The article below, published by IRIN, will hit a nerve in most Zimbabweans. Treated like shit at the polls, like shit at government institutions such as the passport office, like shit at road blocks by surly, bribe seeking policemen and like shit in shops where retailers run establishments that can’t and won’t work out how to give their customers change.

We’ve all been there . . . accepting the most ridiculous items like 3 minute noodles in lieu of what we really want, and what is owed to us, our change in Money. When I’m out shopping I do my level best to make sure that what I’m buying adds up to a round number. When it doesn’t I pay it backwards, giving my change to the next person in the check out queue. I figure this is better than getting a “credit note” that will get lost, or fade before I get home.

Enough is very much enough:

Short-changed and angry

People in Zimbabwe are becoming angry about the lack of small denominations in circulation and tempers are fraying as a result: A policeman recently shot dead a taxi assistant for failing to give him the correct change.

After the formation of a coalition government in February 2008, the hyperinflation-afflicted economy was dollarized – with the US dollar and South African rand most widely used, but the Botswana pula, the Zambian kwacha and the Mozambican metical also in common use.

To avoid disputes, taxis now give out travel vouchers when they run short of change – and the problem is not just in the transport sector.

Sipho Mpofu, a public sector employee, went grocery shopping last week and was given a brown voucher instead of change. “When I asked them what it was for, they told me that they could not provide me with change and the voucher worth five rand would allow me to use their toilets for free. I threw away the offending piece of paper because I knew I was being ripped off.”

The lack of change angers many consumers, who are now trying to make purchases in round numbers. Shops use items such as tomatoes, matches, eggs, potatoes, candles, bananas, sweets, pens, pencils or vouchers in lieu of change.

Mpofu said the use of “unwanted” grocery items was a “huge inconvenience”.

“Right now I have a huge pile of matches, candles and sweets which I have no use for. In fact, they pose a threat should they be set alight accidentally.” He said he had to hide the sweets from his children.

Financial journalist Paul Nyakazeya said consumers were effectively being forced to buy items they did not want.

“At the end of the day, when calculations are made, it may be discovered that the goods consumers end up taking as change… make up a substantial percentage of their monthly groceries… The best way out of this quagmire for the consumers would be the widespread introduction of an electronic system to purchase commodities.”

But, with frequent power cuts, especially in rural areas, Nyakazeya acknowledged it would be very difficult to make such a system work.

Economist David Mupamhadzi told IRIN the authorities urgently needed to introduce smaller currency denominations, especially for the South African rand: Many service providers round up the bill, making goods and services more expensive, eroding disposable incomes and boosting inflation, he said.

Here’s a press statement just received from Rooftop Promotions:

The Rooftop Promotions ten member team of “Rituals”, which includes 8 artists, 1 driver and 1 tour manager currently on a national tour, was arrested on the late afternoon of the 5th January 2011 and detained at Cashel Valley Police station in a case that is not only disrespectful to the work of artists but also poses  serious challenges to the commitment of the GNU to healing and reconciliation. The team had finished two performances for that day when they were invited to the police station to answer a few questions then later detained for the night without any clear charges. Those arrested constitute arguably Zimbabwe’s crème de la crème and are multi-award winners in their craft. They are Chipo Bizure, popularly known as Eve in Studio 263, Zenzo Nyathi, popularly known as Mzambani on Amakorokoza, Silvanos Mudzvova, Mandla Moyo, Joyce Mpofu and Rutendo Chigudu.  The team spent two nights (Wednesday and Thursday) in the cells and are due to appear in court today (Friday) represented by Cosmos Chibaya instructed by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

“It is sadly interesting that our artistic work in promoting national healing and reconciliation, through a play that has been seen by the Organ on National Healing Reconciliation and Integration and has been approved by the Board of Censors, is being thwarted like this when the three principals in the GPA agreed to prioritise national healing and reconciliation in their end of year address to the nation. We are disturbed, and I should hasten to say not discouraged or disheartened, by this behaviour from this particular police station especially considering that we hold a valid censorship certificate from a board which falls under the same ministry (Home Affairs) with the police.  We do not take this irrational act lightly at all because there is nothing funny about sleeping in a police cell for doing your job and what makes the situation even more disturbing is that we notified the police appropriately according to the provisions of POSA and had done 16 performances of the same play in that same province late last year and we were only left with 4 performances hanging in order to fulfil our Manicaland quota”, says Daves Guzha the founder and producer of Rooftop Promotions.

