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Archive for 2010

Crumbs from chefs tables

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Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 by Bev Clark

Raymond Majongwe, head of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe clearly has the right idea when he says that the striking civil servants should not return to work and that the government should “sell diamonds and we share that wealth instead of it being enjoyed by few individuals.” It is completely unacceptable that members of Zanu PF and the MDC exploit the resources of Zimbabwe whilst citizens struggle to survive on the crumbs that are thrown to them from the chefs tables.

Zimbabwe’s Mr Fix-it

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Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 by Bev Clark

Monocle Magazine describes itself as a briefing on global affairs, business, culture and design. It’s one of the most interesting reads that I’ve come across. In the February issue Steve Bloomfield interviews Tendai Biti – “Mister Fix-it” as described by Monocle.

In the interview Tendai likens repairing Zimbabwe’s economic ruin to “drowning in a sewer” but remains “confident that he can make a difference”.

A few of Tendai’s responses are a bit curious . . .

Monocle: What’s your relationship with President Mugabe like? Do you work closely with him?
Tendai Biti: He’s the President of the country so on key issues you have to go to him. I’m fixing his mess. I’ve no problem with him. I find him very receptive. He listens. We debate. He has got a mind. It’s refreshing to go there and argue a case. He is open to persuasion.

[ Hmmm. I wonder why there's still such a stalemate then? ]

Monocle: How much are you paid?
Tendai Biti: It was US$100 [a month] until June. I think it’s now . . . [he turns to his permanent secretary]. How much do you give me? US$150. I’m eating into my savings from 18 years as a lawyer.

[ Yeah right. And how big is your expense account Tendai? ]

Sometimes the women are the bigger fools

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Friday, February 5th, 2010 by Natasha Msonza

The constant hoopla around Zuma’s polygamy really is getting exhausting; with journos shifting attention to what he is up to each time they are suffering the diary draught. It has become nothing short of selling tabloid headlines. Can’t they get it through their thick heads? The man said it loud and clear – much to the indignation of feminists and gender activists – it is his (Zulu) culture, and the problem with most of us is indeed “thinking that our cultures are far more superior to those of others”. What Zuma is doing is to be expected, those are some of the hazards of having a clown for a president.

My bone of contention is; are the women involved in all this being oppressed? Have any of them been forced into marriage by this lunatic? Are not the majority of them young, pretty and educated but found jostling amongst themselves to be the next best lady? Do they not make public appearances next to the imposing Zulu President all smiley and beaming with self-importance and contentment?  Why are they being made to look like the victims? I mean so what if he has just fathered his 20th child and married his umpteenth wife? Though old-fashioned, the man can afford it for Pete’s sake and it is clearly not illegal in his country? In any case, those children are lucky at all to be born of the President of the most powerful country in Sub Saharan Africa.

I agree the man has a strangely colossal libido, is possibly a paraphiliac, a fool and whatever else the media choose to label him, but I think the fascination with Zuma’s polygamy deserves nothing more than the attention of National Geographic to ‘Africa’s Strangest’. The media are having a field day and the feminists have developed a serious bone to chew, yet the Swazi King Mswati leaves the most polygamous green with envy and for him, marrying is an annual exploit. His father before him had 70 wives by the time of his death too.

If anything, the only sad thing I find about Zuma’s actions is the fact that he claims he loves all his women equally. I feel a certain amount of pity for his first wife, the rotund (read solid) MaKhumalo – who clearly looked unhappy alongside her husband during his inauguration as President of South Africa. It is common knowledge that this woman rarely appears in public, let alone at the arm of her husband. One could almost guess what was going through her mind – probably that her being taken along for this auspicious occasion was just for show: Zuma, the family man who respects his first wife. God only knows he would have preferred to make that grand appearance with one of the younger ‘trophies’ as the young men here would say it.

This – my colleagues is the battle of the ” Desperate First Wives”, and they are all vying for the title of first lady. From the South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to the youngest (and currently prettiest) wife Nompumelelo Ntuli, I can tell you, none of then went kicking and screaming to their Umshado wesiZulu (Zulu wedding). New word on the street has it that Zuma has impreganted another youngling, and she is none other than businessman Irvin Khoza’s daughter! I daresay the media spotlight must beam on these women; they are the bigger fools for embarrassing themselves and allowing themselves to be treated in this way. Who are they, what makes them tick, what made powerful people like themselves fall for this man? Just what was it for each one of them – wealth, fame? Trust me; that would make interesting reading and ‘news’ for a change.

The way Investigative Zim sees it is that; either South Africa is reinventing the concept of political morality and public responsibility among its leaders, or something is seriously wrong with the presidency and the nation just hasn’t woken up to it yet. I shant say more.

Donor aid enables mismanagement of Marange diamonds

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Friday, February 5th, 2010 by Amanda Atwood

According to an article in the Mail & Guardian last week, “donors have stepped in with an estimated USD 74-million in seed packs and fertiliser,” to help Zimbabwe through a long dry spell and the threat of a poor harvest this year. An estimated two million people will need food aid this year, and so the UN has issued a USD 378-million appeal to assist them.

At the same time, the Constitutional reform process needs at least USD 43-million to be completed. Foreign governments such as the US, European Union and Australia have pledged their assistance for this.

In 2007, Gideon Gono estimated that Zimbabwe was losing USD 50-million per month through gold and diamond smuggling. Given the size of the alluvial field at Marange, this figure could be even higher if the diamonds had been professionally, and commercially, extracted – not just smuggled out of the country.

With just ten months of properly managed diamond income, Zimbabwe could be addressing all of the costs listed above. Even if the country chose not to spend the money on these matters, an extra USD 600-million worth of income for the coming year is nothing to sniff at – it’s more than a quarter of Zimbabwe’s national budget.

So, as essential as things like food aid are to protect vulnerable Zimbabweans, and as important as a genuine, inclusive, responsive constitutional reform process is for Zimbabwe’s future, what is the role of donor aid in perpetuating bad governance, and the mismanagement of natural resources like diamnds, in Zimbabwe.

Supervised elections now, not in 2013

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Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 by Amanda Atwood

In our Kubatana email newsletter last week, we asked When should an election that respects the will of the people be held, and what needs to be in place before that happens?

Farai, a loyal subscriber from Chipinge responded today saying:

One way or the other, writing of a people’s driven constitution is not possible since ZANU PF and its structures are intact, moreso, militia and loyal uniformed forces are now on the ground in areas such as Zaka District. The option on its own, would make the demagogues get up to 2013 in offices and acquiring all required terminal benefits since the office terms would be accomplished in disguise. Option B of having UNO supervised elections would be rather better for it would not be time buying and wastage of  resources on the expense of the natives at large. May AU allow us to bypass SADC as to map new hope in the country?

SMS Uprising

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Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 by Bev Clark

The postal service attached a short note to a parcel that we got in the post recently. They apologised for the “dirty state” of the envelope being delivered to us. Inside was the much awaited book, SMS Uprising: Mobile Activism in Africa published by Pambazuka Press. Never mind the fact that our copy is a bit buckled and battered it makes for an incredibly interesting read and not just because Kubatana and our very own Amanda Atwood is featured in it! Sokari Ekine has done a fabulous job editing a series of essays on mobile activism and we urge you to get a copy.

Anne Perkins writing on guardian.co.uk described SMS Uprising as a “book that will help explain how mobile phones can be used in the field to anyone daunted by technology.” She went on to say that “theory is one thing: but where these essays really come alive is in the descriptions of projects that have already worked.” And she cites Kubatana as an example of one of these projects.

Read more here