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

Eight (8) vacancies: Locally based International organization
Deadline: 31 January 2013

A locally based International Organisation in the democracy and good governance field seeks to fill vacancies that have arisen in their Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare offices.

Regional Co-Ordinator (2 posts)
(Bulawayo and Mutare)

Key Competencies and qualifications
-Dynamic and self-driven individual with an excellent track record of delivery
-He or she must have strong fundraising skills, programme development and financial management competencies to lead the program team
-Articulate and conversant of the socio and economic issues affecting Zimbabwe
-Should be able to manage anti-corruption programmes to address the problems
-Must have at least 2 years managerial experience and at least 1 year NGO experience. Should have sound managerial and people skills
-At least a First Degree in Social Sciences, Politics and Administration
-Must be fluent in written and spoken Ndebele for Bulawayo post only
-Knowledge of other vernacular languages an added advantage
-Clean class 4 drivers licence a must

Legal Officer (2 posts)
(Bulawayo and Mutare)

Key Competencies and qualifications:
-Must have a thorough appreciation of legal issues related to corruption in the country with experience in drafting legal briefs and litigation
-Should have knowledge of Zimbabwean law and the relevant law enforcement agencies
-Minimum LLBS Honours Degree, registration with the High Court and certification by the Law Society of Zimbabwe. A minimum of one year practicing experience
-Must be fluent in spoken and written Ndebele for Bulawayo post only
-Knowledge of at least one or more vernacular language will be an added advantage
-Clean class 4 drivers licence an added advantage

Advocacy Officer (2 posts)
(Bulawayo and Harare)

Key Competencies and qualifications:
-An individual with impeccable oral and written capabilities, must be able to design and coordinate community based and outreach projects
-Ability to conduct community meetings and mobilizing citizens for a cause
-Must possess a minimum qualification of a Degree in Community Studies, Social Development Studies or equivalent
-At least one year working experience in grass roots community advocacy a must
-Must be fluent in written and spoken Ndebele for Bulawayo post only
-Knowledge of other vernacular languages an added advantage
-Clean class 4 drivers licence a must

Legal Assistant (Harare)
Key Competencies and qualifications
-Individual should be able to provide legal advisory services to communities and other relevant groups
-Should also help citizens pursue corruption related complains and suggesting advocacy for broader reform
-Ability to conduct community meetings and mobilizing citizens for a cause
-Should have impeccable oral and written capabilities
-At least a Degree in Law with one year working experience or at least 2 years internship experience
-Knowledge of at least 2 vernacular languages a must
-Clean class 4 drivers licence an added advantage

Administrative Assistant (Harare)
Key Competencies and qualifications
-Minimum Diploma in Business Administration /Institute of Administration Diploma (IAC)
-Must have at least 2 years NGO working experience
-Must have good interpersonal skills
-Must be computer literate and very proficient with the Microsoft Office Suite of Packages
-Must have proven event management experience and skills
-Must be very resourceful and quick to learn
-Must be able to work under pressure and with minimal supervision.

Application Process
Interested persons should submit your current CV, an application letter indicating the position being applied for, and your current salary to the Recruitment Officer on or before the 31st of January 2013.

Please do not apply for more than one post. All applications should be directed to recruitmentzimbabwe [at] gmail [dot] com

Please note that only short listed candidates will be contacted.

I don’t know about you, but when I think about the water that isn’t in my tap more often than it is, the potholes which have become craters that stretch across the width of our roads, and the fact that rubbish is collected sporadically, not weekly or on schedule, I wouldn’t rate Harare’s services Average. But in a recent performance review of the City of Harare, the Combined Harare Residents Association scored the City a C, on a scale of A-F.

But a C sounds high, when the report card breaks down as follows:

-    Water: “The Harare City council failed to efficiently and effectively provide water to the bulk of Harare’s suburbs in 2012.”
-    Infrastructure: “Not much has been done to deal with the state of our roads despite efforts being made to deal with the issue of potholes mainly in the Central Business District.”
-    Housing: “The housing backlog of council remains pregnant with at least one million people waiting to be allocated land.”
-    Health: “Health delivery has been generally good mainly due to the affordability of the services at community level.”
-    Refuse collection: “Refuse collection has general been good considering that council has been able to procure more refuse collection trucks.”
-    Budget formulation: “The budget formulation process remains as one that is shallow and lacks credibility.”
-    Financial management: “How finances are run in council remains a secret of the technocrats.”
-    Human resources: “The 2011 human resource audit reveals that there are more than 300 ghost workers on the council’s payroll but nothing has been done.”

