A Poem for Zimbabwe

i am the only one
you are the only one.

the birds and the rivers
sing to me,
they speak in your voice.

if i fall silent
you will be silent too.
if i fall silent
your wounds will be named silence.

i am a piece of you
and you are a piece of me.

the blood in my veins is you.
listen to the rhythm
of the stream of my blood
and the echoes from the hills,
mixed with gentle ripples
of the waters in the fast stream.

but with time
you will hear your voice
in the blue skies of my heart.

in the dark clouds of my soul
you will hear a voice
that tells the story of your forgotten voices
of birds long dead
of elephants crippled by guns
of orphans you do not deserve.

© 2003, Chenjerai Hove

According to an article in NewsDay, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), is going to allow consumers to “stagger” their bill payments. I guess all is fair in love. After all we get staggered power supply. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday last week I had no power. But I guarantee you that my bill at the end of the month will be as high, if not higher. Plus my bill will be late. Plus ZESA won’t or can’t stick to a Staggered Power Schedule so that we can plan our lives. You know those small things like working, and eating. ZESA insists that consumers pay on time, ie to fulfill their part of the bargain. But they don’t match that with any professionalism in terms of providing an accurate and transparent billing system, or regular power supply.

A press statement just in from Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA):

Press statement

Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)

Four women from Robert Sinyoka Suburb in Bulawayo have been arrested and are currently being assaulted and tortured in custody.

At noon Saturday 4 March, Glory Ncube arrived in Robert Sinyoka to visit her sick mother. She was arrested by plain clothed police driving a cream double cab. They drove her to her home in Old Pumula and thoroughly searched her home for WOZA material. They then drove past Nomsa Sibanda’s house and seeing her outside, grabbed her without occupants of her house even realising. It seems they then came across Monica Shema and Beatrice Ngwenya on the road waiting for transport to town and promptly grabbed them too. All four activists were taken to Bulawayo Central Police station. Human Rights lawyer Kossam Ncube managed to see them but was told to return on Sunday at which point an investigating officer could have been appointed.

Nomusa Sibanda is a nursing mother of a one year old.

WOZA members are reporting heavy presence of police and army and ‘youth’ who are drunk and violently beat up anyone indiscriminately. These police officers have been going around telling people to be in their homes by 8:30pm and if they disobey they will be severely beaten. Many members have witnessed beating of people as they try to go about their business. The same security forces are also telling people to never group in more than 3 people and if they do, they are beaten. The police have also been conducting serious ‘stop and search’ of people in all suburbs and also in town. Member’s recall last seeing this level of security during the 1982 crack down by the 5th Brigade. The country seems to be in the grip of an undeclared state of emergency.

Relatives feeding the four women confirm they have swollen faces and hands. Nomsa was unable to hold or feed her baby brought to her Sunday morning.

WOZA wish to call on SADC guarantors of the global political agreement to urgently send a delegation to Zimbabwe to visit the suburbs and observe this crack down by security forces before there is loss of life. Additionally, we ask for them to hold police accountable for their proper role in society instead of arresting people arbitrarily when they are going about their business peacefully.

Here you go. This is what we experience in revolutionary, liberated Zimbabwe:

Mugabe flies off to SINGAPORE for a medical check-up

Detained activists tortured in custody have to wait over a week for medical attention

Makes you sick, doesn’t it?

Seems like Zimbabweans are starting to find their courage.

A colleague who went along to the staged anti-sanctions petition rally in Harare yesterday said that he, along with hundreds of other Zimbabweans, walked out on Mugabe whilst he was mid-speech.

Here’s an excerpt from an email received today:

Today, however gave a clear indication of how people at present respond to the demand to attend a rally, but are not prepared to remain or listen to the main speaker.  Of note, many police officers left the area before and during the President’s speech and one police officer was laughing with the crowd as they left the demarcated area (cordoned off with a single piece of plastic cordon tape).

The police and army are some of the largest employers in Zimbabwe. The regime better make sure they can settle their wage bill come the end of each month.

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) issued this alert today:

Police deny BPRA clearance to stage demonstrations

Police have denied Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) clearance to stage demonstrations or hold meetings that were pencilled in for the month of March 2011. Police said there were given a directive not to clear any meetings or demonstrations but did not reveal from what level the order came. BPRA is organising a large scale demonstration against poor service delivery by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), Bulawayo City Council (BCC), Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), registrar’s office and retailers in the city that is set for 31 March 2011.

BPRA sees the police’s move as an affront to freedom of expression and the right of Zimbabweans to assembly. The association has vowed to defy the police rule and carry out all its activities as planned while seeking advice from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) on possible legal action. Police patrols in the city have increased significantly in recent weeks, lending credence to speculations that the armed forces have been deployed to quell any unrest that may arise in the country following widespread demonstrations in North Africa.