A week before the FIFA hoopla in South Africa began Minister of Energy Elias Mudzuri made the following announcement:

“I have directed ZESA to suspend disconnections to allow the public to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Zimbabweans have had to endure persistent power cuts for as much as 10 hours per day in some case while ZESA battles to meet demand.”

Essentially ZESA would suspend its regular programme of load shedding so that football fans would not miss the World Cup.

While I’m not a soccer fan I was happy, actually jubilant, that we would have a few more hours a day of electricity. I even considered that I might be able to take a proper hot bath, with more than a bucket of water and perhaps even some bubbles. I admit I may have misinterpreted the Ministers remarks. I thought that it would follow that those customers who had been loyal, i.e. had been paying their bills, to the power utility, would also be rewarded.

As with most promises made by politicians, this one failed and even went backwards. I have been disappointed by Ministers before. In fact I’m still recovering from the promises made to me by another Minister regarding the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe issuing radio and television licences.

In the case of ZESA, and the electricity delivered to my house, the disappointment is particularly bitter. Our loyalty as ZESA customers feels like its being violated. We paid our bills regularly, even in the confusion that followed dollarisation, the few US dollars that we had went first towards the ZESA bill, even when the meter wasn’t being read. When we had faults, we drove the ZESA people around. Under the circumstances, I think we as customers have done more than our fair share of maintaining a cordial relationship with our power utility.

Yet following the Minister’s announcement, it seems that now that we have even fewer hours if any power per day. There has been no explanation of this in the paper, and instead ZESA sees fit to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on an advertising campaign, which most notably features half a page of solid black ink. Moreover, the Minister’s statement undermines the entire purpose of the advertising campaign, and indeed ZESAs recovery. It’s simple, if you didn’t pay for the service, you shouldn’t get it. The World Cup is no exception.

The Constitution Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) Outreach Programme is finally set to begin next week. In light of this, the ZESN/ZPP/ZLHR Independent Constitution Monitoring Project (ZZZICOMP) will be monitoring this process. Here is an excerpt of its press statement this week:

ZZZICOMP welcomes the long awaited launch of the Constitution Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) Outreach Programme on Wednesday 16 June 2010 by the three principals to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

Of particular importance was the call by the Principals for peace and non-violence during the public outreach process in keeping with the provisions of Article 6 of the GPA, “it is a fundamental right and duty of the Zimbabwean people to make a constitution by themselves and for themselves” and “that the process of making this constitution must be owned and driven by the people and must be inclusive and democratic”. We acknowledge the commitments made by the Principals that the process must be undertaken in conditions that uphold the principles of inclusivity, tolerance, transparency and openness.

ZZZICOMP had noted with concern that prior to the official launch of the outreach; the process has been characterized by inordinate delays in the commencement of the outreach programme as stipulated in Article 6 of the GPA. The operating environment remains largely repressive thus impacting negatively on the participation by the public in the reform process.

Furthermore, as the outreach was being launched, the public was and still is clueless as to the dates on which the various teams will visit their respective wards as well as sequencing of the meetings. We believe this information is essential for the public to plan for their participation in the process.

In line with fulfilling its monitoring role ZZZICOMP will independently assess and evaluate the constitution-making process against established principles, benchmarks and standards of constitutionalism and constitution-making, including openness and transparency, inclusivity, legitimacy, accessibility and receptiveness.

Our goal is to objectively monitor, observe and report on the work of the Constitution Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC), the public outreach programme, the work of the Thematic Committees and the Drafting Committee, and the final document produced in order to adjudge how democratic and transparent the constitution-making process is, and if it accurately reflects the input of broad and diverse popular participation. To this end, ZZZICOMP has deployed 420 monitors, as well as provincial coordinators and other key personnel on the ground across the country, who have all along been observing the operating environment in general, and are now well prepared and ready to monitor the process. Our monitoring teams are dispersed nationwide in order to systematically gather information during the consultative processes, to comment on the operating environment and any breaches of the IPA in relation to the process, and to highlight any violations, violence, or other discrepancies which occur in the constituencies and wards in which they are operating.

For further information and comments please contact ZZZICOMP on zzzicomp [at] gmail [dot] com

I’ve just been listening to audio clips from Derek Matyszak and Rudo Gaidzanwa’s thought provoking presentations at a recent SAPES seminar on gay rights and the Constitution.

Gaidzanwa says some interesting, controversial things, such as:

In Zimbabwe there is also the issue of HIV because of men having sex with men, which people don’t want to deal with; not the health workers, not the government, not anybody. Somehow people pretend that it’s not there. Quite a lot of married men have sex with both men and women in Zimbabwe, but it’s never something that is admitted, its never put in the public domain. Those men, when they go into the clubs in Harare, they’ll be consorting with other men who are gay, and they (the openly gay men) say but what are you doing here since you are heterosexual? And they say Mukadzi wangu ari kumusha (my wife is in the rural areas).

You can read and listen to this discussion here

Zimbabweans have grown to learn by experience that the Government of National Unity (GNU) was nothing but a marriage of covenience. During the signing ceremony, party leaders gave the impression that the leaders had really cemented a deal of unity. People had a new sense of hope, hope for a better country, a free and prosperous Zimbabwe.