We learnt about the arrest on the 5th  January around 5pm and contacted Officer in Charge Inspector Chasara at Cashel Valley Police Station to establish the charges being levelled against the team but he was very  evasive with that information and they went ahead to place them in cells. Only yesterday was it stated through a Sergeant Major, who refused to be known by his name, did they state the team was being judged for criminal nuisance under section 46 and there crime was disturbing peace. Theatre is one of the things exempted under POSA and AIPPA but we still have always notified police of our activities every time and in this case we released a schedule to Mutare Central Police which stated the areas we were covering when we started this tour and out of the 20 scheduled performances for Manicaland, we were left with only four at the time of arresting and detaining our team.

The team’s story, which was supported by people who watched the performance, was that they started off very well, the people loved the show and it was only when the play ended that a police detail who was recording the show confronted them and invited them to the station to answer a few questions to do with the clearance of staging the play. They explained everything but still they were detained and it was only at 6am in the morning that the charge shifted to criminal nuisance whereupon they were asked to pay a fine of $20.00 each which they refused in no uncertain terms and insisted they will wait for the Producer since they believed they had not breached any peace but just did their job to entertain and educate people. When we arrived at Cashel Valley Police station, the said Sergeant Major reiterated the same and said he had instructions from the Officer In Charge to make the team pay the said fine or be detained and taken to court something that we also could not accept since paying a fine technically means admission of guilt to a crime the team insisted they never committed.

“As an artist who believes in the role of theatre in promoting healing and reconciliation, I watched in pain as I saw my colleagues being escorted by gun wielding officers as though they were some high profile criminals and the sad part of it was that they were being locked up for promoting a national agenda. I did not know whether I needed to be disappointed with the particular police officers or the entire law enforcement system of my country as I saw the country’s arts talent being criminalised for doing a play on healing and reconciliation. At a time when the principals and parties in the GPA are pushing for reforms and reconciliation before elections, it is unfortunate that some law enforcing agents cannot wake up and smell the coffee but still want to live in the Zimbabwe that everyone else agrees was not good. ”, says Tafadzwa Muzondo the Marketing & Sales Executive for Rooftop Promotions.

Written by Stephen Chifunyise after going through a research on community approaches to healing and reconciliation, directed and produced by Daves Guzha, featuring Mandla Moyo, Zenzo Nyathi, Joyce Mpofu, Chipo Bizure, Silvanos Mudzvova and Rutendo Chigudu, “Rituals” is a story told in panoramic fashion chronicling how community initiated cultural solutions meet with serious challenges which either prevent their conclusive enactment or achievement of the desired results.

“The fact that this production is a result of a community research we commissioned the writer to do in order to come up with a play that encourages community initiated or driven healing and reconciliation processes means it came from the people and we have to take back to them with our artistic input in order to entertain and educate them. The play has had up to 30 performances after its successful premiere at Theatre in the Park last year and also became an instant hit when it was performed at the All Africa Dance for Peace Festival in Nairobi Kenya last year. It has also been hailed as an effective tool of making people begin dialogue and ultimately start their own processes of healing and reconciliation as a community”, says Daves Guzha the Producer of Rooftop Promotions.

In discussions and comments after the play, most audience members expressed the need to have more of such programs in order to demystify the culture of fear and violence in favour of tolerance and unity in communities. One of the audience members actually said: “People like us who have access to newspapers and other information know that there is an Organ on Healing & Reconciliation but we have not seen what it is doing to do its work. There are not coming to us to hear our concerns, our grievances and suggestions so how do they expect to heal us and reconcile us?”

“The Sergeant Major tried to coax us into paying a fine for a crime we never committed and as artists we took a collective stand to let the law take its course because we are not criminals but professionals doing our job. But after our lawyer communicated that decision to him, he started becoming un-cooperative and ordered us to beck in cells. One of the ladies wanted some sanitary pads locked in the car but he refused and we believe they are using our liberty as a bargaining tool to get out clean with unlawfully detaining us. As artists, we encourage people to stand for themselves and their rights so if we cannot stand for ourselves and our rights also then we become “do as I say not as I do prophets. We refuse to be incriminated for doing our work and fending for our families”, says Silvanos Mudzvova, one of the cast members of “Rituals”.

