At noon today, approximately 900 members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise marked International Women Human Rights Defenders Day with a peaceful procession to the offices of the state-owned Chronicle newspaper in Bulawayo. No arrests have been reported as yet but as there is a visible police presence in central Bulawayo, this may change.

Jenni Williams, WOZA’s National Coordinator was briefly detained by a senior-ranking police officer during the march but was later released after a discussion about its legality. Williams insisted that Zimbabweans have the right to peaceful protest under the current constitution. Williams was also roughly jostled by the female officer during this exchange, resulting in the aggravation of an existing back condition that Williams has.

The aim of the peaceful procession was to launch WOZA’s consulted position on the COPAC constitution questions. The report is entitled ‘the rising of women means the rising of the nation – no more poverty and starvation, many sweating for a few to benefit’. A copy of the report is available below. (more…)

Failure to get ID

This man describes the difficulties he is having trying to get an Identity Card (ID). He needs this to be able to vote in the constitution referendum and the next general and presidential elections.

“There are some 6000 old aged pensioners in Zimbabwe. Their position is desperate and grows worse daily. Some are in receipt of devalued pensions from the Zimbabwe government; but the rate of inflation is out of control and the elderly have no way of keeping pace. ZANE is providing personalised means-tested care for desperate Zimbabwe pensioners”. More about ZANE on their website here: http://www.zane-zimbabweanationalemergency.com/

The Zimbabwean Global Political Agreement (GPA) this month teetered precariously into its twenty-fifth month. The GPA principals are still at loggerheads over outstanding issues, and there seems little chance of any resolutions any time soon.

During October, ninety-one media online articles were analysed showing breaches to the GPA. These breaches have been categorised by violation form which we have drawn statistics.

Last month saw the conclusion to the constitutional outreach programme showing a drop in breaches. However, violence, intimidation, hate speech and abductions remain present as reflected in 21 (32.1%) articles. Corruption rates second with 19 (20.9%) articles and court injustice coming in third with 10 (11%). Combined, these three breaches total 54.9% of the total collated incidents. (more…)

I was shocked that The Horrid The Herald, that non-partisan, balanced missive, would recently report in such detail the extent of Minister Chombo’s wealth. Interesting that the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Rural Development would own (according to the Herald):

2 Glen View houses
2 flats in Queensdale,
A property in Katanga Township, Stand Number 1037 Mount Pleasant Heights
4 Norton business stands
3 Chinhoyi business stands,
4 Banket business stands,
1 commercial stand in Epworth,
2 residential stands in Chirundu
4 commercial stands in Kariba
1 stand in Ruwa (more…)

E.M. Forster wrote about the “hundred Indias” and I am going to be so crude as to draw an analogy to a “hundred Zimbabwes” –  shades of good and bad and huge scary chunks of grey.

The good comes when you park your car in the steaming heart of Harare city centre and the man who parks next to you politely and modestly says “Good morning” before telling you about his high-powered auditing position in the reviving baking house nearby. Or when you see a face from the past, considered lost to the “diaspora” only last year, driving past you with purpose and the almost smug look of finally being “home”.

Zimbabweans have always worn an extremely strong sense of identity and I, having had my own few disillusioned years, increasingly feel a leap of the heart at news of the good in our rollercoaster land: new shops opening all over the place, excitement written all over the new breed of “yummy mummies” popping into Borrowdale for coffee and a quick gossip; the determined flood of businessmen and women, of all colours and ages, to work in the morning – sharp - because this is the new Zimbabwe where working hard can really earn you some decent bucks. (more…)

Dawn in Zimbabwe – a little bit of peace

If we try to capture them, sometimes we can reach out and hold fleeting moments of absolute stillness and peace. Quiet times that are as familiar to us as our own selves. And these times are beautiful.

Perhaps we need to be reminded of these gems from time to time – especially when things seem so difficult and complicated and hard.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of a good friend of mine. The service commenced with pictures of the bride and groom from birth to the present. The pictures in themselves told the story of their lives. We saw them grow from babies to toddlers and through to the textbook moody teenage years. To finish we saw them finding each other and falling in love.

I have been reflecting over the past few days about what is the need of a child? After leaving a children’s rights seminar I felt rather discouraged and confused in regard to this area. We discussed how the meaning of the word need is very difficult to break down and almost impossible to adequately define. I was personally annoyed that my lecturer refused to use the word ‘love’ when describing a need. He felt that this word was inaccurate and inadequate and that because we can’t put our finger on it we can’t use the term. I think this is nonsense; I feel that love can be defined in relation to a child’s need and I will be certainly be writing about it in the assignments he demands from us busy students. (more…)