“I’ve always had the tendency to cause trouble,” says Maryam Keshavarz. The 36-year-old is speaking down the line from an idyllic-sounding writers’ retreat in Portugal, but with the release of Circumstance in the UK this week, the first-time director is not far from controversy. More from the Guardian

How quickly the MDC responds in fury over a survey indicating that its lost support among citizens of Zimbabwe. How slowly, or read … not all, do they issue a statement condemning the harassment and assault of GALZ members.  And people compare Tsvangirai to Mandela? You’ve got to be kidding.

Terms of reference: Website development – Church and Civil Society Forum (CCSF)
Deadline: 31 August 2012

The Church and Civil Society Forum (CCSF) is a coalition of both the Church and Civil Society Organizations working together to promote peace and violence prevention. The main aim of the CCSF is to ensure that violence prevention is achieved through lobbying and influencing policy decisions with regards to the establishment of a fully functional national healing framework.

Why have a website for the CCSF:

a) To promote and facilitate the interaction, consultations and exchange of information and experiences among member organizations and relevant institutions, including government
b) To promote the linking up of member organizations with any national, regional, international and bilateral bodies
c) To catalyze the members to speak on critical issues and to formulate consensus based pragmatic responses to the emerging issues
d) To create a central hub for information on Peace Building, National Reconciliation, Integration, Violence Prevention etc
e) Support existing visibility initiatives by member organizations
f) Build a database of member organizations and their varied activities

Administration and Management of the website

The CCSF secretariat shall have a focal person to be the overall administrator of the entire website.

The Church and Civil Society Forum (CCSF) is calling for reputable individuals or organizations to undertake the development of the Forum’s Website taking into consideration but not limited to the following:

a) The website should in essence have many interactive linkages hence user friendly.
b) To have a side bar links to CCSF partners and member websites, it should be linking to other peace building organizations
c) To have a membership database
d) To house an e-newsletter that will be sent out weekly and monthly to the CCSF members, partners etc with a link to specific pages on the website
e) To have a blog section

Application Process
Individuals or institutional applications are accepted. The lead designer must be in possession of relevant academic and professional qualifications and experience in Information Technology and Website Development and administration.

All interested individuals or organizations should send in their expression of interest to CCSF Secretariat (NANGO) 5 Meredith Drive, Eastlea, Harare, or email to noma [at] nango [dot] org [dot] zw  and copy machinda [at] nango [dot] org [dot] zw

The envelope or email subject line should be marked “Development of Website for the CCSF.” The application must demonstrate institutional capacity to develop the website and attach the Company Profile with CVs of lead designer(s) as well as proposed methodology, implementation plan and Budget, four samples of works done in the last two years and traceable references of three (3) reputable companies/organizations.

Read research from Freedom House on the popularity of the MDC / Zanu PF and the electoral environment in Zimbabwe:

Susan Booysen, author of the interim report Change and ‘New’ Politics in Zimbabwe for Freedom House, said she encountered complaints that the MDC had lost touch with grassroots constituencies, whereas Zanu-PF was still visible and fighting party political battles there.

“I’ve heard people saying MDC is just not doing work in the constituencies and is spending too much time in the palace,” Booysen added. “They’re taking for granted they’re the crown princes. They are not capturing the desire for change. And there is still a desire for change among people.”

The whole report is here

Source Abiye Teklemariam:

“This happened because of an unhealthy conflation of appropriate post-death etiquette for private persons and the etiquette governing deaths of public figures. THEY ARE NOT AND SHOULD NOT BE THE SAME. We are all taught that it is impolite to speak ill of the dead, particularly in the immediate aftermath of someone’s death. For a private person, in a private setting, that makes perfect sense. Most human beings are complex and shaped by conflicting drives, defined by both good and bad acts. That’s more or less what it means to be human. And — when it comes to private individuals — it’s entirely appropriate to emphasize the positives of someone’s life and avoid criticisms upon their death: it comforts their grieving loved ones and honors their memory. In that context, there’s just no reason, no benefit, to highlight their flaws.

But that is completely inapplicable to the death of a public person, especially one who is political. When someone dies who is a public figure by virtue of their political acts discussions of them upon death will be inherently politicized. How they are remembered is not strictly a matter of the sensitivities of their loved ones, but has substantial impact on the culture which discusses their lives. To allow significant political figures to be heralded with purely one-sided requiems — enforced by misguided (even if well-intentioned) notions of private etiquette that bar discussions of their bad acts — is not a matter of politeness; it’s deceitful and propagandistic. To exploit the sentiments of sympathy produced by death to enshrine a political figure as Great and Noble is to sanction, or at best minimize, their sins. Misapplying private death etiquette to public figures creates false history and glorifies the ignoble.”

- Glenn Greenwald