“Rituals” was performed at the initiated Institute for Justice and Reconciliation indaba which brought together participants from Zimbabwe’s all political parties including the Organ on National Healing and Reconciliation.  It is available on DVD.

How constitutional is MDC-Ts National Council’s decision to remove clause 6.1.3 from the MDCs Constitution which states that the president shall serve for a maximum of two five year terms, in order to keep Mr. Tsvangirai in his position as President?

In a series of articles published in Newsday, the Standard and the Independent, Nelson Chamisa, MDCT Spokesperson boldly proclaims “We are the apostles of constitutionalism and disciples and doyens of democracy”.

Any proclamation spoken by politicians should be treated with suspicion, particularly if it is salted with religious reference. Mr. Chamisa goes on to ignorantly defend the National Council’s decision by saying that the two terms only counted when the MDC President also became President of the country.

The MDC Constitution, available for download from their website, states in article 3 titled Aims Values And Objects:

The MDC shall be a Social Democratic Party whose core values shall be solidarity, justice, equality, liberty, freedom, transparency, humble and obedient leadership and accountability. And it goes on further to say:
(b) An open democracy, in which national government is accountable to the people through the devolution of power and decision-making to the provinces and local institutions and structures.

The same document also states that amendments to the MDC constitution are to be carried out by a two-thirds majority of the Congress, not the National Council. I’m no legal expert but the actions of the National Council don’t seem very constitutional to me.

By what standard are we to measure Mr. Tsvangirai and MDC-T itself if even they cannot uphold their own party’s constitution? How are we to believe that they won’t at the first opportunity amend a national constitution to hold onto power?

Of course the major argument proffered will be (in former US Ambassador Christopher Dells words) that Mr. Tsvangirai is the only player on the scene right now with real star quality and the ability to rally the masses. But this does not exempt him from being accountable to the people he wishes to represent. If he is to remain president and the MDC constitution is to be amended then let him state his case at the congress in front of the people, not in front of a hand picked group of cronies and yes men who’s interest lie in maintaining the little power they’ve managed to wrangle from ZANU PF.

Elections are coming and Zimbabwe is watching. Nothing Mr. Mugabe does or says surprises anyone, but Mr. Tsvangirai is quickly becoming the devil no one knows about.

This morning we asked our email and SMS subscribers “Whats your resolution about how you’ll get involved in making change happen in 2011?”

Of the 70+ responses we’ve received so far, the most popular response from our subscribers is that they would vote (21 said this). This, of course, assumes there will be elections this year – nothing’s been officially announced, but rumours are suggesting an election for mid-year. Prayer is the next most popular response, with 12 subscribers saying they would pray for change this year (some of them are going to pray and vote). Other activities such as advocating for change, sharing information and standing up for human rights round out the list.

Read some of our subscribers responses below:

Indeed 2011 should be a year of tangibles. Let’s all shout AHOY 2011. Its imperative that one should set  smart and radical  targets and have a clear vision for this great year. 2011 is a year of rebels against the world of impossibilities, boundaries and parametres. whatever target, reach it because this year is indeed a great year.

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I wish to make 2011 a year of change. Change begins with me. None but myself can change the wrld. Happy 2011 kubatana.

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Many of us Zimbabweans have endured such shoddy service from some particular medical aid provider without any action. I have been a victim and I want to call all those who have been victims to speak in a single voice and make things change.I have tried to engage the provider but with no success, I know there is power in numbers.

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As long as we are alive we will change bad to good.

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I want to make sure to have a new president.

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Will put the best of my ability in all I have to do. Will participate in national issues in which my participation is required.

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hello kubatana. this year i want to do some fantastic work and really make a difference.

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Voting for change

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TINONAMATA MWARI

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VOTE FOR THE RIGHT CHOICE

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Advocate for peace building in preparation for elections thank u same to u

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My resolution for this year is to fight Mr Mugabe out from the office

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Presidential elections

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2010 was a bit challanging year    if the Gvt can improve our living and salaries we feel better.

