A week ago Carl J Ncube announced to a press conference that he would be spending a week living on First Street in Harare to raise public awareness about how piracy affects the local music industry. The public response as compared to the online response was disappointing.

“I didn’t expect people in Zimbabwe not to respond to something as simple as moral support. All we’re asking them to do is sign and say that they appreciate Zimbabwean music. That even though they can’t afford to buy it, and they’re burning it, all we needed was just moral support, to say thank you, I’m burning your music, but thank you, I appreciate it.”

Very little has been made in the local press of Carl’s Street Campaign. According to Carl, junior entertainment reporters have submitted their stories about his campaign to The Herald’s editors. However they (the editors) did not feel that Carl’s Campaign, and by extension the welfare of local artists, was newsworthy.

As the country’s most widely read daily newspaper, I think The Herald has failed in its mandate to inform the public about our various entertainment artists and industries. I have seen columns and editorials indicting Roki and other artists for riding on combis, and lowering their status with fans. But, as the state media, they do nothing to promote local artists save for selling advertising space. Why was there no coverage for M’afriq’s last album, or even a profile of Stunner and the success that he has made of his career? And what about the underground music scene and fledgling artists who are yet to be discovered by the public?

I know the articles much like the one covering Carl’s campaign are written, but what use are they if they are not published? The Herald’s entertainment editors seem to only be interested in the type of journalism that destroys typified by the vitriolic and unsubstantiated article carried by The Herald last year about former Big Brother housemate Munyaradzi Chidzonga. The entertainment department of that paper should partially shoulder the blame for the state of our local music and entertainment industries.

It’s no wonder then that Sam Mtukudzi’s last performance was to an estimated gathering of 20 people and it is only now, in having passed away that he becomes newsworthy. Ironically, public sentiment about young artists can be summed up in what Carl was told on the street:

“People are saying its better if they just die, it’s better if they get broke, and we don’t need them. They’d prefer to buy and listen to Little Wayne.”

Even as the son of the virtually deified Oliver Mtukudzi, Sam only had a handful of articles published about him in The Herald since his career began with the release of his first album Rumwe Rimwe in 2007. Compare this to the media coverage received by Jamaican artist Sizzla, who was in Zimbabwe briefly for the President’s Birthday. He was featured in The Herald everyday for a week, and had a full double page spread on the weekend. As Carl rightly pointed out, we have become a nation that supports other people’s music industries.

“It really upsets me to see artists quitting their jobs. We know Zimbabwean artists have gone into industries like porn and prostitution. They’ve gone and changed careers, and at this rate, we won’t have any music. What we [as Zimbabweans] continue to do though is to build [other people's] industries. So people like Sizzla get paid forty thousand to perform in Zimbabwe, he goes back to Jamaica, he builds up ten studios and brings up fifty more artists, then those fifty artists start growing and then what do we do? We invite them again and give them another forty thousand. We’re the biggest donors to international industries.”

Carl will be on First Street for another 24 hours. I’m afraid his campaign has done more to reveal the negative and negligent attitudes of the State media and in turn the public, than what it was originally intended to do. That is, give our beleaguered and beggared artists the encouragement that they need.

Self interview by Mgcini Nyoni, Poet, Playwright and freelance writer based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. With poetry published in FIRE IN THE SOUL 100 poems for human rights (New Internationalist / Amnesty International UK 2009), Intwasa Poetry (Amabooks, Bulawayo 2008), Poetry for Charity Vol 2 (Nigeria 2008). Creative director of Poetry Bulawayo www.poetrybulawayo.webnode.com.

Q: Why poetry?
A: Poetry liberates you. There is no right or wrong way of writing poetry, really. I remember Loyd Robson saying you can paint a picture and call it poetry.

Q: Sounds confusing.
A: Only if you don’t understand poetry. I don’t appreciate hip-hop so I was a bit confused when a hip-hop person was trying to explain that there is good shit and bad shit.

Q: But hip-hop is poetry.
A: What aspect of life is not poetry?

Q: What inspires your poetry?
A: Life. Like if I am thing that I would love bacon with my bread and I can’t afford bacon; It sort of formulates into a poem, like:

they are eating
bacon and eggs
in the state house
The man in rags
eating burnt bread . . .

Q: That’s political.
A: Life is political. Everything can be traced back to a politician either doing well or messing up. Most times they are screwing up.

Q: Is there real hope for poetry?
A: The numbers of artists who write poetry is increasing. And because everyone is literate, there is a lot of self-expression using poetry. Poetry Bulawayo is trying to give all these people a platform.

Q: There is a sort of rebelliousness associated with poetry.
A: Not really. There are people who always take things too far in anything: eating, sex, poetry…

Q: Last word.
A: Brace yourselves; the poetry movement is about to take over the world.

A week ago a woman gave birth at a tollgate. According to the story the woman was on her way to Gweru Hospital where she had been referred to by the Shangani District Hospital presumably because the district hospital was not capacitated to do the delivery.

