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Archive for the 'Reflections' Category

What makes a Zimbabwean?

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Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 by Elizabeth Nyamuda

Are Zimbabweans different from fellow citizens of our neighbouring countries like South Africa, Botswana or Zambia? Do Zimbabweans have what it takes to bring change in their own country, without external influences? Are there any Egyptian or Tunisian or Libyan traits in Zimbabweans? What would a Zimbabwean value more, by virtue of being a Zimbabwean? To read more visit this link. Below are excerpts from an article written by Vince Musevewe on his opinion of the Zimbabwean he knows. Is your Zimbabwean different from his or they are the same?

The Zimbabwean I know is a highly accomplished character academically and to me, that has been his fundamental blemish. His persona has shaped mostly in a colonial environment where he believes in hard work and a reverence of those that are above his station or those in authority…

The Zimbabwean I know is an extremely proud individual with an over bearing sense of self-importance. To him education comes first for that has been his escape from poverty and his offspring must get a better education than him.

He will therefore do anything to ensure that his offspring receive better schooling. He will also hastily exhibit his academic accomplishments whenever he is afforded an opportunity to do so. Unfortunately these have been rendered useless in the political environment…

The Zimbabwean politician, on the other hand, has taken full advantage of these weaknesses and has pushed the boundaries to the brink and exploited the ordinary Zimbabwean in all spheres of life. The politician has used intimidation and fear as his tools to cower the Zimbabwean into accepting his dominance…

The Zimbabwean businessman, in my view, has become compromised and therefore useless in the game of change. He can only survive in this environment by supporting the ruling party or else his business will come to ruin.

Unfortunately he has become a partner in the entrenchment of a dictatorship. Because of the fear of loss, he has chosen not to dabble in politics but be a mere spectator. His position is similar to that of the Zimbabwean in the Diaspora who can make as much noise as he wishes to no effect…

Despite all this Zimbabweans I know are sick and tired of ZANU (PF) but know no better means to dislodge it but through the ballot. That is his only conceivable and safe means of bringing on change and yet it tarries…

The day will come, I guess, when all fear must dissipate and all Zimbabweans realise that without force there will be no change because this adversary is not going anywhere. Until that happens expect nothing much to change and the situation to worsen.

*Vince Musewe is an independent Zimbabwean economist based in South Africa. You may contact him on vtmusewe [at] gmail [dot] com

Unfair, and unkind suspension

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Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 by Upenyu Makoni-Muchemwa

Eddson Chakuma is a Trade Unionist who was arrested with Munyaradzi Gwisai for attending a meeting to discuss the political events in Egypt. Following his release on bail, Eddson Chakuma was suspended from his job at the United Food & Allied Workers Union of Zimbabwe due to the time he missed from work when he was imprisoned. He now has no way to sustain himself.

Please narrate the events leading up to your suspension?
The three of us who had presented (at the meeting) myself another student representative and another lecturer were beaten so that we would testify that we were planning to subvert a Constitutional government. After that we were taken to court and placed on remand. On the 17th of March we were placed on two thousand dollars bail. I returned to work after my release and worked for almost a week. I was told to write a report about my continuous absence from work. I wrote it, explaining how I was arrested for attending an educational programme at Zimbabwe Labour Centre. Two days after submitting my report I was informed that I was to attend a hearing concerning my misconduct. Up to now I’m waiting for the verdict of the hearing.

What was your presentation about?
My presentation was about the problems of the workers. I talked about the how dollarization has adversely affected pension schemes. Workers who have worked for almost 30 years were given small amounts of pension. Pension houses were saying that their savings had been eroded by inflation. Another problem is casualisation, which is rampant in industry, as well as subcontracting.

In your opinion was any of what happened in that meeting an attempt to subvert a constitutional government?

There was nothing like that. We had been talking about the problems of the workers, the lessons which we learnt from the revolutions happening in Egypt and Tunisia vis-a-vis capitalism, socialism and imperialism. There was no plan to subvert the government. It wasn’t about the government, but about capitalism, imperialism and socialism, which have to go if Zimbabwe or even Africa is to come out of capitalism.