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I will work very hard

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CHANGE MUST COME NOT NOW BUT YESTERDAY.WE MUST NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY STONE THROWERS BEHIND GLASS HOUSE.IF WE DON’T WORK FOR CHANGE ITS OUR GRAVE WE ARE DIGGING

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Lets teach our people to be as brave as matebele.Even in gukurahundi they never bowed down to support the perpetrators

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To educate ALL ELIGIBLE people to register to vote and that it is their vote that wl speak for the FINAL AND DECISIVE time!

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My x is the right change

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A change shall come by  putting words into action

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CHANGE WILL CERTAINLY COME BY WALKING CLOSE TO GOD & THEREBY TAPE FROM HIS WISDOM

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Pray for good health and we will pull through

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Make everyone to vote to make change

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I will pray for the nation especially the Leadership

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Firstly to continue to pray & i am encouraging young people to get ID’s & register to vote for their future.

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Support the president for another term and be an activist for total indigenisation

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MY RESOLUTION I QUIT SMOKING TO AVOID T B AND POLUTION

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Change is also my 1st resolution among others.

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Change 2011 ndizvo chaizvo

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No to elections pamberi neiclusive gvt lets attract investment

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The same shot we  scored last time is coming back for a total change.

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SAME TO YOU. MY RESOLUTIOM ABOUT BEING INVOLVED IN MAKING CHANGE HAPPEN IN 2011 IS TO PUT MY (X) IN THE RIGHT BOX CAME ELLECTION.

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Lets not allow Mugabe & Zanu to continue with their jingles.

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2011: To aim for success leading to great success (greatness without limits).

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If we go for presidential election this year Mugabe has 2 go.

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2 in courage as many pple as I can 2 go and vote for total CHANGE and make them 2 be strong 4 there rights!!!.

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I will fill happy this year. I need to work as a one part kuti tikunde. this year i want to drive new minsters thank you happy new year

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My presence is the best resolution for change

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I WANT TO THANK YOU KUBATANA 2011 IS TO HARD FEES ARE TOO HIRE

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I will pray 4 the change 2 every one 2 get into change.and tell others obout it.

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If elections do take place my vote will help change.is this wiki-leaks thing true?

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To spread the massage about change to my friends and neighbours

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one option would be to take the initiative from president robert mugabe by boycotting election unless minimal demands are met

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kubatana!  happy  2011  hop wil  b  able 2  make a  beta  zimbabwe  this  yr

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I am going to make my voice heard through voting

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Change must begin  with you.

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MY RESOLUSION IS TO PRAY FOR PEACE AND BETTER SERVICE FROM YOU

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I wl make sure  that i put a hand on anything that need me 2 make a change 2 our nation.

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I am going to preach Jesus to the nation of Zimbabwe

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Wil vote for MDC T

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Nothing much waiting 4 the election time.

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2011 my vote will count it will call for change. Count it will towards a new political order. My vote will speak

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I resolved: to preach against violence     to encourage people to be registered voters  and to stand for just at any given opportunity.

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Change like aging z natural nd inevitable..i wont tek part it wl stil come

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How can i make a change while i am jobless livng in country without a pasport

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Am going to vote for the changing party if there are elections.Prayer is the GREAT CHANGER.

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Voting 4 change if ere ‘re elections

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Is to see a real change in  our  Country .

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Start a child rights club in my community.fund raising for sports equipment&run a children’s talkshow

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PUSH TOWARDS DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES THROUGH PUSHING ON VIOLNCE, ELECTION CONDUCIVE, IMPORTANCE OF ELECTIONS

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Its now 2011, time for the new constitution and violence free election. I resolv 2 campaign for self defence of one’s statutory rights to achieve change.

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Work hard.

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My resolution this year is to have my wedding &pray to the lord

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Only if rains come Manhanga oibva todya tosiyana nepolics

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I’ll start by changing wats inside me then conlude wth wats outside

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Inorder to ensure peaceful change in the year 2011 I want to take part in every event that is beneficial & constructive to the nation including voting

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1.i pray knowing God is th only final answer 4 Zim!  2. I send ur truth msgs 2 people who can influence in uk & us & region as well as advocators here in Zim

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To be active in talking to people who might not know Democracy & how Pres. Tsvangirai is teaching us real Change.

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by praying our lord jesus christ

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Iam going to vote wisely.

