The Reith Lectures is a series of annual radio lectures given by leading figures of the day, commissioned by the BBC and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. In July, Aung San Suu Kyi spoke at length about her life and what has inspired her activism.

From the NewStatesmen, this caught my eye:

At a screening of the first lecture at Broadcasting House, it was mesmerising to sit and watch ASSK speaking at length (the footage had been recently smuggled out of Burma). Traditional peach silk top. Blue flowers in her hair. A slash of orange lipstick. She is resolutely not a spin-doctored, slick operator. Two things stood out: her use of the old-fashioned word gallantry, and her repeated use of the word passion.

Though ASSK is clearly unbowed, at one point during the live Q&A down the line from Rangoon she admitted that the lights had been switched off by the authorities and she was sitting at the telephone in the dark. How fitting that she had, just minutes earlier, quoted from Ratushinskaya’s prison poem that ends: “It isn’t true, I am afraid, my darling!/But make it look as though you haven’t noticed.”

Where is a more complex narrative on Africa asks Saratu Abiola writing for Pambazuka News. According to Saratu, this years Caine Prize short list leaves a lot to be desired.

Here’s an excerpt:

Writers write. Readers have opinions. It’s really that simple. One has a right to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and churn out just whatever (s)he pleases. I certainly did not like Hitting Budapest, a plotless story that does not seem to have a point beyond “these kids are poor and live squalidly and you should pity them”, but I do not really care about Bulawayo; she can write whatever she wants. I’m madder at the Caine Prize for seeming to favor stories of a particular strain, the ones that are less about characters and the network of trip-wires that make up their humanity and more about flattening characters to render them tools to make a political point, and absolving them from the basic responsibilities that come with writing a good story. I’m madder at them for not asking for complexity, and buying into an oversimplified narrative of Africa – poverty, war, disease, starving/fighting children — just like most Western media does. I’m madder at the Caine for saying that this collection of stories is the best they could get out of Africa. I’m mad because I and so many people out there know that that is not true. More

We need more writers like Chris Kabwato. Every week he shares a refreshing and provocative take on Something. This week it’s leadership. Seen any in Zimbabwe lately? Thought not.

In search of a leader

AN ANCIENT text tells me the following:

A man will seize one of his brothers at his father’s house and say “You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins.” But in that day he will cry out, “I have no remedy…do not make me the leader of the people.”

Now I am hoping as Zimbabweans we shall not end up having to choose a leader of the basis of what English writer Thomas Hardy’s observation that “aspects are within us, and who seems most kingly is the king”. I mean could we choose someone walking down Samora Machel Avenue to lead us just because we liked that person’s beige suit, purple shirt and matching tie.  Surely we demand much more of those that would lead us?

In all the current heat around who is and is not a leader we should confront the frightening reality that we face a dearth of leadership in all spheres – politics, business, religion, civil society and the unions. We remain underwhelmed by a leadership that is divisive, uninspiring, confusing, contradictory and unstrategic. Where then is the leadership that will understand that Africa is on the brink of a fundamental economic and social transformation and thus will make those earth-shattering vision statements that will galvanise us towards a common cause? Where is the leadership that will make us re-imagine Zimbabwe? Who will rise above the bigotry of patriarchy, tribalism and racism?

Those that wish to lead should put their houses in order and those homes are the political parties, government, the private sector, the universities and colleges, the unions, the civil society organisations, the churches and the student movement.

In our political parties there is no culture of robust debate – that necessary contestation of ideas that moves a nation forward. You read through manifestos and congress resolutions and you are amazed at the hotchpotch of uncritical statements strung together in the language of overzealous college students. You listen to their message and you wonder at the lack of coherence. In the case on one party how are they able to issue four different statements on a single issue? Does anyone there understand Communication 101? Or just the basic principle of disciplining the message? But is there a coherent message in the first place?

Civil society’s debacles at the SADC summit last month should have provided an occasion for a frank re-assessment of our supposed collective vision. There we were in Sandton chasing one whisky after the other – waiting for the superheroes to come from Harare and give direction. Those sent ahead had no clue where to begin. Needless to say the end-result was a Tower of Babel – a symphony of cacophony that exposed the faultlines in our supposed single goal of creating a democratic Zimbabwe.

For now it is back to what we know best – self-aggrandisement, grandstanding, competition for resources, duplication of efforts and the usual 3-year strategies tied to donor strategies. Still there is a slight possibility that those activists that still have any principles will ask how we it will be possible to give birth to a new reality when we are locked into constantly shifting external funding strategies. How can we change the political, economic and social edifice of Zimbabwe when we have no sustainable frameworks that inform our vision beyond parroting the usual refrains of good governance outside of the wider context?

On the other hand, I do not know how many young people in civil society today would say they are being mentored or groomed for leadership. Many wallow under the tyranny of the founder-director – of people who are so insecure they see conspirators in every nook. We have chairpersons of organisations who assume executive powers and destroy the potential of people. We have appointed directors of organisations who could never be able to organize a birthday party for a three year old that wishes to invite six friends.

In business we confront the usual same old clique – brilliant at managing businesses they inherited and not great at fostering creativity and innovation. They shout from the rooftop on how the state should protect their shoddy products and services from foreign competition. They don’t invest in the ideas of a younger generation – there is, after all, golf, whisky and “small houses” to take care of. To add salt to injury, those that we thought represented a new generation of entrepreneurs have turned out to be merely a little bit more sophisticated in their thieving than your regular pickpocket at Mbare Musika.

