations and coalitions of civil society organizations can mobilize the people to demonstrate and express their dissatisfaction with the present situation and their determination to resolve it in a democratic direction. This builds people’s confidence and ensures their participation in the process of change.
6. They can also inform and lobby foreign governments, NGOs and international organizations, bringing formal complaints to human rights bodies and courts, thus building international pressure on the government for change.
7. Peace-building organizations can work at grassroots to help heal the wounds of hatred and intolerance and encourage people to respect each other’s humanity and work together to achieve common goals.
8. At a transitional stage, all forms of civil society organizations can participate in interim measures and negotiations to prepare the way for a constitutional conference and internationally supervised elections.

The road we have to travel to establish genuine democracy in Zimbabwe is a long and winding one. Civil society organizations can help through all these activities and many others to take us along that road towards a shared vision of social justice.

But there are problems and dangers along the road which must be overcome. Just as these organizations may share a common idealism so they face many common problems which work to undermine their contribution.

1. Donor dependence. Virtually all civil society organizations are donor funded. Donors have their own goals and expectations and give funds because they want them to be put to a specific use. The process of designing project proposals, budgeting, persuading donors, and then reporting in detail is an important and useful discipline. However, the dependence leads to a deep insecurity and can also distort programmes as organizations tailor their proposals to known donor interests.
2. Bureaucracy/loss of idealism. Many Zimbabwean organizations have been well supported by foreign donors, who have provided funds for comfortable offices, smart vehicles, hi-tech equipment, training courses and even regional and international travel. Through the past inflationary years it is the NGOs with foreign funds which have been best able to raise salaries, while government and even the private sector have lagged behind. Gradually NGOs have become the preferred place of employment for all types of trained personnel. Comfortable employees find difficulty in risking their good fortune by implementing policies which could put them in government’s spotlight and might threaten the very existence of the organizations they serve. Hence even civil society organizations become conservative in their outlook, keeping to safe programmes which will not jeopardize their infrastructure and jobs. Some lose the will to spearhead change altogether.
3. Egotism/power complex. All human beings have weaknesses, whether they work for government or for NGOs. There is always a temptation for capable individuals who find prominence within the NGO world to become distracted by their own sense of self-importance. This leads them to ignore democratic interactions in their organizations and in their relations with the people on the ground. Instead of working with the people they begin to use them as a force to push their own agendas, without allowing the people to develop the necessary skills to enable democracy to grow.
4. Infiltration. The strongest civil society organizations are those with membership throughout the country, but they are also perceived as the most threatening by government. These are organizations such as ZCTU, Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (Zimrights), the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU). Membership organizations can easily fall victim to the individual who simply wants a position in order to establish a power base for his or her own aggrandizement, or even to access funds which can be appropriated. But more dangerous is the government agent who is planted within the organization for the purpose of causing havoc and rendering it incapable of carrying forward its programmes. By their very openness membership organizations are vulnerable, but even non-membership organizations can be debilitated by infiltration.
5. Government restrictions. It has long been the practice for welfare organizations to register with the Department of Social Welfare to establish their legitimacy in the eyes of government. But this has never been a legal requirement and many civil society organizations have simply registered trust deeds with the High Court under a common law procedure. As the ZANU PF government has become increasingly totalitarian, it has sought to exert control over all NGOs by requiring registration. It could then refuse to register any “undesirable” organization, rendering its operations illegal. The notorious NGO Bill specifically targets civil society NGOs which are concerned with “issues of governance”. These would be excluded from receiving any foreign funding. Even before the law is passed, we can observe some organizations adjusting their programmes in the hope of not being refused registration. Should the current draft become law, civil society organizations will have to decide individually whether to cease operations or devise other ways of continuing their work. Few, considering the elements of donor dependence and bureaucratization, would have the will or the means to continue, and many would simply close down.

The challenge to civil society organizations, their boards and their staff as well as their donors, is a tough one. While they cannot directly bring the much needed political change they do have a vital role to play in guiding Zimbabweans through the maze towards the establishment of a genuinely democratic society. Only in such a context can we enjoy economic development which leads to prosperity for all. However, the way will be long and perhaps dangerous, and those who believe there are any quick fixes are bound to be disappointed. Positive achievements will not be made unless the organizations and individuals within them rise above their own personal needs and ambitions and are prepared to work, and even sacrifice, for the common good. Let us hope they will have the skill, commitment, moral courage and endurance to navigate through the rocks and survive, in order to fulfill their important mission.

[This article was sent out to our subscribers yesterday. Click here to subscribe to the Sokwanele mailing list]

Technorati Tags: Zimbabwe, NGOs, non governmental organisations, civil society, development, democracy, reconstruction, political crisis

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