Fed up with the service provided by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA)? Then make a note of these public hearings on ZESA service delivery and go along and make your voice heard:

Be advised that the Portfolio Committee on State Enterprises and Parastatals Management will be holding  public hearings on the operations of Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA). The purpose of the public hearings is to gather views of the public on ZESA’s service delivery to the nation.

The public, interested groups, business persons, civic society organisations and the media are invited to the hearings which will be conducted in the areas mentioned below.

Contributions made will be considered by the Portfolio Committee in compiling a report to be tabled in Parliament.

Details of the Public Hearings  are as follows:

DATE
Friday, 10 June 2011

VENUE
Gweru Theatre Hall

TIME
1000 hrs -1300 hrs

DATE
Saturday, 11 June 2011

VENUE
Small City Hall (Bulawayo)

TIME
0900 hrs -1300 hrs

DATE
Sunday, 12 June 2011

VENUE
Masvingo Civic Centre

TIME
0900 hrs -1300 hrs

DATE
Monday, 13 June 2011

VENUE
Mutare Queens Hall

TIME
0900 hrs -1300 hrs

DATE
Tuesday, 14 June 2011

VENUE
Senate Chambers-Parliament Building (Hre)

TIME
0900 hrs -1300 hrs

Written submissions and correspondences on the above subject are welcome and should be addressed to:

The Clerk of Parliament
Attention: Portfolio Committee on State Enterprises and Parastatals Management
P.O. Box CY 298
Causeway
Harare

We have been used to the idea that girls in secondary and tertiary institutions are victims of sexual abuse from male pupils and teachers within the school premises and ‘sugar daddies’ outside. To tempt the girls into falling for these sexual relationships, money, gifts and promises of marriage have been used to lure them. However, a recent study conducted in Zimbabwe by SAfAIDS on adolescent sexual reproductive health revealed that high school boys are engaging in sexual activities with their female teachers in exchange for favours.

So much attention has been paid to protecting the girl child whilst a blind eye has been turned to the boy child. I personally think its because with the girl child, the consequences are evident after engaging in such relationships. They either fall pregnant or they get dumped leaving them in an emotional turmoil. Both of which impact negatively on their educational studies. But with boys, when they engage in such activity they are considered as being ‘lucky’. Boys being boys, they will brag to their peers about being involved sexually with a teacher.

But the SAfAIDS study discloses that both girls and boys are vulnerable and need the same attention from parents, school authorities, the government and the civic society.

Plainly people (both girls and boys) who are involved in sexual relationships with people who are older than them and in a position of authority are exploited. In this case a teacher is a person in authority and is therefore able to exploit the relationship to the disadvantage of the child. They are able to do so by abusing the school’s system in favour of the pupil they are in a relationship with. For instance they are given undeserved higher grades, preferential treatment in any given situation and any other type of favour that may come. The child will forever be at the mercy for the teacher for these favours and that leads to the teacher to continue abusing them.

In schools teachers are entrusted by parents to take care of their children whether male or female and if they are now the ones abusing the children within the school system, they are damaging both the school and the pupils.

I believe that stiffer penalties for teachers whether male or female who engage in sexual relationships with their pupils for whatever reason should be imposed.

PAMBERI TRUST PRESS RELEASE: Immediate release

‘Hokoyo naChi’ at Book Cafe
Saturday 11 June, 8pm
The Book Café, Harare

On Saturday 11 June The Book Café welcomes the return of Zimbabwe mbira star Chiwoniso Maraire, taking up the prime spot every Saturday from mid-June, to the delight of her fans.

Born into music and forged in the fires of Africa and the world over the last two decades, the feisty artist now enjoys the freedom to explore every corner of her musical being, from pure mbira magic with long-time acoustic ensemble Vibe Culture, to new electric fusions with rock, blues, and a rainbow of genres, in collaboration with various artists.

Those lucky to have caught Chi’s collaboration with artists from Togo, Cameroon, Korea and Japan in the November 2010 ‘Suki Africa’ Tour will have had a taste of the power of such musical diversity.  Zimbabweans also witnessed her HIFA collaboration with Dutch rock group Moke, which later led to her appearance at the Netherlands’ Freedom Festival where she performed both solo and with others, to an audience of some 160,000 people.  Back home, Chiwoniso continues a colourful collaboration with the popular Victor Kunonga, which again wowed audiences recently at the May Castle Tankard.

What she’ll be bringing to the stage is an open embrace to these and all music styles, spiced with impromptu fusions and surprise guests – in the words of songwriter Carole King, ‘an ever-changing view’.   Saturday nights at Book Café promise to be an exciting series of unforgettable experiences, each one unique, free flowing and unfettered, anchored only by the mesmerizing voice and mbira of Chiwoniso.

Chiwoniso is by no means a new-comer to the Book Café stage, having performed as a little-known artist in the famous Monday Open Mic back in her early years, and later claiming the Tuesday night slot before stepping out into the international arena.  Since then she has graced Book Café and Mannenberg stages between many tours.

