Econet is celebrated in Zimbabwe as one of THE brands that have made a permanent presence in people’s everyday life, every businessman’s dream no doubt. But the service we are getting is only serving to give that Strive guy a very bad name as  many know him as the face of Econet from the days when the now VP Joice Mujuru was one of many opposing the late VP Joshua “Father Zimbabwe” Nkomo to give the young man [Strive] an operating license.

Ever since subscribers rushed to buy those simcards after Econet hit the nation with broadband excitement and then the demand to register the lines by POTRAZ, there has been a lot of furious anger aimed at Econet and with good reason. I bought a line a few months ago, had it registered as demanded based on the threat that failure to do so I would be switched off on the 31st of March 2011. But what do you know, despite having registered the “line,” the morning of April 1 found me without any form of communication as I had been switched off. Thinking this was an April Fools gag, I made my way to the Econet offices only to find hordes of fuming subscribers who all had the same story to tell: they had been switched off despite having registered their lines as duly demanded. And the arrogant people that Strive employs have not been very helpful, you just have to ask if that man knows this is what Zimbabweans who have given his wealth are going through.

Zimbabwe being a land of conspiracy theories, whispers galore that this is no inadvertent glitch: some dark forces have interfered with people’s only communication tool through these mass disconnections which are causing mass hysteria as every Nhamo, Themba and Sihle is now on Facebook thanks to Econet broadband. And the dark forces, only being too aware of what social media has wrecked in the Maghreb, well, one cannot be too careful!

The haughty types at Econet told us on Friday 1 April 2011 we would be reconnected by the end of the day, and we were not. Monday 4 April 2011 we were again told we would be connected by the end of the day, we were not. Are these people taking our peace loving nature for granted, someone in the crowd wondered aloud? I am not sure whether this was directed at Econet or the dark forces! Elsewhere there would be a mass public campaign to boycott Econet the company Strive built.

From Nawal El Saadawi’s Prison Memoir:

Over the ground, my fingers sketch letters and interlacing circles. My hand trembles with anger, and my heart quickens. If my fingers had not come to know the pen, perhaps they would have known the hoe. The pen is the most valuable thing in my life. More valuable than my children, more than my husband, more than my freedom.

I prefer my place in prison to writing something which has not originated in my mind. The sincere word demands a courage akin to that needed to kill and perhaps more.

My fingers chisel letters in the dirt…To this moment, I don’t know why I am in prison. I have seen no investigator or prosecuting attorney or lawyer. I heard the shawisha say that she heard they were saying I entered prison because of my writings…my crime, therefore, comes under the rubric of crimes of opinion.

Is free opinion a crime? Then let prison be my only refuge and my final fate!

Source: Newsweek

I had a lengthy chat the other day with a senior female politician about wide ranging issues and wondered why the country is in such a mess when there are people like her – and no doubt many others – whose passion for a better Zimbabwe is up there with ordinary men and women of goodwill who toil each day wondering where the kcuf we are going thirty one years on. She went beyond the usual calls for women’s empowerment, gender parity, the usual stuff one would hear from politicians and some such types.

The 21st century is full of gender-bending/gender-mending cliches and contradictions, and I heard it even from Zanu PF’s Aeneus Chigwedere on national television the other night: educate a woman and you have empowered the nation, and sure the women in the audience clapped till their palms hurt. But then with some folks, you know they don’t always mean what they say: three decades is long enough to know someone, ask folks married for that long.

From the despair of the female politician about the long tortuous journey not only to break the glass ceiling but also good governance, better, cheaper sanitary hygiene it struck me she mentioned that if women’s progress in Zimbabwe is to leave a lasting imprint for generations to come, why not start this enlightenment, empowerment, future female politician, gender parity crusade in centres of higher learning; that is, the university and tertiary institutions where young bright females can be encouraged to take up issues that will prepare them for future participation in shaping national policy and issues of governance.

While some female politicians cut their teeth in the bush before independence and others in trade unionism after independence, what contemporary social circumstances and institutions present that opportunity for the continuity of female political participation on a national level? Tertiary institutions right?  Of course it made sense. And then I read on these pages a sad if not bitter letter from a female student in one of the country’s tertiary institutions about her experience with sanitary hygiene.

This is an issue the female politician spoke passionately about concerning how women in Zimbabwe continue being humiliated, as Neanderthal male politicians still dismiss it as an issue that does do not demand street protests! This is exactly what that obviously bright young woman – the letter writer referred to here – was raising in her ire that she says almost saw her leaving a used sanitary pad outside the principal’s office as a form protest.

In the end one has to ask: how do the policy czars balance their calls for women’s participation in portfolios of national relevance when the same young women are denied the conditions that will prepare them for that ascendance? The world – and indeed Zimbabwe – is full of contradictions. One has to wonder what it will take to take anyone who stands on a pedestal and purports to speak for humankind’s greater good. Some would say it is such appalling conditions that will spur them into politics as they are driven to change and better women’s lot not from the couch but from the trenches like their sisters in the bush and later in the trade unions. But then that could well be empty theorizing.

As said by the female politician, young females who have an opportunity to go to university will forever be interested in getting their degrees, then a job with some NGO and just say “kcuf politics” as long as there is no seriousness in addressing issues like what she [and that student and many others] remains passionate about: sanitary hygiene.

I’ve just discovered Afrographique, a site of useful, interesting, attractive and easy to understand images depicting data about Africa – There’s a map of Facebook users, a graph of African mobile subscriptions, a map of foreign investment in Africa, a look at LinkedIn users, amongst other graphics.

It’s exciting because the images are so well presented – they’re clear and accessible and simple to view. But it’s also impressive because they give you at a glance powerfully displayed information about Africa. And, assuming you think that things like investment, mobile phone penentration and social networking usage are good things, they’re images of Positive developments in Africa.

According to the website:

Afrographique is Ivan Colic’s small contribution to assist the changing perception of Africa and it’s people – hopefully you will be able to learn something as well. This blog aims to collect as much data as possible with the aim of presenting the information in an exciting and digestible format to all.

From the looks of it, Ivan regularly adds new maps and graphics to the site – so it’s worth flagging the site or subscribing to his RSS feed so you know when he’s added something new. I’m really looking forward to seeing what he depicts next.

This video shows 3000 that joined MSF in New Delhi in protesting against the EU-India Free Trade Agreement.

In the past decade India has earned the moniker ‘pharmacy of the developing world’, through the manufacture of cheap generic drugs which have gone to save countless millions of people who would otherwise be unable to afford life-saving medicines. In particular Anti-Retroviral Therapy for HIV has come down from $10 000 per year in 2000, to $70 per year today because of Indian generics. It is estimated that roughly two and a half million people rely on Indian manufactured generics for their HIV therapies. All this could come to an end with a proposed free trade agreement being negotiated between India and the European Union.  Certain hidden clauses in the agreement could prevent the registration of Indian drugs.

For several months now activists around the world have joined global health organizations like Oxfam, MSF and the WHO in expressing their deep concern about the impact of the agreement on people living with HIV around the world.

It is estimated that Zimbabwe has 2 million people who are living with HIV, with 300 000 people on the free national Anti-Retroviral Programme.

Find out more and join the global protest  here.

Are you an asylum seeker or irregular immigrant in the UK thinking of returning to Zimbabwe?

From the 1st April 2011, Refugee Action will run the Assisted Voluntary Return programme.

Refugee Action will provide advice and assistance for three groups of people who may be considering voluntary return:

• Asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers (VARRP programme)
• Families and children (AVRFC programme)
• Irregular migrants (AVRIM programme)

You can read more about the assisted voluntary return options at the UK Border agency website here and here