Feedback from a Kubatana subscriber in response to a recent blog from Upenyu:

Mugabe is a freedom fighter leader where democracy is a non-event. Strategy to win the war is mainly by sabotage and by any means possible. Plans are done secretly and the focus is only fixed on winning the war. The politics of freedom fighters are narrowed down and centred on few individuals considered brave and shrewd with charismatic characters.

With Mugabe in particular, being eloquent in English, even though with limited vision, he became a star among less educated freedom fighters, now the war vets. Come independence in 1980, the world expected him to shift his leadership style from freedom fighter leadership to democratic leadership. This paradigm shift was a bit heavy on his shoulders. The concept of ‘how difficult to train an old dog some new tricks’, applied. The same dirty tricks they used during the war are still the same they are using to stay in power today, whatever cost.

An independent nation must reflect a high degree of freedom (emancipation and sovereignty of the people). This stage requires dynamic leadership and this is lacking in Mugabe.

A dynamic leader needs to have a full range of appreciation of all the basic tenets of governance. These include modern politics, economics, technology, environment, globalisation and social justice. He/she works for not more than ten years as a president and retires from office.

To conclude, according to my own opinion Mugabe has no legacy to leave behind expect that of poor leadership.

Use Anuacho as my name if you wish to publish this. In Zimbabwe there is no freedom of expression. We are not yet independent as a nation.

Christopher Hitchens on Fear, Peter Godwin’s latest book:

If you want a catalog of those sins, turn to Godwin’s books. But don’t read them just for outrage at the terrible offense to humanity. They also describe a new sort of Zimbabwean, emancipated from racial and tribal feeling by a long common struggle against a man who doesn’t scruple to employ racial and tribal demagoguery. In those old days of arguing with the white settlers, one became used to their endless jeering refrain: “Majority rule will mean one man, one vote—one time!” They couldn’t have been more wrong. Since gaining independence three decades ago, the Zimbabwean people have braved every kind of intimidation and repression to go on registering their votes. They have made dogged use of the courts and the press, which continue to function in a partial way, to uphold pluralism and dissent. Mugabe has lost important votes in Parliament and—last time—his electoral majority in the country at large. Only the undisguised use of force and the wholesale use of corruption have kept his party in office. One day, the civic resistance to this, which was often looked-down upon by people considering themselves revolutionary, will earn the esteem and recognition it deserves.

Zvinhu zvese zvafamba zvakanaka
Isn’t this lovely?
In less poetic language it translates as ‘all went well’
It was written on a feed-back form by one of our community facilitators after a capacity training workshop
I have been waiting to use it…

One Friday each month, the Tree of Life invites representatives from all their partners,
the communities and groups who have trained as facilitators and workshop organizers
and have begun their own circles where they live.
On Fridays we sit together and bring our stories, our successes and failures and plans for the future
we talk of exchanging facilitators between communities,
and
have tea and sandwiches
laugh

Friday Circle
29.4.11

In Motoko they rose before dawn
walked the cold dusty paths dressed in Sunday best
the sparkle of Venus dims in the rosy glow of sunrise
cold morning air
wood smoke
nearly winter

At the main road they catch the combi
joining the morning crush
in a helter-skelter, precarious, two and half hour drive
life in the hands of a speeding, hell-bent driver

… into Harare

bustling noisy smoky morning traffic
queue at the terminus in piles of litter,
street people
vendors
to catch another combi to Marlborough
walk the last 2 km
to the monthly Tree of Life Partners Circle

Today was special
it is the week of the Harare International Arts Festival
and today we were to be visited by a group of young poets/singers/musicians
who would perform for us

But first the circle
today was special

what is the question we need to ask with the talking stone
that would bring our energy together?

50 people on a green lawn surrounded by trees

‘What is it, that inspires you, in doing this work?’

‘this circle’
‘the ability we have to communicate with communities across the country’
‘that we can speak together of our troubles and our inspirations knowing that we will be witnessed’
‘the power of love that holds us together’
‘the opportunity we have to heal our country’
‘the power of this network’
‘the spirit of love’

one young woman from Mrewa said

‘in this circle, for the first time, I can speak as an equal’

I feel an emergent pattern
flowing alongside the chaos

And then the artists…
These are our children
they have grown alongside this chaos
the last 11 years of their young lives have been a witnessing of corruption and violence and abuse of power
- town and country,
their adolescence has been spent in fearful isolating times
the closure of schools,
the loss of possessions and homes
families and communities disrupted and broken
so many deaths

What is it these new children of our nation have to say?

with their dreadlocks and hip-hop?
-of the freedom train… that left the station in 1980 when they were born free
and of the economy class – who were crushed together to make way for the first class
of the old woman who got left behind without money for the ticket
and the young mother who lost her baby
- those abandoned by the freedom train

Of the joy of being free within their own spirits
of living in the present
of connecting with nature

with his guitar a young man sang old songs
to old spirits with the voice of the old grandmothers
for the abused children
for the spirits of the dumped babies.