This Saturday marks the start of a new season of world-class music at Book Café with Chiwoniso, ‘a bright new star in Africa’ and ‘an icon in Zimbabwe music today’.

In our society for one to claim to be a Christian it’s sometimes difficult unless you mention the name of your church and whether you have been baptised. I remember when I was still very young, mother used to force me to go for bible classes so that I could get baptised. I never really understood the whole purpose behind the bible classes until one day she tried to explain to me that if you want to be a Christian you have to be baptised and in order to be baptised I had to learn the bible and learn the Lord’s Prayer and other stuff. I received the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion when I was still a teenager. This is the normal trend if are raised in the Catholic Church.

My biggest concern with my church is this mass exodus of youths from the Catholic Church. After chatting to some of my friends from various churches I got some fascinating facts about the way in which Catholics, Pentecostals and other different Christian denominations are going about in their day to day sessions of praising the Lord. I have always wondered why most youths now prefer the Pentecostal Church to Catholic Church? A friend of mine highlighted that maybe its about youth coming of age and having the freedom to choose which church to go to and sometimes not feeling connected to their faith in the Catholic Church. A friend of mine later said the reason he decided to go to a Pentecostal Church was because of the space created for youths to express themselves freely, which he never experienced during the times he was a Catholic.

I had the opportunity to attended a revival session at one of the Pentecostal churches in my neighbourhood and I noticed how youths could lead in a praise and worship session. This is something that I rarely see in the Catholic Church. I ended up having a question in my mind whether its time the Catholic Church reformed to meet the needs of the young generation. Its good to carry your prayer book, hymn book and your bible with you to church but when it becomes the norm to recite prayers each and every Sunday and having the same person leading prayer sessions, I find it a bit worrying for the young and energetic.

USD400 for vehicular homicide, 2 years in prison for ‘almost’ running over a cop…

“Kombi driver jailed two years, licence cancelled,” read the headline of story carried by Newsday [Friday, June 3, 2011, p4]. The Kwekwe-based kombi driver was also banned from driving commuter omnibuses and other heavy vehicles for the rest of his life. The story is that the 64 year-old man was cornered by a traffic cop while he was doing what these kombi drivers know best: loading passengers at an undesignated point.

The driver is reported to have sped toward the cop who was riding his patrol bike, intending to knock him down, as the State no doubt proved n court. But the cop was quick enough to jump off the bike only to watch helplessly while the mangled bike was dragged under the kombi.

Now, a young lady was killed a couple of months ago by a drunk driver who got off with a USD400 fine. Being the lay person that I am, I’m still trying to figure out the glaring differences of these sentences: one involves a cop and a kombi driver – those “eternal enemies” – the other a drunk driver who takes the life of a young woman obviously minding her own business.

Let’s exercise our imaginations a little: the drunk driver gets a “slap on the wrists,” but for all we know that’s not the end of his bingeing, drunk driving, threatening the lives of other road users and other traffic offences.

The cop returns to work, gets a new bike, imagine the probability of having another kombi driver trying to run him over.

Imagine the sentences thereof.

I already know about malice aforethought, which could explain the sentence meted out to the kombi driver, but I’m still banging my head trying to figure out why where a life is lost, the drunk driver gets that slap on the wrists, while a kombi driver who “threatened” the life of a cop gets two years behind bars?

But then in Zimbabwe these are the kind of questions that are asked just for the sake of it as responsible authorities have never been known for taking up any queries from members of the public. In fact, you are asked: are you telling us how to do our job? And you may as well end up behind bars yourself!

Given the state of our economy, the current model for Indigenisation cannot help but appear to be another political project that plays on the poverty and disenfranchisement of millions of Zimbabweans but in effect will only benefit a few.

Speaking in an interview with the state media Reserve Bank Governor, Dr Gono says
“It has to be realised that not everybody can fit or benefit from the equity-ownership model we are pursuing. Only a few will and that’s a fact.”

One has to wonder what exactly the agenda is behind the programme. It is no secret that the Minister responsible for the programme is a business man himself, neither is it a secret that our Ministers have used other such programmes to amass vast wealth at the expense of the ordinary Zimbabwean.

There are far too many young people with brilliant ideas who lack the capital to finance their enterprises. There are even more who are frustrated by unemployment and poverty. It is this generation that runs riotously through the streets demanding that foreign owned property and companies be given to Zimbabweans. While for now they might have been persuaded to riot in aid of the Minister of Indigenisation’s cause, it is only a matter of time before they turn on a government that is failing them.

If we are to carry out indigenisation then it must be transparent and it truly must benefit all Zimbabweans.  Indigenisation should not be limited to the expropriation of shares from the few companies that have survived the economic roller coaster of the last decade. Empowerment must be looked at holistically. Rather than simply dividing up an economic cake that is becoming smaller every day, let us consider ways in which we can add to it and create wealth. We cannot continue to brag about Zimbabwe’s vast mineral wealth and human capital without having Zimbabweans at the forefront of exploiting these resources for Zimbabwe’s gain.