But that’s just my deduction.

What was reported is that the woman was already in labor when she caught a ride from a haulage truck driver who was heading in the same direction and when the truck was stopped at the tollgate; she was on the verge of delivering; the truck driver saw it fit to leave her somewhere near the tollgate so that he could rush along and go on his way.

Can’t blame the poor fellow though – he was probably terrified that he would end up being saddled with a new born baby and all the mess that accompanies childbirth moreover, he certainly wouldn’t want his employer to find out that he had turned the company vehicle into a  delivery room.

In any event the woman was unceremoniously dumped on the roadside, where she ‘rolled’ around on the ground, writhing in agony before her anguished cries attracted the attention of the police and Revenue authorities who were manning the toll gate.

With the assistance of these officials, she delivered a healthy baby and remained attached to the infant as none of them wanted to hazard cutting the umbilical cord; they couldn’t decide how many centimeters to cut off from.

In any event, an ambulance from Gweru conveniently arrived with paramedics who proceeded to cut the cord and ferry the woman to hospital where we are told the woman is recovering very well.

The story was written in the light-hearted manner of one telling an entertaining story; the tone conveying a hint of humor because – well it’s one of those stories one can tell knowing they will have an engaged and enthralled audience.

What makes it all the more appealing is that it’s all true and with a nice little ‘happy’ ending to wrap it all up – the baby is safe, the mother is recovering, the officials who were there now have a story they can one day share with their grandchildren and of course, it was suggested that the infant be named “tollgate”.

So all’s well that ends well, right?

Wrong!

It seems to me that this report totally missed the point.

The point is, why on God’s green earth was the woman referred to Gweru in the first place? Why are district hospitals incapacitated and why; with less than five years to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are we still having women’s maternal healthcare being so grossly ignored?

The point is why, in a three decade old independent Zimbabwe, are women giving birth in the open like animals?

And oh, the indignity of it!

Anyone who is well-versed on the subject of the arduous rigors involved in birthing will know that the exercise is excruciating and it is, for every woman a time of extreme vulnerability. There is indeed, nothing trivial about it because of the high risk involved, too many women die giving birth and others die due to pregnancy related complications yet coverage given to these tragic occurrences borders mostly on nonchalance without any appreciation of the gravity of these incidents.

To my way of thinking, the story raises several issues that warrant interrogation and are basically screaming for scrutiny.

One of them is the glaring lack of sensitivity with which the subject is treated – so matter-of-factly and it somehow succeeds in making the woman’s plight almost inconsequential.

Needless to say, gender sensitivity is a notion whose import has largely gone unheeded or has not been prioritized in many sectors of our society – this is just one manifestation of this culture of indifference.

What is even more upsetting is that these attitudes permeate to all other coverage of matters that directly affect women and impact on their health and interests.

There is something wrong with a health delivery system that fails women at a time as crucial as child birth – but there is something inhumane about a society that would condone this by finding the slightest element of humor in what is clearly outrageous.

And of all the things that could be said about a woman delivering in such unusual and inappropriate circumstances; the very least one can do is remember to point out the fact that we expect more of our Government – what with the combined weight of three political parties?

Read this open letter from Dale Doré

Dear Prime Minister,

After a brave, harrowing and tearful account of a victim’s experience of being raped you asked: “How do you confront a dictator using democratic means?” With due respect, Prime Minister, it is not by dining with the dictator every Monday while crimes are committed against your supporters. Nor do you confront a dictator by proclaiming that he is part of the solution when he is, and always has been, part of the problem. Nor do you confront a dictator by undemocratically handing power to him. After nearly a decade of struggle, the Zimbabwean people elected you as their President, not as a powerless Prime Minister. Yet, it was you and your party that negotiated and handed back power to the dictator and the loser of the March 2008 presidential elections. This was not only a betrayal of the democratic principles that you espouse, but you had no mandate from the people to do so.

Nor, Prime Minister, do you confront a dictator by following his lead on pernicious and racist policies. Instead of supporting an international court’s ruling to which Zimbabwe is bound by treaty and international law, you have supported the dictator’s unlawful and ‘irreversible’ land policies.  Nor can you pretend that you did not mean that sanctions on ZANU(PF) individuals should be lifted just because you used the words ‘restrictive measures’.  It now seems that you are no longer confronting the dictator’s imposition of an indigenisation policy that will end any chance of investment to create desperately needed jobs.  If the truth be told, Prime Minister, you have not confronted the dictator using democratic or any other means. You have trusted him, colluded with him, and appeased him. In doing so you have – as one commentator put it – gambled your political credibility to the hilt.

You have also sent him the very signals by which he manipulates you. Whenever you tell the dictator that you will never abandon the GPA, you strengthen his resolve to repudiate it. Whenever you tell the dictator that past crimes should be forgiven and forgotten, it emboldens him to act with greater impunity. Even as you preach healing and tolerance to the dictator over dinner, he prepares for arrests, violence and intimidation against your supporters in the run-up to elections.