When he was asked what moved him to sing this song he explained
‘Once I was privileged – I had a job
and with the job came a newspaper
and it was in there – on pages 3 and 4
hidden away in lost corners
I read these stories
And I felt they were stories that everyone should know
So I sing’

A beautiful 18 year old
spoke with the voice of the young deaf and mute girl she was working with
a poem filled with vivid understanding
of the frustrated angry vacuum of this young life

She goes to this orphanage voluntarily, to hug the children!

A young man spoke with the voice of 3 different women
whose lives had been changed forever
by the burning and breaking down of outhouses and shack dwellings and posessions
in operation Murambatsvina

another young woman spoke
spoke from inside the skin
from inside the wall of prison
from inside the humiliated beaten body
from inside the mind
of one of our women human rights activists who was arrested last year

and powerful woman who was visiting Zimbabwe
called for the time of the return of the Goddess
the challenge of sharing the throne
of the balance of masculine and feminine

When asked how well she was received by our more conservative Christian population
she replied

‘I am not here to be approved of
I am here to make you think
about the coming of the inevitable’

A young boy not more than 11 years or so played traditional drums
he said he had been drumming since he was born
a young man sang
and we danced

what is this emergent pattern
flowing alongside the chaos

Zvinhu zvese zvafamba zvakanaka

When I was going through some articles on the latest advancements in cellphone technology, I came across an article on textually.com about how farmers in Kenya are using SMS every morning to find the best prices on the market for their produce.

On a visit to Mbare Musika in Harare you will hear lots of complaints from farmers about low prices on the market for their produce. When you compare these prices at Mbare Musika with other market places you will find a big difference in pricing and one wonders how best these farmers can get such useful information before their produce to the market.

I imagine a farmer in Mutoko avoiding the hassle and pain of selling her tomatoes at a give-away price by just sending an SMS to different market places in Harare and getting instant feedback on where to sell at a better price. This will also help vendors to know where to buy at low prices.

Kenyan farmers use SMS to beat climate-driven price uncertainty

MERU, Kenya (AlertNet) – William Muriuki and his wife are inspecting their vegetable farm in the tiny village of Karimagachiije, some 15 km outside Meru town in central Kenya. Cabbages, onions and Irish potatoes are ready to go to market. But the question is where?

Identifying the best market never used to be a problem, explains the 73-year-old farmer. “It was easy to tell what vegetables were in season in a particular area, so we knew the most appropriate places to sell our farm produce.”

But changing climatic conditions have disrupted market patterns. “It is no longer as predictable as it was,” he says. “We have to physically identify places with high demand.”

Even fairly recently, local farmers could be sure the rains would come around March 25 each year. So by the end of April, most vegetables would be in season, meaning low demand at nearby markets. In much of Eastern Province though, the rains would be delayed or not arrive at all, so farmers from the central region knew they could get a good price for their produce there.

But that’s no longer the case. “In the past few years, I have seen rains come much earlier than expected, or very late,” says Muriuki. “At times, it rains in Eastern Province much earlier or at the same time as it does here, or it fails to rain in both areas.”

In these challenging conditions, Muriuki and his farming colleagues have turned to technology to help them find the right market. Read the full article on here

Zimbabwe has a host of talented people helping to make it both survive and grow. Kerry Wallace is one of them. He manages one of the best restaurants in the country, dishing up stunning food laced with his special brand of humour. Every year Kerry keeps audiences at HIFA well fed and wowed at his food stall on the green.

Kubatana went inside out with Kerry, ex-garden boy; currently a cook-boy.

Describe yourself in five words?
Another fucker out to lunch.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Kids be free to do whatever you want to do, and be whatever you want to be just as long as you don’t hurt anybody. (Wise words from the musical Hair).

What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done?
Everything.

What is your most treasured possession?
My Ipod with over 10 000 songs on it from the 60s onwards.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Being on my own.

Do you have any strange hobbies?
Cruising.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My bald head from the back. And being cut at birth – my circumcised dick.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Olive oil and Parmesan cheese.

What have you got in your fridge?
Café leftovers.

What is your greatest fear?
Well it ain’t dying that’s for sure!

What is your favourite journey?
On my own to Cape Town to see my mother.

Who are your heroes in real life?
John Lennon and Neil Young: peace and love is what they have in common.

When and where were you happiest?
Life’s always been fraught.

What’s your biggest vice?
Alcohol.

What were you like at school?
The Organiser.

What are you doing next?
Hopefully retiring to work in Nyanga or Juliasdale.

And, in honour of the royal wedding, we’ve also just watched the video of the St Andrews choir covering Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance – Kate and Will style. Well done boys!