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.

She opens herself to all influences – everything nourishes her. Everything is gravy to her, including what she does not understand – particularly what she does not understand.
- Henry Miller

On Saturday I was at Ellis Park Stadium where Nigeria were playing Argentina. And in the spirit of the African World Cup, some Nigerians came with pet chickens to sheer up their super Eagles but they where told no chickens were allowed into the stadium. John Okoro told the South African Press Association (SAPA) that “We were allowed to take our chickens in 1998 World Cup, but these people wont let us.” Read the full article here

Two friends and I entered Harare’s Got Talent on Saturday night, with a pantomime dance performance of Kenny Roger’s The Gambler. We were last minute cowboys, really. It started off as a joke, a bit of a dare one evening, but suddenly there were Auditions. And rehearsals. An official run through. A compulsory warm up. And a Performance.

My co-workers were quite game about our “board room” [read foyer] getting taken over for a rehearsal space. One of them even got roped into writing up our blocking, and taking notes on our props list. I was a bit worried our land lord would come and investigate, but 17 “know when to hold ‘em” choruses later we were still safe.

The blocking document was titled The Meddle, and included things like:

• J and A do the hop
• J shoots A
• A plays tambourine
• A and J show their aces
• Chorus: Go crazy
• A shoots K

And the props included:

• Bottle stick
• Cards
• 2 x Guns
• 3 x Cowboy hats

The show took place at Harare’s Rep’s Theatre – like the snap of the marquis above, it’s shabby on the outside, well meaning enough, on the inside, but stuck in the same bygone era that Harare’s post offices and government buildings seem to still be in.

There were a good 45 acts or so – a motley assortment of novices and veterans, across a range of ages and talents. I overheard one dancer ask another why there were so many singers. I overheard one musician ask another why non musicians were in the show. The people who knew they were neither singers nor dancers knew better than to posit why their numbers were so low. They were the only people I overheard asking – why are we here again? Go figure.

In the end, guitarist singer and song writer Christessa took second place, and Mumbai Jackson [think Bollywood meets Thriller] won first prize, with a three-person dance to original choreography. In the process, scores of people got first hand experience with the behind the behind the scenes elements of a performance – the tension and off stage drama, as well as the gritty, unglamourous sweat and frustration that it takes to pull something like that off. And the audience of 400 or so got exposed to performers they’ll be hoping to see more of in future, and others – like the last minute cowboys – that they’ll know they want to avoid.

Homosexuality is not something that is new to African society, that there is a lexicon in African languages to describe it is proof enough of this. Yet recent events, fuelled by ignorance and political expediency would have us believe otherwise. Perhaps the problem is not whether homosexuality exists at all, but rather it may be the extent of the expression of that sexuality within the context of our society.

Pambazuka News most recent issue publishes a very interesting piece titled Pink Imperialism: LGBTQ and the Middle East.

Middle Eastern Society is more conservative than our own, yet LGBTQ persons found ways to make spaces for themselves in their society. In the article, blogger A of Arabia notes that Western approaches to secure gay rights in other parts of the world neglect acknowledgement of the economic security and opportunities associated with being openly gay in a given society.

There is a lot of hype about the male circumcision issue. It is being hailed as the answer to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Is it? I do not think so. On what assumptions is the success of the male circumcision program being based on?

Are those pushing the program assuming that an alarming number of men do not use condoms to begin with? Because if they believe that condoms are being used consistently and correctly, then there is no need to be trying to replace or ‘compliment’ something that has got a 99% chance of preventing infection with something with a 60% chance.

My opinion is that the male circumcision program will actually increase the rate of infection: When it comes to sexual matters, the human brain is feeble at best of times. The logic will be why wear a condom if I have just had a procedure that’s supposed to reduce my chances of getting infected. If it is insisted that one were a condom even after being circumcised, then what’s the point in being circumcised.

So we can only say male circumcision is a worthwhile intervention if we assume that a large number of men do not use condoms. Those who use condoms do not use them correctly and consistently:  Say a man is spending the whole night with a woman; he will wear a condom the first time around and remove it when he is done.  If he feels like having another he might wear another condom if she insists. But does he wear another condom if he wants to have another go at midnight, I don’t think so. And if he has been sleeping with the woman for a week?

Those who use condoms correctly and consistently please stand up.

What about the young man who has been dying to sleep with a beautiful local girl for months. A chance presents itself and there are no condoms around. Does he dash off to the shops fro a packet of condoms? And risk her changing her mind?

We have to admit that a lot of men are not using condoms or at least not correctly and no amount of shouting will ever change that. So male circumcision might save a few of them; after all 60% is better than 0%, trying to sell condoms and male circumcision at the same time sounds absurd to me.

We can only hope that the male circumcision program will not convince the few who were using condoms to stop using them altogether: Honestly, how many will actually think of the percentages? The message that a shocking number of men – and women will get, is that male circumcision prevents HIV infection and the proponents of the dubiously noble initiative do not intend that to the message. And HIV/AIDS messages should not be mind-boggling, like the one that says that people should use both contraceptive pill and the condom. The contraceptive pill is for married couples, Period! Asking a married couple to use condoms is expecting too much.

I hope the male circumcision program achieves its desired goals, whatever they are. Honestly it’s all a bit vague in my mind.