Work in and for Zimbabwe. Help grow our nation. Check out the vacancies below. If you’d like to receive this sort of information, as well as civic and human rights updates, by email each week drop us a note saying “subscribe” to: info [at] kubatana [dot] net

Please note that the job vacancies we carry are related to the NGO and civil society sectors only.

Programme Officer: Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA)
Deadline: 8 February 2013 (430pm)

EISA is a regional not for profit section organisation located in Johannesburg, South Africa with field offices in Chad, Kenya, Mozambique, Madagascar and Zimbabwe. EISA strives for excellence in the promotion of credible elections, participatory democracy and the strengthening of political institutions for sustainable democracy in Africa.

The EISA Zimbabwe office has a vacancy based in Harare for the position of Programme Officer. EISA offers a competitive enumeration package based on qualification and experience.

Responsibilities
-Assist the Country Director in the implementation and management of EISA’s Zimbabwe programmes
-Conceptualise, coordinate and evaluate projects in the areas of elections and political processes
-Coordinate and manage logistical arrangements for workshops
-Facilitate workshops and design material in EISA’s field of work
-Liaise with donors and draft reports and proposals
-Prepare regular reports, analysis and assessments
-Maintain and establish collaborative relationships with partner organisations in the election and democracy fields
-Support and assist short term consultants that EISA engages

Qualifications
-Graduate degree in political science or related field will be strongly preferred
-At least five years of experience in elections and governance field
-Project management, organisational skills, proposal and report writing and financial management experience
-Experience with training, facilitation and organisation of conferences/workshops
-Familiarity with academic and research networks in Africa
-Ability to relate diplomatically at the highest levels
-Good analytical skills
-Ability to work under deadlines and set priorities
-Working knowledge of PC based word processing and e-mail technology
-Good writing and analysis skills
-Hold a driver’s licence

How to apply
Applications, including a resume with three referees and their contactable telephone numbers and email addresses should be sent to email: gamuchirai [at] eisa [dot] org [dot] za

Only short listed candidates will be contacted. EISA reserves the right not to appoint.

Programme Accountant: Trócaire
Deadline: 11 February 2013

Trócaire is a Development Agency of the Irish Catholic Church.  The Agency works in Zimbabwe under an MoU with the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference.  A vacancy for a Programme Accountant has arisen within its Zimbabwe Office. The successful candidate will be managed by the Finance and Admin Manager and work in close collaboration with the Programme Manager as well as Programme Officers. The key deliveries for the position are monitoring and supporting  Finance and Governance  in Partner Organisations, Financial Control and Reporting and Budgeting.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Finance and Governance in Partner Organisations:
-Support the work of the programme team in reviewing partner financial and narrative reports ensuring consistency of information provided and that Trócaire and donor requirements are being met
-Review Trócaire records ensuring that partner financial reporting is up to date and properly maintained, in accordance with Trócaire and donor requirements
-Lead an ongoing process to appraise partner organisations financial controls and systems in line with the Trocaire Partner Governance and Finance manual.  Ensuring recommendations are implemented in agreement with the partner.
-Provide support to the Finance/Accounts Departments of partner organisations to enable them to produce and submit accurate expenditure reports. Support will include design of accounting and reporting systems, design of spreadsheets, training and on-going financial guidance.
-Participate in all programme team meetings to ensure a full understanding of all programme work and any financial implications arising.

Financial Control and Reporting:
-Guided by the Finance and Administration Manager, ensure that the relevant Trócaire organisational financial policies and procedures are adhered to and implemented in a standardised manner across all of the country programmes.
-To ensure that the programme department finance activities meet the financial reporting requirements and deadlines as specified by the Finance and Administration Manager
-Closely monitor all programme activities, and keep the Programme Manager and Finance Manager advised of all situations which have the potential for a negative impact on internal controls or financial management performance
-Assist with donor, external and internal control audits as required
-Assist with investigations into alleged fraud or irregularities at partner organisations
-Ensure a monthly Partner and Capacity Building Assessment Report is submitted to the Finance and Administration Manager and to Finance in HQ.

Programme Staff Capacity Building:
-To facilitate and provide basic training, technical support and guidance to the country program staff for skills improvement in the areas of budget preparation and monitoring, budget revision, reporting, and internal control
-Assists in improvement of work processes and increase efficiency within the programme function.