So. Fail, do not much, keep a backlog, delivery a few things well enough, manage your money secretively and keep ghost workers on the payroll, and you get a C? Low standards overstate Harare City performance? Have we been so traumatized by years of F*-grade service delivery, that we’ll be so grateful for sub-par performance we’ll still call it average?

It was about time we did something different so I booked a table for two at La Fonteine. I sent a text to my dinner date confirming arrangements and she asked what the dress code was. I said “chic grunge”. Then, thinking about the 5 stars that Meikle’s is meant to have, I swiftly sent another text; “more chic than tat.” She turned up in impressive high heels, silver and shimmery. She got taller, I felt shorter. Thank God they were hard to walk in because they were soon ditched for sneakers. On our way to dinner I asked her how long since she’d been into the city at night. HIFA she said. We had a pre dinner drink in the Can Can Bar. The cocktail list is extensive and in a voice infused with doubt, I asked Wellington, the barman, whether he could make All the cocktails so temptingly advertised. In our very Zimbabwean way he said yes but not all. I played it safe and asked for a Cosmopolitan. At the Can Can it’s made with apple juice instead of cranberry juice. It took Wellington a full five minutes to convince me that This Would Be OK; in fact it’s even better than the usual way he said. And it was. I ended up having three. My date settled on an Old Fashioned. She winced when she had her first sip. I told Wellington that this was a good sign. She had two. I sat back and listened to some poetry that materialised out of my companion’s back pocket. She shared a poem by Barbara Ras; you can’t have it all, but there is this. Dinner menus were brought to us at the bar. There was a choice between a set menu or a la carte. Luke, one of the most gracious waiters I’ve ever met, said it would be fine to have a starter from one menu and a main from the other. Flexible restaurants rock! The starters we chose; mushroom soup and salmon pate with prawn toast, were faultless. We both chose the same main course, slow cooked lamb with an aubergine sauce. Again, the food was fabulous. The only down side was the insipid crème brule and the very weak and uninspired cappuccinos. The Can Can Bar and La Fonteine are well worth a visit. Compared with other restaurants in Harare its way ahead of the game and a visit won’t break the bank. You’ll also experience the best service in town. And if you’re worried about the safety of your car, you get free parking in the Meikles Hotel guarded car park. I’ll be back sooner rather than later especially if the pianist adds Fly Me To The Moon to his repertoire.

I am standing at the checkout at TM. My groceries waiting for someone else’s groceries to go through the till. And someone in the queue behind us is talking on his cell phone. As they will do. Loud and strong, as if they were in the privacy of their office. But we can all hear! The conversation is about that “den of iniquity”, the CMED, (he used to work there), where he has a ‘deal’ going on to get a part for a vehicle, which is hard to get, but through them he can get it at a ‘good’ price.

He continues that what is good for him is what counts. He used to work there, they used him, he deserves, and they are his contacts. What is more, every body does it anyways. He has got to – to survive. Compete in this world. Feed his family.

Corruption is a system. He knows this. If no one bought the stolen goods, they would not be stolen.

So next time you hit a pot hole (easily done since it has rained every day since Christmas,  and the storm drains have not been cleaned since…, so the water stays on the road), think of this man. It is his fault. He is a major player in the corruption system. Open and honest (enough to tell all of TM!). And it is the corruption system that ensures that CMED cannot service vehicles, which means than no one gets to the site to repair potholes.

In it’s simplest form.

In the larger form – by loudly, brazenly, with all the excuses in the world – he is the disease that is corruption. Perhaps not it’s only face, but as guilty as anyone else involved, and therefore he is the reason, the filth, the evilness, the scum, that keeps the potholes on our roads (and many other evils).

Last Saturday I popped into a pharmacy at about 815am and the saleswoman was drinking a can of Red Bull. Where do you go from there I thought.

Then I went into Spar which has opened up just next to Pick and Pay – go figure. Spar didn’t have any decent milk so I went to Pick and Pay. Maybe that’s why we’re seeing supermarkets mushroom all over Harare – shopping can be a bit of a hunt and peck affair. In Pick and Pay the cashier seemed weighed down by the new year just a few days in.

Later on I went for a walk in the Botanical Gardens. Good value for money but better get in quick I reckon before our local authorities give the go-ahead to build another shopping mall on some free land. We walked down to the National Parks offices like we did the day before. On our way a red Camry stopped and a man in it asked us where we were going to which we replied we’re turning around in the car park. He appeared to work at National Parks, given his officiousness. He told us to “get out”. Nice. There’s no sign that says no entry. There’s no sign that says anything. When tourists come to Zimbabwe some of them walk in the Botanical Gardens, what a nice welcome that would have been. We were two Zimbabweans, what a nice way to treat us.