Controversial and reckless statements have hounded the Zambian president ever since he came into office. Like his nickname ‘King Cobra” the president really spit venom especially when it comes to making informal speeches. After his inauguration Sata demanded an apology from Malawi for an incident which happened sometime back during a visit to that country when he was still in opposition. During that same time he once questioned the health of the former Zambian president Levi Mwanawasa arguing that the president should make public issues related to his health.

In a turn of events recently the Zambian leader was secretly flown out of the country on a private jet to India for a medical check and this has prompted a public outcry. Just like Zimbabwe, Zambia experienced an economic down turn a few years ago and many people left that country for a better living outside and some decided to settle in Botswana. In an address to Zambians living in Botswana the Zambian president was really blunt and venomous with his words at the same time insulting his fellow countrymen and Botswana.

Responding to questions from the people who attended the meeting Sata said, “All of you who are here with fake questions am very disappointed with you and embarrassed, are you not even ashamed of yourselves? You ran away from Zambia and thought we couldn’t find you and now today we have caught you. You are refugees in Botswana being exploited by the Botswana Government. You left Zambia to come and work here for an extra K1?” Maybe Sata had forgotten that he had mentioned that he was the first Zambian expatriate in United Kingdom in 1970. One wonders whether Michael Sata had already created jobs in this short space in office for these people he was insulting on the very day. And if Zambia had the best medical facilities and qualified personnel why would he sneak out of the country to seek help in foreign countries in the Far East? I guess power is sweet just like what his predecessor Fredrick Chiluba said after an election victory in 1991.

In the midst of their plushy government offices and state houses, most African politicians have a tendency to easily forget where they come from. Here in Zimbabwe parliamentarians promised people that they would develop communities once they were voted into office but years down the line we are now reading that some of them stand accused of gross mismanagement of public funds. Some went on to implement projects without even consulting the people. What is more surprising is that the legislators are complaining that the $50 000 allocated to each of the constituencies they represent is very little and they are lobbying for more, but at the same time they are abusing the same fund.

Gre-cycling is a project aimed at recycling waste to generate income. The first step of this pilot project is to recycle plastics in to diesel and other by products. Once the success of this project is achieved focus will be on bio-material/sewage, paper and cans. The project will be located in Senga one of the poorest high-density suburbs in Gweru, Zimbabwe. It aims to curb the environmental degradation in the area which is highly polluted because of over population that occurs during the Midlands State University semester. The result of the environmental degradation has resulted in unsavory living conditions and disease outbreaks.

The idea behind this project is to turn waste into energy, creating jobs for the Gweru community in Zimbabwe and also maintaining a healthy and clean environment in the Senga surburb of Gweru where most MSU students who failed to get residence at the college live.

Log on to the Dell challenge website and vote for this brilliant idea from Zimbabwe and help turn some dreams into reality.

I watch local news on the telly all day every day, and there is a worrying trend that misfits the GNU that makes a mockery of the role being played by other coalition colleagues. We have known for a very long time from Zanu PF that deputy ministers are not allowed on the Round Table when cabinet meets. Thus some people asked why we get an acting minister, a chap who already superintends another portfolio when there already exists a deputy minister who would by some people’s interpretation logically be expected to watch the gate when Mudenge for example is attacked by a bull. Yet this is given its improper perspective when you watch the news on national television.

From the ministries “led” by the MDC-T you get their deputies waxing lyrical about policy issues when in another place and time it is the minister as the top dog who would be grilled by the journos. But then we get these Zanu PF deputy ministers appearing on TV with alarming frequency you wonder if there is some kind of conspiracy to silence the other coalition voices and present very biased picture that it is these Zanu PF apparatchiks who are steering the troubled nation to placid waters. Thus it is that you get Udenge the deputy minister of economic planning gracing the television screen, Dokora the deputy of education oozing policy machismo, Bimha the deputy of industry and commerce going on and on about what I would rather hear from his boss. Why then not have other deputies like Gift Chimanikire and others if there is nothing wrong with the trend adopted by the news hacks? Good question that! Perhaps the Zanu PF officials are considered more telegenic, but then that’s highly debatable!

But then it is obviously about politics as usual – why show viewers the faces of ministers from parties that want to return the country to white-rule where blacks will once again be banned from walking on CBD sidewalks? Makes sense doesn’t it? We saw it even when there was this major launch of the schools IT project where the only story that emerged from IT Minister Chamisa was him apparently extolling the old president for initiating the schools computerisation programme. But I do feel like that guy who in a very dark night is busy winking at a girl he saw before the lights went out!

Thanks for getting involved in Kubatana’s fix this.please campaign. Your postcards are flying into our post box and we’re really proud by how proactive and engaged Zimbabweans are in wanting to make where they live better.

Here are some responses:

I have put my stickers at:
1) A non working tower light at Kaguvi because people are being robbed in that area
2) The broken sewage pipe at Umvovo because people can easily be attacked by diseases e.g. cholera
3) A stop sign which was crushed by a motor vehicle some time ago in town. I had to put the sticker because there was an accident which took place at  that area

I put the stickers on:
1) A borehole (not functioning) causing shortage of water in Chegutu
2) Manhole Inspection Chamber because of odour from sewage/refuse and sewage burst pipes in Chegutu

Masticker angu ndaka sticker parobot repanjani ravanenguva risinga shandi. Panova pakamboita tsaona yebhazi ne goods train pakafa vanhu makore mashoma apfuura. Pakaita tsaona yelorry yemumwe mugari wemuchegutu. (I placed my stickers on a non-functioning robot at a railway crossing. In the past there was an accident involving a goods train and a bus which killed people. Also a lorry owned by a Chegutu local had an accident at the same spot.)

I have placed stickers on:
1) A tower light between Majange shops and Urombo Primary School. The tower light stopped working long back thereby putting people’s live at risk during the night
2) A railway crossing warning sign a stones throw distance from Chevron Hotel. This is a crossing on the road to Beitbridge
3) Sewer pipes across Shakashe River between Rujeko and Eastvale. Raw sewage form these burst pipes is contaminating water that feeds a dam which is the main water source for Masvingo residents.

I placed my sticker on the robots near Canaan Terminus. It’s been a long time since these robots stopped working. We need them to work.

In Masvingo a lot of broken pipes, no street lights and no traffic lights.

“The things you own end up owning you.”
- Tyler Durden