Then how do you feel about your detention?
It pained me. I was subjected to torture. Even when I told them what I had presented they kept on torturing me, they wanted me to say something that we didn’t plan or do.

Are you angry?

Sure I’m angry! If you face a situation where your colleagues don’t visit you in prison, they don’t support you financially. After coming out of prison where I’m facing a treason charge, which has a penalty of death or life imprisonment and somebody cuts your salary, suspends you and makes you write a report…it’s devastating. That person wants you to suffer more than what you have already suffered.

How has your detention affected your family?

When we were arrested it was toward the end of the month. My wife had to run around to look for money for utility bills, transport to visit me in prison… this was a big problem.

Judging from the hearing you had last week, do you feel hopeful that your suspension will be reversed?

I think there’s a 50-50 chance. The panel that was there was questionable. I’ve worked with some of the guys on the panel before and find it unfair that they put a panel of guys whom I’ve worked with and have at times had clashes with in terms of being voted into some posts. For me to become a unionist I had to battle it out with some of the guys who were on that panel.

Capture of Gbagbo – Lesson for Africa’s last Dictators

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Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 by Bev Clark

The Youth Forum in a recent statement remind Zimbabwe’s authoritarian government that people power might well be coming to get them.

The capture and demise of Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivorian despot who refused to cede power after losing an election in November 2010 is testimony to the fact that dictators will not always have their way especially when the people have had their say as the people of Ivory Coast did in November 2010. While such news will obviously attract scorn and spite from like-minded dictators and sympathizers of despotic regimes, it is indeed sweet news for the people of Ivory Coast and other pro-democracy voices across the continent and the world.

As young people in Zimbabwe, we feel very inspired by the struggle of the people of Ivory Coast and take heart to the fact that even in the face of repression of the highest order, the forces of good always triumph against evil. We also feel encouraged that Gbagbo even after having sent his envoy to Harare to get a few notes on how to stay in power after losing an election, eventually could not have it his way. His capture while holed up in his fortified bunker reminds us of the same demise of Saddam Hussein, the former Iraq strongman.

As the Youth Forum, we take this opportunity to urge our politicians in Zimbabwe to be always mindful of the fact that real power lies with the people and it is the people who always have the final say. As the country gears for elections which shall signal the end of the current inclusive government, we urge all the political players in the country to genuinely work towards ensuring that the next elections are convened in an environment that allows the people to have the final say. We also urge SADC as the guarantors of the GPA to continue tightening the screws on our political players to ensure that the next election will not be fraudulent or is not again stolen by the loser. We again urge SADC to heed the winds of change that are sweeping across the African continent, long considered as the last den of dictators. The days of African ‘dictatorship’ disguised as African ‘brotherhood’ are long gone and the world as we know it has become less tolerant of dictators.

National Library Week: What’s taking place in Zimbabwe?

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Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 by Elizabeth Nyamuda

The Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) celebrated South African Library Week (SALW), March 19-26 2011, by translating the theme “Read in your own language @ your library” into the country’s 11 national languages. LIASA chose the theme to highlight the key role libraries in South Africa play in developing a reading culture and in the preservation and promotion of all South African languages.

In as much as libraries are important and essential in national development, they still are looked down upon in Zimbabwe. The nature and physical state of public libraries and some school libraries is pathetic and financial help is desperately needed. In my own opinion, in as much as we may want to point a finger at the government and say that they haven’t done this and that or they are responsible for the state of libraries in Zimbabwe, librarians have to know that while a finger is pointing towards something the remaining fingers are pointing back at themselves.