We therefore call upon you to focus all your strength and energy on ensuring that Zimbabweans can vote in peace, and in the knowledge that every vote counts.  Democracy and justice will only prevail when we start concentrating our minds on what really matters: providing security to remove any and every threat of election violence; tightening the electoral process to prevent rigging; and ensuring the peaceful handover of power. As the coercive power of the state remains firmly in the grip of the dictator, the imperative is to build a powerful coalition of political and diplomatic forces that will deny him victory through violence.

The tears of anguish of a single woman – or indeed those of thousands of your compatriots who have been tortured, raped and murdered – cries out, not for rhetorical answers, but for a leadership that demands democracy and justice. The hope of millions of Zimbabweans to live in dignity and freedom, Prime Minister, lies in your courage and leadership to confront the dictator. You must not fail them.

That was the simple status update that one of my friends posted on his Facebook profile.

And that’s when the frenzied Google search for more information began. Could Sam, the exuberant, all-conquering son of the great Oliver Mtukudzi, really be dead just a few short weeks from his 22nd birthday?

I often saw Sam at the Book Café in Harare. Sometimes he played his guitar and sang a few songs – and other times, he just hung around to listen to whatever entertainment was going on.

Admittedly, I never spoke to him, but the great potential coursing through his being was always palpable, always on the verge of eruption.

One Friday night, he held a concert in the very same Book Café. Every tile of the floor was teaming with feet dancing and throbbing to his beat. Every few moments, he bobbed his head back and forth – much like his father does when he becomes immersed in his performance. A look of enjoyment and concentration coloured his face.

I remember lots of swaying, sweat and sing-alongs to each word he amplified through the microphone. I remember that night because I felt release and exhilaration.

Oliver Mtukudzi once sang a song entitled ‘Tiri Mubindu’ (We are in a garden)  that describes us all as being flowers in a garden. Translated from Shona, his words state the following:

A beautiful flower does not survive. We harvest it just as it blooms

The irony of these words is tinged with great sadness, especially when I think of how beautiful Sam’s bloom would have become had it been allowed to grow a little longer.

But he is gone.

The fragrance of his flower, however, will stay with us.

Rest in peace.

This year, women around the world celebrate the International Women’s Day under the theme, ‘equal rights, equal opportunities: progress for all’. Women across the globe commemorate this day to reflect on their struggle for equality, justice, peace and development. It is against this backdrop that this writer decided to write on climate change, an issue whose gender dimensions and effect on everyday life need to be emphasised. As acknowledged by the 2007 Human Development report climate change threatens to erode human freedoms and limit choice.  The report further emphasizes that gender inequality intersects with climate risks and vulnerabilities.

Climate change is a scientifically proven phenomenon that includes “any change in the climate, whether due to its natural variability or as a result of human activity”  . It often manifests in extreme weather conditions that include prolonged droughts, water shortages, soil erosion, erratic rainfall, severe cyclones, hurricanes and floods. While the issue of climate change has been discussed in various forums throughout the world, grass root communities particularly rural women have little knowledge on the subject and how it affects their day to day lives. Women have lower sources of income and fewer opportunities than men thus their capacities and knowledge to deal with shift in climate conditions differ from those of men.

Climate change as a development subject matter is critical to African populations as 70% of the population are small holder farmers and rely on agriculture for livelihoods. The majority of these people are women who contribute immensely to food security levels.  In the Zimbabwean context, where the economy is agro based and has the largest group of people in farming activities as women (86%), climate change is critical and requires thorough articulation for the understanding of women.

Women in rural areas are highly dependent on local natural resources for their livelihood. They are the primary producers of staple food and other cash crops for sustenance of families. Their disadvantaged position in society however, increases their vulnerability in times of distress for instance during drought and floods.  Women’s limited access to resources such as land, water and finance, make them highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. It is therefore crucial that such important aspects of development like change in climatic conditions and adaptation measures are well communicated for their understanding. There is need to ensure that the ordinary Zimbabwean woman understands the differences in weather patterns, how it affects agriculture activities and also coping mechanisms.

Effects of climate change are therefore not gender neutral. The gender differences between men and women imply that their vulnerabilities differ and since women are already in a disadvantaged position, effects of climate change threaten to further increase the inequality.

While highlighting the vulnerability of poor women to climate change, it should also be pointed out that women have an important role to play to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Women particularly at grass root level have acquired skills (e.g. in water management, forest management) through experience that can be tapped into in dealing with climate change effects.

The government therefore needs to consider taking a gender approach in design and implementation of policies on how to adapt and mitigate climate change as this is crucial to effectively address the needs of both men and women as they relate to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in particular, Goal 1, to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, Goal 3 to promote gender equality and Goal 7 to ensure environmental sustainability.  Women’s equal participation in climate change negotiation processes will ensure that their needs, perspectives and expertise are equally taken into account.