Now reality is surfacing – about two years down the line there are still pending issues. Jacob Zuma and his team have come and left the country countless times. The negotiation teams are always negotiating until no one knows when. The news is that elections will be in 2011 soon after the new constitution. Who confirmed that the referendum will agree to the constitution when the process is marked by some reports of violence and intimidation? Mutambara is of the view that the country is not yet ready for elections next year. True as it might be, his rather more powerful collegues have no option but to call for the elections.

What it all shows is that one hand and one fist are still fighting strong battles when the body they intended to protect is in trouble. The GNU was just a shift of the battlefields and maybe a shift of tactics of attack – war is still on and peace is not guaranteed.

Zimbabwe is still in tatters and our leaders are busy setting ambushes and employing guerrilla tactics against each other. Shame on the poor majority who are fed lies without choice, arm-twisted into doing and saying what they would not if they were properly informed. We wonder when political freedom will exist in this country? We call upon the GNU principals to come back to the basics and consider the reasons, which led into this marriage, which they now tramp upon without achieving its intended objectives.

When the unity government was formed in Zimbabwe, an organ of national healing and reconciliation was also established. Its main mission was to bring back order in the violence-maimed societies, rebuild unions in disjointed communities, reintroduce peace where violence was the order of the day, and bring back that oneness that we enjoyed swimming in before the political chaos.

This implies that people have been looking at this organ expecting action beyond mere talking. By this time we are expecting to have seen the members of the organ moving around in communities, preaching the gospel of peace, coexistence and love. We have for long been expecting the organ to spearhead radio and television programmes that reinforce the importance of peace and love. We have for long been waiting to see some initiative that make people share their feelings, forgive whoever they think is guilty and bring back the spirit of coexistence.

On the 7th of April 2009, the chairman of the organ spoke about reconciliation to stakeholders including churches. That gave people hope that peace had finally come to hand. Unfortunately very little has been done beyond that so far. If this organ had done its work well, a good ground for a peaceful Constitution making process would have been set.

It seems a Non Governmental Organization, Heal Zimbabwe, has seen the gap and is now initiating action. Its programmes that are reportedly taking shape in Muzarabani are a contribution that deserves a pat on the back. Among other good works, Heal Zimbabwe has embarked on initiating memorial services for those victims of political violence. Such moves are likely to bring people together, get them to discuss how bad violence is and give the family members an opportunity to give their deceased the respect that is customarily and religiously granted to the dead. That way the organisation is addressing the customary and religious side, which plays a great role in establishing forgiveness in societies.

Can these initiatives therefore serve as a wake up call to the Organ of National Healing and reconciliation? There is nothing yet on the ground that we can attribute to this organ and as citizens we feel that that organ has not served its purpose especially amid reports that violence and threats are rejuvenating in the country. That puts to question the possibility of any future peaceful elections. People still think violence is the way to go; surviving victims of past violence are still looking for ways to retaliate. If that tension is not addressed, then the existence of an organ called “National Healing” is unjustified.

While Zimbabwe is a mineral rich country, the benefits of owning and harnessing these natural resources are yet to be seen. The economy is predicted to recover, and attain a 7% growth rate at the end of the financial year. A significant contributing factor to this growth will be an increase in mining activities.

It is with this in mind, that the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) is hosting a series of civil society dialogues on Transparency and Accountability in the Extractive And Natural Resources Sector with a specific focus on mining activities in Zimbabwe. Having observed that there has been limited capacity in the actions of civil society to demand accountability and transparency in the mining sector, ZELA hopes to create a platform for civil society organizations to openly discuss and adopt strategies that can be used to promote and advocate for transparency and accountability in the mining sector. The workshop objectives for the second meeting were, among others: to address the administrative issues hindering the access to information regarding mining operations in the country; capacity building and the creation of a platform to engage the government as well a s mining companies.

Several NGOs were invited to present their thoughts on the subject, including the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines, Transparency International Zimbabwe, the Centre for Environmental Accountability (CENAC) and the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO).

ZELA also used the opportunity to launch the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). EITI was launched globally in 2007 with the objective of promoting transparent reporting by governments of aggregate revenues derived from mineral resources, oil, and gas extraction and publication of payments made by mining companies to governments. In those countries where it is being implemented, EITI is seen as a real attempt to deal the ‘resources curse’ that is plaguing many mineral rich African countries including Nigeria, Sudan and the Democratic republic of Congo. The EITI is a voluntary standard that can be joined by governments and companies. Currently, countries that are compliant with EITI standards are Azerbaijan and Liberia; candidate countries include Afghanistan, Albania, Cameroon, Mongolia, Nigeria, Iraq, and Tanzania.

Speaking on behalf of the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mine Dr Hokonya said that Transparency in the mining industry was welcome, and in fact the mining community was willing to implement a voluntary reporting system. He pointed out the difficulties in gathering accurate information from mining companies and the government about mining operations. He also noted that as mining was a destructive industry with a limited lifespan, it was necessary for mining companies to have extensive corporate social responsibility programmes, whose benefits would extend beyond the lifespan of the mine.