Don’t you just love this?

TIME: How real is the transition?

Tsvangirai: This transitional inclusive government can already record some significant progress, in critical areas like education, health, water and sanitation and food.

I reckon Tsvangirai needs to take some time out and visit the many waterless and powerless suburbs in Harare. And whilst he’s at it, he should take his US$100 a month salary (yeah right) and see how far it gets him in Zimbabwe – one of the most expensive countries in the world.

Hmmm. Education? Right. Well here’s an excerpt from a recent Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) statement:

Students were given the platform to air out problems they are facing at their different institutions. The meeting was briefly disturbed by ZANU Pf youths who were purporting to be students, but it managed to proceed after 30mins of delay. The ZINASU Vice President, Briliant Dube chaired the meeting and briefed the participants on the activities ZINASU is carrying out. The students raised the following issues:

- Unaffordability of education.

- Poor sanitation facilities.

- Under qualified teaching personnel.

- Electricity and water problems.

- Outdated library materials.

- Shortage of computers.

- The ratio is 200 students per 1 computer.

- Students are not allowed to attend lectures without proof of paying fees.

- No Students Representative Council (SRC) at Solusi University.

I’ve just read a statement that’s come in from a Zimbabwean NGO called Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development. The statement calls for an audit of “Zimbabwe’s unpayable and odious loans” and asserts, “Zimbabwe’s debt – much of which has resulted from the post colonial burden, failed IFI structural reform programs in the nineties, and the lack of access to debt reduction programmes that other countries have benefited from.”

Whilst there is an urgent need for this kind of audit there is also an urgent need for organisations like ZIMCODD and Transparency International-Zimbabwe to charter that scary and unpopular course of demanding that public servants like Mugabe have his wealth investigated and audited.

According to the statement “Debt relief from both multilateral and bilateral creditors is imperative if Zimbabwe is to be able to meet the basic needs of its people”. It is also true to say that Zimbabweans need debt relief from the avarice of Zanu PF.

I think someone would do quite well if they produced a map that showed where the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) hang out (aka road blocks) waiting to harass or cajole bribes out of Zimbabweans. So we can work out routes around them. The thing is the ZRP are really quite lazy so they tend to stay in the same spot rather than engaging any kind of element of surprise. For example, a group of ZRP camp out just past the last lights in Hatfield on the way to the airport. Their trick is to accuse motorists of jumping an orange light (like Natasha described recently). Knowing that you’re on your way to the airport the ZRP figure that you’ll just hand over a quick bribe because you want to fly, or meet a plane on time.

Truth be told the economy hasn’t revived and it’s hard making ends meet so our recent proliferation of road blocks isn’t anything to do with law and order, or keeping our roads safe, it’s about the ZRP supplementing their meagre wages. Of course there are also issues of control and aggression. A Zimbabwean recently emailed us his experience of being stopped at a road block on the way to Masvingo . . .

I just wonder what these roadblocks are serving; are they to safeguard Zimbabwe’s wealth or the Nation its self from thugs, robbers and killers?  I was driving to my rural home; we were three of us and we approached one of the roadblocks sited on the highway that goes to Masvingo. There was this vehicle, an Army vehicle that was parked right in the middle of the road. Those in the car were talking to this soldier who was at the roadblock laughing. In short the vehicle was blocking other road users. When I got there I stopped behind this Army vehicle and no one attended to me until I decided to use the other side that was not blocked to proceed with my journey. When I was about to go the Police Officer and three other Police Reserves, who were there, stopped me and I stopped.   They started accusing me of running away. I then asked them when I stopped (did you attend to me?). This soldier came shouting together with the Police Reserves saying (you wanted me not to talk to my boss and rush to attend to you?). I said we are both road users therefore I think if you had other issues to discuss you were supposed to park your vehicle outside the road to allow other road users to be attended to and proceed with their journey. The three of us were harassed and shouted at and the other solder was asked to bring the gun. I asked this soldier who he was ordering the gun for, were we civilians armed? What crime had we committed? These questions were not answered.  We then said that we understand is that all of the soldiers and policemen are there to protect civilians from thugs, robbers and to protect the country not to harass civilians. All I want the Nation to know is that a lot of harassment is going on at the roadblocks and why, nobody knows.

There’s an email newsletter called The Harare Informant that occasionally does the rounds. I like it because its so down to earth and covers bread and butter issues. In the latest issue of The Harare Informant, Mufaro Zhou writes about how much we need change – coins that is! Of course many of us want positive political change as well; what a pity the GNU hasn’t provided it. But when you go shopping you’ll seldom be given change; instead you’re asked to accept a credit note for 12c or you’re forced to buy a bubble gum or something like that. Mufaro had this to say . . .

How many for a dollar?
The advent of the US dollar as the major trading currency in Harare has brought with it many opportunities and terms for people in business. The most common term I can think of is, “dollar for two.” Lately we have seen the rise of “dollar for many.” These terms have also driven some corporates to adopt them in their marketing. Yor Fone is currently advertising using the term “dollar for five.” Guess this means you get to make at most five short calls or simply a single five minute call for one dollar. Either way you look at it, you still have to part with a dollar and use their service for five minutes whether you like it or not. I bet you this is the only city in the world where you have to spend at least a dollar in anything you want to procure no matter how small. One only needs to start doing a research before fully determining the long list of all the products that are being sold in at least double the quantity for a dollar. With no solution in sight of determining the single currency to be officially used in Zimbabwe we the customers will still suffer from parting with at least a dollar (8 Rands) all the time we spend money. It is therefore imperative for the country to seek authorization to officially use the US dollar for the benefit of its citizens. That way we can have access to coins (US cents) making life easier and relatively cheaper for the common man. Why not even go the Mozambique way of officially trading in 3 currencies concurrently. At least life in Bulawayo is better because of their use of the Rand. I don’t know where people get all those Rand coins from leading to commodities being priced from 1 Rand (12 cents) making life improved for residents in Bulawayo. At least with such a pricing system you are not forced to buy something in abundance simply because the smallest denomination in use forces you to. If you are to buy anything abundantly in Bulawayo it will be out of choice, if forced by the smallest denomination then at least it’s only for a Rand.

Put on your glad-rags

Yesterday evening a friend and I tried a new bar. It was empty besides a single barfly who was talking funerals in Mabvuku whilst nursing a Pilsner. The waiters were so thrilled to see us it seemed like we were their first customers of the day. On the way up the green carpeted stairs I saw this sign.

aa
b
c
d
e
f
g
h