If Charles Mzingeli, that gallant trade unionist of the 1930’s to 50s were to rise from the grave what would he say about the state of trade unionism in our teapot-shaped nation? Would he use the same excuses of decimation of the worker base and the ravages of the last decade to explain the retreat by the unionists from their historical role and giving up space to political and educated elites? Would Mzingeli see in the perennial schism of elites and workers the very battle he had against nationalist leaders like George Nyandoro?

In grappling with the challenge of producing leaders and ensuring there is a successor generation we have tried the route of leadership academies, of books and more books on the subject (Deepak Chopra, Rudy Giuliani, Bismarck, even Alex Ferguson) and countless one day events where you pay top dollar to be told what you already knew. Some have remained in the trenches – the unions and the student movement. But the question remains nagging: where are the fruits of that knowledge and experience?

We need kenge “superheroes” and superheroes to come of their hiding places and speak their minds without fear of being labelled by powerful elites.

Leaders should lead.

South Africa has produced its first all-black pornographic movie, which film-makers say is intended to help promote safe sex and combat HIV. Mapona – which means Naked in SeSotho – was made in response to demand from the 30,000 members of an amateur porn site, Sondeza, who complained about the dearth of local black talent in X-rated movies. More

Statement on Mbare Violence by Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe:

A Plea To Politicians: Respect Human Rights and Dignity for Mbare Residents

The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe (CCJPZ) is appealing to political parties and politicians as well as the youths to stop violence and respect human rights and human dignity of the people who live in Mbare. Violence in Mbare, since the beginning of this year is largely political. The organising points have been Carter House and Paget House in Mbare. This area is close to a place where some people, especially those who are HIV positive, collect their anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs). But the place has become so unapproachable and inhospitable that some of the victims of violence are now afraid to go and collect their drugs.  Systematic about the violence is that it is imported; most people behind the violence are not permanent residents in the area, but have been ‘shipped’ from other areas.

The Commission believes that diversity is a positive value that can be used for the betterment of the country, but it seems we are destroying that diversity and forcing people to follow certain political positions.  The victims of violence say they are being punished for their democratic rights of participating in political associations of their choice. But our experience has shown that politicians will never win votes by beating and killing their perceived opponents. The best way of winning votes is by promoting human rights and human dignity. How, for example, can a person (and his family, relatives etc.) who dislocated his jaw as a result of political violence would vote for the political party responsible for dislocating it?

Usually, a family house is the safest place where an individual can seek refuge.  But in Mbare, there are politically related groups that force their way into private property of those with alternative political mindsets, confiscating household goods and other personal property. In extreme cases, some families in Mbare supporting a particular political position have lost their houses to people who belong to other political parties. Buying and (re)selling opportunities, some of the most forms of   survival strategies in Mbare have been availed on partisan basis. Vending positions, flea market tables have also been politicised. All this is happening amidst tense, but implicit political violence. Families have been broken by the violence, and some men have to go and see their families at night to avoid being caught by the politically dogmatic groups. Is this the freedom that claimed gallant daughters and sons of the soil during the liberation struggle?

However, all these scenarios do not only undermine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government and guaranteeing to everyone the right that are essential for effective political participation – but are also against the Gospel values and principles which the Church follows. They undermine the principle of the Common Good which requires that political, economic and the social order should ‘allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to make independent choices to reach their fulfilment more fully and more easily’. The political violence in Mbare also undermines the principle of human dignity, the human worthiness that we derive from God who loved us first and created us in his own image. It is instructive to consider every ‘neighbour without exception as another self, taking into account first of all his life and the means necessary for living it with dignity’. Every political, economic, social, scientific and cultural programme must be inspired by the awareness of the primacy of each human being over society. CCJPZ therefore advises the politicians, political parties and the youths to desist from violence in Mbare to enable citizens to live their normal lives. END!

30 June 2011

A.M Chaumba, National Director.

Kind of curious really that Zanu PF says civil servants can’t get a pay rise because of Western Sanctions. Meanwhile MPs salaries and associated benefits aren’t affected by Western Sanctions. The real impact of sanctions is being minimised by Zanu PF’s most pathetic stance that absolutely everything wrong with Zimbabwe is because of Western Sanctions, and nothing else. Get real guys, you’re looking stupid.

Here is an excerpt from the latest bulletin from the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust:

Motion on the Plight of Civil Servants

Hon. Moses Mare (MDC-T Chiredzi West) seconded by Hon. Greenbate Dongo (MDC-T Goromonzi South) introduced a motion in the House regarding the “low levels of remuneration for civil servants and everyone paid through the Treasury”. The motion noted that the country’s resources were not being utilized in the best interest of the nation, in particular the lack of transparency in the distribution of the proceeds raised from the sale of the diamonds at Chiadzwa. The motion further bemoaned the existence of “ghost workers” who were drawing salaries from the fiscus.

The motion called upon the House to;

- Ensure that all proceeds from previous sales of diamonds from Chiadzwa are properly accounted for and remitted to Treasury;

- Put in place the necessary legislation and mechanism to enable Treasury to take full control of all diamonds mined in the country;

- Ensure that all minerals are sold to the best advantage of the country;

- Remove all ghost workers from the Government payroll and;

Members across the political divide were generally agreed on the dire plight of civil servants in the country, they differed on the causes of the situation. MDC-T Members blamed what they called mismanagement of resources, especially proceeds from the mining sector, in particular proceeds from the Chiadzwa diamond fields, corruption and “ghost workers”.

On the other hand, some ZANU PF Members argued that government was not able to pay civil servants decent salaries because of the “economic sanctions imposed by the West” on Zimbabwe. There was also unanimity by backbenchers that the issue of civil servants’ salaries should be depoliticized and focus more attention on ways of improving the economic situation and broadening the revenue base so that government can be able to pay its workers decent salaries.