I will partially put some blame on the librarians themselves, in particular their lack of professionalism. The body representing librarians, Zimbabwe Libraries Association (ZIMLA) has not been doing its mandate. Whilst other library associations world over are making their presence felt as they celebrate Library Week, at home ZIMLA has no event organised. LIASA, in South Africa had their National Library Week in March this year. ALA, the American association has a Campaign for the World’s Libraries going on. On the ZIMLA’s Facebook page one can see events happening in other countries being marketed to the fullest potential. Even one member of the group commented that they appreciate knowing what is happening world over, but would appreciate more if local events were made known as well.

The other thing that worries me greatly, and maybe a few librarians out there too, is the training of software packages provided by UNESCO. UNESCO is dedicated to the digitalization of libraries in the developing world and they produce ‘Open Source Software’ – this means they are available for free for use in librarian automation. Due to the resource limitation and other constraints they train a few selected individuals on the use of different software. However, for the general populace of the librarians who do not make it to these training workshops, they have to part with an arm and a leg to be trained. When this selected group returns they offer course trainings and workshops and they charge large amounts of money to share the expertise. I then ask myself they were trained for free why do we have to pay? Considering that most libraries face financial constraints and operate on ‘shoe-string’ budgets then which library will be able to afford to send their librarian(s) for a three-day training session that will cost US$680 or more?

As other libraries celebrate their existence by speaking loudly and clearly about the value of libraries and librarians in the 21st century, I as a graduate call out for proper professionalism in libraries and in the association in Zimbabwe. As librarians we need to represent ourselves by our personal image and the image we create when dealing with our clients. Information is vital and we are the agents who carry it to the respective users at the right place and time. In as much as we acquaint ourselves with the new job names that come hand in glove with this century (documentalists, knowledge managers, cyber space librarians, information officers), we should not forget our core values.

We hope to have a conference like other national associations do, where participants and attendees are not asked to part with large amounts of money to attend. At the end of the day the association needs money to function, but it has to do away with fundraising tactics of milking already tight budgets.

Life in a dictatorship

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Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 by Michael Laban

The other day I went to Surveyor General’s office to get a 1:50 000 scale map. Like I have been doing since 1971. Same thing, walk in front door, into maps on the left, ground floor. Find index, find map sheet reference. Take it to staff, they send off to the storeroom, and along comes the map. Check it, it is the one I want, pay for it, get receipt, exit to Samora Machel. Fast, efficient, courteous, fine service.

But not this time! Service is good, as always (although there was a shortage of maps at one stage), but they won’t take my money. I have to go to the tenth floor to pay, bring back receipt. I do this. And on the way up, (the lift works, but it is slow getting there, and there are still ten floors to be lifted through), I am thinking. This is life in a dictatorship.

It is all central. Power, and authority, derive from the centre. It all must go to, and come from, the middle. Gone are the days when you could pay the clerk, check your receipt, walk out the door. ‘Authority’ no longer comes from the people. From basic morals. Common sense. Logic. ‘Authority’ only comes from the centre (from where POWER also comes). Reminds me of High School (and that is a while back) learning definitions to spice up essays with. ‘Realpolitik’ the concept that decisions are divorced from moral considerations – dictated by the necessities of power and judged only by success.

So, since the power and authority derive from the middle (where decisions are made), and not from the people (who have the needs, the wants, the common sense, the simple decency, the basic morals), or even from the rule books (constitution, legislation, codes of conduct), it follows that ‘activity’ (especially financial) must also be done in the centre. After all, we have leadership by example.

The people on the ground floor cannot handle money.

Dictators

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Tuesday, April 12th, 2011 by Marko Phiri

When the world realizes that an equilibrium can exist and those few at the top can come crashing down with the will of the many then this world, this humanity can be saved. [James Blood, American anarchist]

Yet I figure the few at the top will surely never realise that equilibrium, which could then mean rather ominously that we are in for the long haul. Dictators, like any other foolhardy human, those adrenalin junkies, drag racers for example, who court death as a form of fun, see Gbabgo and others before him and say, that will never happen to me. We heard it from “analysts” who have said the Maghreb events cannot be supplanted in sub-Sahara Africa, but then we know the human spirit is full of surprises, and James Blood could be right after all.