Budgeting:
-Assist the Programme Manager and other budget holders in conducting the budget process for the country programmes, ensuring that appropriate levels of technical support and guidance is provided to all budget holders during the process of  preparing  the  budget and subsequent revisions
-Assist budget holders with preparation of donor budgets; ensure compliance with donor regulations and to ensure incorporation into the country annual operating budget & budget revisions
-Review with all programme budget holders monthly reports as available on Agresso Business World and facilitate with programme staff follow up of any issues/variances arising
-Any other related duties assigned by Country Director or Finance and Admin Manager.

The ideal candidate will have:
-A relevant Accounting diploma/ degree
-Minimum 3 years experience in an Accounting and/or Finance position – preferably in an NGO
-Experience of working within an organisation that promotes a partnership model
-Expertise in Word and Excel and online Financial Management systems
-Commitment to Trócaire values
-Excellent communication skills and be a team player.

In return we offer a competitive salary and package commensurate with education and experience.

Full job description available on request from fshereni [at] trocairezw [dot] org

To apply: Email your cover letter and detailed CV to dmazingaizo [at] trocairezw [dot] org with “Programme Accountant” in the subject line.

Interviews will be held in February with a start date of March 1st pending availability of the successful candidate.

Rebuilding Africa ‘can’t be dependent on donors’ – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Nigerian finance minister, in Liberia as part of UN development panel, wants innovation, infrastructure and jobs for Africa. Via the Guardian

It’s been merely thirty days into the New Year and a lot has happened in Zimbabwe from the bizarre stories to progress in constitution making process to death, police arrests and floods. The whole year seems to be highlighted in just a month and with eleven more months still to go one wonders what more is in store for Zimbabwe? An explosion occurred in Chitungwiza during a cleansing ceremony conducted by a traditional healer. The explosion killed people and destroyed houses. The parties to the GPA have agreed on the draft constitution by COPAC and it waits to pass through parliament. Though some slight changes have occurred in the draft constitution on matters such as presidential powers we still wonder if political parties that had made their stance on the second draft constitution, will continue to stand by their campaigns. The nation lost its vice president John Nkomo and well renowned academic and aspiring politician Professor John Makumbe. Okay Machisa director of the ZimRights was arrested on the 14th of January and was released on bail on the 28th. In some parts of the country heavy rains destroyed bridges and houses killing people. These are just a few highlights that have occurred in the space of 30 days.

This a painful and sad reality to hear the Minister of Finance Hon. Tendai Biti saying after paying last month’s civil servants wage bill only $217 is left in the Zimbabwe state account. Some may ask whether the Minister is washing the nation’s dirty linen in the public. Or he is giving a service to the nation by being accountable and sharing the status of our bank balance. But to whose sympathy since it is also his responsibility to manage the economy? Ever since the Minister assumed the role of Minister of Finance he has been preaching the gospel of “only eating what you kill” but in a situation like this the big question is, where will the next kill come from? Proclamations of the mineral richness of our country should show up at times like these not to be seen globe trotting with begging bowl all the time.

Some may argue that the Minister is politicking instead of doing the job he is being paid to do. In a country awash with minerals to report only $217 in the state account literally means the country has individuals richer than the country who may need to bail out the government.

Writing for the Mail & Guardian, Jason Moyo asks whether the MDC can still win the next election? Their call for change has worn thin.

A new constitution for Zimbabwe has been agreed on and now parties are looking to the elections.

So, what does Morgan Tsvangirai have to do to win this time? His biggest task will be to reignite the fizz of 2008, which has died down over disappointments in his party’s performance in government and his personal scandals. But there is hope for him yet.

This week, analyst Lance Mambondiani asked in an opinion piece: “Is it possible that we are experiencing a shift in the maturity of the voter, in which politicians are held to account based on their policies rather than their rhetoric?” Yes, but not enough. And as long as candidate quality and policy are still taken as secondary to removing President Robert Mugabe, Tsvangirai has a chance. His party can only win by targeting that “anyone but Mugabe” vote that has carried it for years.

The options on offer are stark: on the one hand, it’s a choice between Mugabe and Tsvangirai. The alternative is simply not bothering to vote at all, an increasingly appealing prospect for many.

Mugabe will run on his black-empowerment drive, promising rural communities near mining operations shares in the mines. Tsvangirai’s own economic policy, known by the acronym Juice, is vague at best. But lack of clear policy is not new to the Movement for Democratic Change and has never stood in its way before.

