Sweeping the streets in Newlands

The Newlands area in Harare was a hive of activity on Friday with many of the local companies pulling together in true proud community spirit to clean up the unpleasant and polluted streets in the shopping centre.

There was a buzz in the air that made me feel proud to be Zimbabwean. One man helping with the clearing up operation bellowed out to his colleagues “come on Harare, let’s go”.

Staff from companies like Deloittes, Rio Tinto and AA Zimbabwe could be seen wearing their company T-shirts, sweeping the streets, repainting faded curbs and street markings. The City of Harare had been persuaded to deliver a bright orange skip into which volunteers dumped mounds of waste. At the Newlands Post Office an employee of Deloittes was overheard asking the Post Master if he had remembered to bring in 200lts of water so that they could wash their walls with a power cleaner.

It was obviously Newlands lucky day, because a City of Harare refuse truck was also seen collecting rubbish from our office block.

We hope this effort from the local community will energise the City of Harare to continue where the volunteers left off. Especially since their website claims that the Department’s mission is to “To prevent ill-health among the population of Zimbabwe through community education and regulatory mechanisms, to promote a health living and working environment, and to safeguard community health and quality of life.”

We at Kubatana say “Thanks, well done and keep the community spirit going!”

City of Harare refuse trucks do exist!

The Economist Group today held a one-day conference on “The Future of Zimbabwe.” The high power meeting brought together business leaders, economists and political analysts to explore the question “When will Zimbabwe see a real recovery.”

One of the panel sessions was on Agriculture and food security, and the panelists included Sam Moyo of the African Institute for Agrarian Studies, and John Worsley-Worswick of Justice for Agriculture.

Ironically, the conference was held just two days after the farm house on Twyford Farm in Chegutu was burnt down. According to a report from the farm:

This farm is protected by a French BIPPA and a High Court order in my favour from 2007 and despite all that, I was ordered on the 18th March 2010 to pack all my belongings and fined $200 for illegally occupying the farm. Since then, my home has not been occupied by Jamaya Muduvuri who has an Offer Letter on Twyford. In February last year 30 thugs, led by Muduvuri, occupied the farm and Muduvuri proceeded to steal all my crops, farming equipment and vehicles. Yesterday he finished gutting the farm completely by burning the main homestead. It has taken one year for my profitable farm to become a totally abandoned land where no crop has been planted and the home has been destroyed. Furthermore, Muduvuri already has 4 farms to his name and mine was the 5th one.

What happened on my farm has NOTHING to do with any kind of land reform: the land has not been utilized, the equipment and crops have been stolen, all my animal stock has been slaughtered and finally my home has been burnt.

I look forward to hearing what the conference concluded. But surely we can’t have much hope in the future if we keep on reliving the past?

Merit Rumema wrote to Kubatana about the constitutional process questioning why so few women are actively involved in shaping the debate and discussion. Here’s her contribution:

Are women just political cheerleaders?

To say I was shocked at the level of women’s participation in the ongoing constitutional reform process is an understatement. I was appalled, devastated and disappointed. After attending three meetings in Mashonaland West Province, I was forced to come back, sit on my desk and ask myself, “What exactly is women’s participation?”

Is it the high turn out of women at these meetings, after all, there are more women in rural areas than men? Surely how can 300 women attend a meeting, just to ululate and clap hands as four, yes, 4 men, dominate a three-hour discussion. Surely how can that happen? Is women’s participation simply cheering and ululating?

As an observer from a women’s rights organisation, I travelled hundreds of kilometres to see for myself if women were being given an opportunity to speak and make their demands known. I sat through the 26 talking points and waited for women to speak. Talking point 11 discusses empowerment of previously disadvantaged groups. At this point I became really expectant, thinking women would consider how they have been disadvantaged and make new demands in the constitution such as free adult education.

Talking point 19 discusses independent commissions. Not one woman though to talk of a gender commission. This really got me very worried. What will the draft constitution comprise of? What is going on?

Back in my office after three similar meetings I started to ask myself what a people driven constitution really is and who the people are. >From my limited experience, the people are the political parties, and it has become impossible to separate the political party influence from individual thinking, aspirations and desires.

And as usual, everything that has political connotations attached to it becomes a playing zone for men, while women are silent spectators or cheerleaders, depending which party reigns in the area. Whether it is fear, intimidation, lack of knowledge and political will, in rural Zimbabwe, the women’s role is to be used as stepping stones in the dirty game called politics.

Why are we as a nation spending time and resources on a process whose outcome will hinge only on politics party needs?

Zimbabwean people speak out . . . here are a few questions from a Kubatana subscriber.

1. When the municipal police raid vendors, where do they put the merchandise coz the bulk of times the raided stuff does not reach the police station?

2. Why do police raid people trying to make a living by selling when the council and the government they are serving can’t create jobs to absorb those people? Do they want to turn them all into thieves?

3. Where is the money being collected at Toll Gates going if roads remain that bad even around cities when the people collecting the money are cruising in modern-mech cars?

4. Besides getting high perks, chasing vendors from the streets, and involving in corrupt land deals what else do the council administrators do on a normal day?

It’s a disgrace, God help us.

Either Morgan Tsvangirai is short on brains by saying that he won’t contest the result of Zimbabwe’s 2011 poll, or he’s got a direct line to that famous World Cup winner predicting octopus from Germany. One of Kubatana’s SMS subscribers texted us this question recently: Did octopus predict tsvangirai victory in next polls?

‘MBIRA MBIRI’ (Two Mbiras)

A concert by HOPE MASIKE featuring CHIWONISO MARAIRE.

Outdoor performance  / full cash bar.

A truly rare experience of Zimbabwe’s most electrifying mbira songstresses in a mesmerizing fusion of traditional music, jazz and unexpected delights.

Supported by award winning visual artist, MASIMBA HWATI. CC $10.

FRI 17 SEPT, 2010 @ 7PM. ALLIANCE FRANCAISE, 328 Herbert Chitepo Avenue, Harare.