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I will educate people especially in the rural areas on how to conquer fear when their human rights are abused and they should stand againest human rights abuse. This is my 2o11 resolution.

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By praying to the Almight God. With God everything is possible in Jesus Might name Amen

Hatcliffe Extension is a bustling shantytown that developed over the years just on the outskirts of Harare. Here, a lot of the victims (read survivors) of 2005′s Operation Murambatsvina are still trying to rebuild their lives. The community has remarkably made a semblance of a decent urban life with well-outlined dust roads and strategically positioned boreholes. A Roman Catholic Church populated by uniformed women and manifested in the form of a neat wooden cabin defiantly stands in a corner. Opposite and across it are a crèche and an enterprising coffin shop. HIV and AIDS related deaths are still rife and a visible reality.

On a recent humanitarian reporting tour in that area, colleagues from the media went around looking for story ideas or took interest in exploring life in this semi-urban-semi-rural area. Personally I was struck by the plainness of the terrain around us, though this was interestingly not an issue of concern to any of the families I interviewed.

Madhuve, who is a social worker in that area proudly explained how the community had depleted the trees gradually and systematically over the years. At that point, we had been touring the modest little house that she managed to erect with the assistance of a local humanitarian assistance organization.

In a country that’s struggling to provide adequate electricity for industry and household use alike – let alone basic services like street lighting, communities find themselves with little alternatives outside cutting down trees in order to cook and keep warm. The elusive US dollar that has practically become the country’s official currency also does little to help.

“At first council had these silly regulations in place, but we went by night and in the wee hours of the morning to cut those trees. How were we supposed to cook for our families?” she said.

Gesturing with her arm widely in the distance, she punctuates boldly: “Takachenesa mese umu vakasarenda, ikozvino tavakugobora midzi yacho (we cleared all the trees until they (council) gave up, now we are even going for the tree roots!”

The few trees still standing are mostly the fruit trees littered across the small compounds of individuals. They survive because they don’t burn well, smoke too much or just do not make good cooking fuel.

Nowadays, Madhuve and the other residents of Hatcliffe Extension dig deep to buy firewood from vendors whom only God knows where they get it. A $3 bundle lasts barely two days for a family the size of Madhuve’s.

Asked whether she or the rest of the community have ever thought of exploring alternative sources of fuel like gas or the paraffin gel stoves, Madhuve gives me a look that silently labels me a crass idiot.

“And cook for how many on that small fire? Besides, can gas and paraffin be taken out of the garbage pit?” she asked. Obviously for her family of 12, it is impossible to cook a 5litre pot of sadza daily using these means.

Even though aware that the planting season has somehow shifted and temperatures somehow hotter than usual, climate change means nothing to Madhuve – not only because in her mother tongue there is no term for it, but also because she could not care less about the environment when trying to keep body and soul together is hard enough for ‘her kind’ in this economy. She was not about to be lectured on the importance of trees as natural carbon sinks, or that stripping the ground would run-off the rains when they did come.

Madhuve’s mindset is reflective of that of a lot of Zimbabweans: neither understanding nor caring about this climate change thing that journalists and other professionals are going on about. With little or no overtly deliberate public education, at the moment the subject evidently occupies the bottom-most rung of the government’s pecking order of priorities. Which begs the question; to what extent can developing countries (not in the category of China) be able to effectively play their part in combating, let alone adapting to this global phenomenon?

While civil society will go all out to train and re-train media professionals, do they stop to consider whether or not key decision and policy makers themselves understand this ‘thing’?

While the ongoing debates about climate change (now currently in Cancun, Mexico) and the need to preserve the environment continue, it has not occurred to a lot of green activists that as long as no practical solutions are being devised for ordinary people in Africa, this will continue to be a losing battle.

On a much lower scale, it takes very little for humanitarian assistance organizations to mainstream the culture of tree planting among the communities they work in, even if it means starting by upholding the previously tokenistic national tree planting day. This year has been unique because there has more noise in the media concerning how many trees have been planted. Some private initiatives have also set huge targets to support national tree planting. Lets keep the momentum.

The US embassy said Marange could be a bonanza for battered Zimbabwe, perhaps generating sales of $1.2bn (£760m) a year. Instead it had become a “curse” . . . The Telegraph following up on WikiLeaks cables on diamonds in Zimbabwe.