The MDC’s major struggle will be recreating its vibrant March 2008 campaign. The country’s economic collapse made Tsvangirai’s “change” platform far more appealing than Mugabe’s “100% empowerment” refrain. Tsvangirai ran a well-funded campaign, addressing thousands of red-card-waving supporters. Young people who had previously stayed away from politics came out to vote for the first time. There was a zest in the air, a great expectation that this time change was, indeed, coming.  In an unprecedented turn of events, the MDC was able to campaign freely in the rural areas. Having long been cordoned off by Zanu-PF militants, rural voters flocked to MDC rallies.

The results showed: Zanu-PF lost its parliamentary majority for the first time ever and Tsvangirai won more votes than Mugabe, although not enough to avoid the violent run-off that would follow.

Now, besides the mechanisms still needed to make the election a fair race, rediscovering its 2008 form is what the MDC needs the most. The events of the past five years have broken voters’ resolve: the violent 2008 election aftermath, the mind-numbing talks on the formation of the unity government and then its failure to bring about reform.

Although the economic growth of recent years is stalling, it is not as bad as it was in 2008, when hyper-inflation and food shortages bred deep resentment of Mugabe and drove desperate voters to the polls.

Tsvangirai will need to capitalise on Zanu-PF rhetoric that the party will revive the Zimbabwe dollar if it wins. The “Zim-dollar era” is a dark one for many and the MDC will need to play on those fears.

Tsvangirai’s personal scandals do not help. Those controversies showed that he, too, had built his own Mugabe-esque base of fanatical supporters. It wasn’t his fault, his lieutenants said – it was all some dark conspiracy. The scandals disillusioned many. The erosion in Tsvangirai’s support may not translate to backing for Mugabe or other rivals, but may simply keep people away from the polls.

In the previous election, many voters simply put an X against the name of any MDC candidate on the ballot. Nobody cared who the candidate was. But those voters now feel let down by corruption and lack of service delivery by urban councils run by the MDC.

There is little enthusiasm for the forthcoming election, which, including two referendums, will be the country’s eighth poll in 13 years.

A coalition against Mugabe would seem an obvious option, but it is unlikely. The bitterness between Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube, leader of the smaller MDC faction, runs deep. In 2007, an attempt to forge an alliance failed, partly because the parties could not agree on who would get certain positions in government if they won. In his autobiography, At the Deep End, Tsvangirai said Ncube and his backers never had any clout. They “were simply riding on my popularity, in the forlorn hope that part of it would rub off on to them”. Many Tsvangirai supporters agree. The two men trade frequent barbs in public, many of the insults eyeroll-inducing in their pettiness. Tsvangirai recently dismissed Ncube as a “village politician”, to which Ncube retorted that allowing Tsvangirai to lead would be like giving a cyclist a bus to drive.

So with no strong policy platform and little chance of an alliance, the only real game the MDC can play is the same one it has played before. The old “change” mantra is really all the MDC has – and it will be tougher to convince voters this time around.

I was not surprised when I read reports that ZimRights director, Okay Machisa, cried in court when his bail hearing failed to be heard at the High Court.

A lot of people who have never been through the same ordeal will just take it lightly. Every man reaches a breaking point in life regardless of how strong they are. To miss an opportunity for freedom breaks one’s soul. Words like “Further remand” coming from the judge or magistrate makes one go hysterical.

Let me give you a little preview what the day is like for an accused person on remand.

In the morning at 9am you get served plain porridge or brown water called tea with bread crumbs (donated leftovers from bakeries). In the afternoon its sadza and boiled cabbage, same for the evening menu. On a good day it’s sadza and boiled beans with some groundnuts. Bedtime starts at 3pm, not mentioning the time you sit in line to get counted. Your bed linen depends on how generous your inmates will be. You may get only two see-through blankets and if you have cigarettes you may trade for more, same as for the uniforms. Two cigarettes will get you a not so clean uniform.  If you are a non-smoker too bad because those cigarettes you would have traded will give you sleepless nights, as fellow inmates will be smoking stress out all night long. Visiting time is another moment of sadness because depending on your crime you will be in leg irons and handcuffed to another inmate. And if you don’t believe me ask someone who did prison time in Zimbabwe about the leg irons. If I tell you about the sanitary facilities you may miss your lunch.

Now this is the reason why Okay Machisa cried. He is in prison. His freedom is limited to between meals and bedtime. It breaks one’s spirit; it makes a grown man cry.

Ask the 45 of 2011 they cried too.