Tonight Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu will be spending their 12th night in jail since leading a 16 October WOZA protest to demand that government address Zimbabwe’s nation wide food shortages.

The two were denied bail by Magistrate Charity Maphosa at the Bulawayo Magistrate’s Court. I phoned the Court this afternoon, and spoke with Magistrate Maphosa. I was hoping to hear some quiver in her voice that revealed even a pinprick of remorse for the fact that, thanks to her decision, these two women are still in cells. But she was unflappable. She refused to explain her judgement — and referred me to the Clerk of the Court to read her decision in full. When I pressed her further, she suggested that I speak with “the people behind these things,” as she was “just doing her job. She hung up on me before I could ask who, or what, exactly, she meant.

Phone Magistrate Charity Maphosa on +263 9 71051 and see if you have any better success getting her to explain herself. If you do, let us know!

I met a woman recently who described the situation in Zimbabwe as “a long silent scream”. Zimbabwe is dying, and it’s dying silently. We need to derive confidence and courage from the WOZA women and their direct action in confronting the Mugabe regime on the crisis in Zimbabwe. More NGOs, more pressure groups, more people, more politicians need to get out of the queues, the boardrooms, offices and hotels: we need to take our outrage to the streets. Enough is enough.

An excerpt from The New York Poem by Sam Hamill reminds us that we can’t give up:

. . . a mute sadness settles in,
like dust, for the long, long haul. But if
I do not get up and sing,
if I do not get up and dance again,
the savages will win . . .

The latest news update from WOZA about Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu’s continued detention:

Magistrate Charity Maphosa, who was due to rule on the bail application of WOZA leaders, Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, today at 11.15am, was ‘forced’ to attend a workshop instead, delaying her judgement until Monday 27th October.

Williams and Mahlangu remain in Mlondolozi Female Prison where conditions are terrible. Cells are overcrowded and full of lice, food is extremely limited. Prisoners receive only a small amount of sadza (maize) with green vegetable cooked in water – no salt or any other form of nutrition. The lack of salt is particularly worrying given the extreme heat being experienced at the moment. Prison guards also routinely insult inmates.

As expected they were not in court as prison authorities had no transport to bring them to court. As on Tuesday however, the courtroom was full of state agents and WOZA members who had walked to town (some for up to 15km) to provide solidarity to Williams and Mahlangu.

On arriving at court, the defence lawyer, Kossam Ncube, was informed that Magistrate Maphosa was not available and that another magistrate would deliver her verdict. Instead Magistrate Sophie Matimba delayed the ruling until Monday at 11.15am.

Williams and Mahlangu were arrested over a week ago. Bail applications are usually heard on an urgent basis.

It is clear that the state aims to continue its harassment of these women human rights defenders; the actions of a regime so terrified of its own people that it has to imprison them.

SADC is meeting in Harare on Monday to discuss Zimbabwe’s future whilst human rights defenders languish in prison for calling for food aid. WOZA continues to urge its friends in the region and internationally to condemn this persecution of women who are simply determined to provide a better future for themselves and their children. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Five weeks ago, Zanu PF and both MDC’s signed an agreement “on resolving the challenges facing Zimbabwe” They signed that they were “committing ourselves to putting our people and our country first by arresting the fall in living standards and reversing the decline of our economy.” But where is this commitment in action? As the politicians argue about passports and summit venues, hunger is increasing in Zimbabwe, and those men and women brave enough to protest this are being denied their rights.

One week after leading a peaceful demonstration in Bulawayo, Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu remain in custody. These two, and seven other members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), were arrested as part of a protest of hundred of men and women on Thursday 16 October, demanding food aid for millions of starving Zimbabweans.

The other seven members were released later that same day, but Williams and Mahlangu were charged under Section 37 1(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act – ‘disturbing the peace, security or order of the public’. In pressing the state to deny the two bail, prosecuter Chifamba argued that there was still an outstanding case pending. Chifamba was referring to the May 28 arrest of the Chikurubi 14. But the group had been removed from remand on Wednesday 15 October – so the prosecuter’s argument to deny bail should have fallen away.

Instead, the Magistrate, Maphosa, gave the state until 21 October to verify this fact. When Williams and Mahlangu went back before the Court on the 21st, Magistrate Maphosa reserved judgement as the ‘court is very busy’. In Zimbabwe, bail hearings are normally heard on an urgent basis. But not for these WOZA women. All this despite the 15 September political agreement. As the WOZA update from last night says, “the on-going detention of Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu and the delaying tactics and machinations of the state are a clear violation of their rights and the power-sharing agreement signed by the political parties in September 2008.”

Register your discontent. Phone the Bulawayo Attorney General’s Office: +263 9 77651/61603 and the Bulawayo Public Prosecutor: + 263 9 63173 (ask to speak to Prosecutor Chifamba) and ask why the women are being denied bail when they have never been convicted of an offence – the state should not imprison to investigate.

An underground movement that calls itself People to People distributed, or rather littered, Harare’s streets with flyers over the weekend carrying a message rebuking the Reserve Bank Governor for printing substandard bank notes in the form of the new $20 000. Aside from detailing how the $20 000 note has no tight security features and is probably being replicated, the flyers also mention that some shops and vendors are not accepting this note as legal tender. The flyer also demands reasonable withdrawal limits and reasonable policies to curb inflation.

I started hearing complaints about the $20 000 note last week and indeed, it is of poor quality and appears to have been printed on something like bond paper. It also doesn’t have raised font or the silver security strip and watermark that have been the usual security features. But until today it has been possible to transact with it. First it was the hwindis (conductors). They are no longer considering the $20 000 note as legal tender. Unfortunately for them a lot of us had that note and we’d gone such a distance that either dropping us all off or taking us all back to the taxi rank would have been a loss either way. The hwindi eventually capitulated on taking the notes muttering under his breath that as soon as he can he will deposit the money in a bank.

While it is commendable citizen activism the flyers may spark alarm and despondency. The flyers were strewn all over the city from taxi ranks to shopping centres such that those who initially hadn’t closely analyzed the $20 000 note are all going to start shunning it. Now this is a disaster because that’s what the banks are churning out and one cannot exactly consider the option of re-depositing because of the hassle getting it in the first place and there is no guarantee of getting 10s next time. In any case, who wants to deal with tellers who are always on go slow and probably orchestrate the formation of the long bank queues in order to work overtime to reap the benefits?

When bearer cheques were first introduced in 2003 people blasted them for their insulting poor quality and very existence but not to the extent of actually not recognizing them as legal tender. If the people lose faith in the national currency, it spells disaster. One of the fundamental principles of a good economy is that the people have confidence in it. Most Zimbabweans know the security features of the US dollar better than their own money. In fact, they can tell a fake from a real one and actually know which year that country printed new notes.

It is nauseating to think that some people can just play games with a country’s whole economy and get away with it. What will it take for the man who sits at the helm of our central bank to admit failure and resign?

It really is a shame. The Shona version of the People to People flyer concludes by saying: Nderipi zita idzva reBhanga guru renyika? Rinonzi Zeroes Acre! Loosely translated: What is the new name for country’s central bank? It is called the Zeroes Acre! Indeed.

I was walking one morning, when it started to rain. I recall feeling a raindrop, and I considered whether I had been the first to feel the initial one or had the privilege been given to someone else. Every storm must begin with a single drop of rain. And so it is with every worthwhile movement . . . it begins with an idea that is too simple to be taken seriously . . . and then comes the storm.
~ Marco Caceres