Free will is a blessing that was endowed to mankind during the creation of the earth and heavens. When God created Adam, he gave authority to take care of all things in any way that Adam sees fit in the eyes of God. This was a free will blessing which should be accepted in all socio-political spheres that men are created in equality to choose what they see fit within the normal bounds of their rights. The normal bounds of my rights have however suffered oppression to fit into the measurement of my authorities’ definition. The burden however is not always easy to bear. I felt suffocation sometimes, and I struggled to appreciate why I was created in full. But now my eyes have seen and I can appreciate that the only measure is to exercise my freedom of will in full up to the extent to which I do not infringe into God’s or someone else’s territories.

Egocentrism has seen loads of restraints being cast on my liberties; to such extent that at one point I was fooled into thinking that I do not deserve some of my virtues.  In fact at one point I actually believed that I did not have freedom of expression. But now I see again and I thank God for the restoration.

Free will is not something that you have to exercise for you to enjoy it.  An anticipatory feeling is enough to give one peace and fullness of life.  Just the fact that I know I can exercise a right when need presents itself is enough for me to say that I am living my life in full.  I will call it intuitive fulfillment.

To celebrate Africa Day we asked our SMS community to send us a slogan; over 1400 slogans later we chose these two: Africa, our Africa. Laugh dictators and oppressors away. Ha ha ha and Africa stop chasing democracy: Ride it! The lucky winners get a cool t-shirt designed by the very talented graphic designer Baynham Goredema. Check out our map of slogans here. We’ve decided to dress up like members of the first family (do the same and send us your photos) when we join the Mugabe’s for lunch on Sunday 2 June at 8.30pm on the SABC3 channel; according to David Smith writing for the Guardian in Johannesburg, this is a surreal glimpse of Zimbabwe’s first family as no one has ever quite seen them before. Before the TV cameras Robert, wife Grace and two of their children declare their love for each other, discuss philosophy and religion, and laugh about the time Grace punched a British photographer. The result is compelling and at times jaw dropping. Some might describe it as car crash television. We found out that Combined Harare Residents Association is running a short survey on pre-paid meters; did you know that there is a statutory instrument, which has been gazetted, which compels ZESA to charge you $300 in arrears for the installation? We heard that the test case of Mildred Mapingure versus the State is before the Supreme Court today at 9am. Mildred Mapingure had child as a result of rape from armed robbers. The case is to sue the state for negligence on the part of state employees who failed to prevent pregnancy when it could have been reasonably prevented and they failed to further take steps to terminate pregnancy. Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association is using International Women Human rights instruments to argue this matter with the hope of creating a favourable precedent in the management and care of Survivors of Sexual Violence. We were proud to hear that Dr. Peter Morgan, a naturalized citizen of Zimbabwe, has been named the 2013 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate for his work to protect the health and lives of millions of people through improved sanitation and water technologies. Several of his most prominent innovations, including the Bush Pump and the Blair Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) Latrine, have been adapted as the national standard by the government of Zimbabwe. Over 500,000 Blair VIP latrines have been built and serve 3 million people in Zimbabwe alone, and many more have been built worldwide. Dr. Morgan also created the ‘Upgraded Family Well’, which now help half a million people improve the quality of water obtained from traditional wells. We watched Josephine Mudzingwa Siziba who moved to North Shields in Tyneside as a refugee 13 years ago give a guy called John some advice on life; although seen as rich by her family in Africa, she and her husband live on the Meadow Well estate, one of the most deprived in Britain. They survive on the minimum wage and work in a number of jobs to support their daughter as well as their extended family. Every month, she sends hundreds of pounds to help her family in Zimbabwe, who call her “Queen Makoti” because of her good deeds. We went to a Harare SPCA dog show and encourage people with a loving heart and space in their home to adopt one of these beautiful animals. We wondered whether greed is indelibly embedded in politician’s DNA as President Uhuru Kenyatta faces salary reform rebellion by MPs. We came across an article which suggests that the African Union as an organisation that reflects the social character of the states composing it, most of which are under authoritarian rulers who cling to power through force and electoral fraud, is ill-equipped to meet people’s aspirations for democracy and social progress. We learned that more than 12 African heads of state and other global leaders met and reviewed progress toward implementing transformative reforms in the AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and malaria responses and pledged to accelerate the pace of change (increase annual domestic funding for health care, particularly AIDS, TB and malaria services). We tested our knowledge and took the Guardian’s Africa Quiz. We were inspired by a pioneering foundation called Femrite that has helped a new generation of Ugandan women tell – or at least record – often harrowing stories of daily life in the country. We met Ben Sanders who travelled the length of Africa using only public transport from Cape Town to Cairo; check out the photos here. We read that a quarter of the world’s children are at risk of under performing at school because of chronic malnutrition according to the UK charity Save the Children. We found out what a week of groceries looks like around the world; Mali and Chad are stark exceptions to excess. And finally, we wondered if you think this is true . . .

Because when something happens, she’s the person I want to tell. The most basic indicator of love. - David Levithan

Hey! Need a job? Want to work in the NGO/development sector in Zimbabwe? Check out the job vacancies below and apply today. If you want to receive regular civic and human rights information, together with NGO job vacancies and other opportunities like scholarships by getting our regular email newsletter, please email join [at] kubatana [dot] net

Country Funding Coordinator/Institutional Funding Officer: OXFAM
Deadline: 31 May 2013

Location: Harare
Contract: 12 months

We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organisation. Women are strongly encouraged to apply.

**NB we are re-advertising this position, those who previously applied need not to apply.

OXFAM Vision
Zimbabwean women, men and children are exercising their rights and accessing dignified sustainable livelihood opportunities within the context of a just, accountable and democratic political, legal and socio-economic environment.

Country Purpose
To significantly reduce poverty, inequality and suffering amongst the poor and marginalised people in Zimbabwe, Oxfam will work with partner organisations on:
-Strengthening local capacities
-Enabling communities and local CSOs
-Meeting humanitarian needs

In addition to developing and supporting the strategic and operational capacity its partner organisations, Oxfam will build alliances and knowledge networks, undertake research analysis to inform decision-making and influence local and global policy makers to facilitate and leverage change.

Team Purpose
-To raise funds for Oxfam’s program in Zimbabwe and effectively manage the funds
-To develop and maintain good quality and consistent relationships with donors
-To lead on contract management: To effectively support program teams to develop and plan concept papers and proposals in accordance with country strategy and donor requirements.

Job Purpose
This is a combination of 2 part time jobs both with different tasks and responsibilities
-To establish, implement and maintain the Oxfam country funding strategy including resourcing for development, humanitarian and policy/advocacy work in order to increase Oxfam income from institutional donors. This includes spotting funding opportunities, targeted donor relationship building and engaging in joint fundraising initiatives across Oxfam affiliates in Zimbabwe.
-To support directly the fundraising plans and efforts of Oxfam Novib through joint and individual funding initiatives.

To Apply
To find out more about this role and to apply online, visit www.oxfam.org.uk/jobs and quote ref: INT6234

Communication and Advocacy Officer: Gays and lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ)
Deadline: 8 June 2013

GALZ invites applications from suitably qualified persons to fill the position of Communication and Advocacy Officer within the association. Position Description Reporting to the Director, the Communications and Advocacy Officer is responsible for creating awareness, developing and disseminating information to the general public, media, government, NGOs and other key players in the field of International development, on critical issues in LGBTI community empowerment in Zimbabwe, in the region and internationally. The Incumbent will be responsible for developing and delivery of GALZ communication, advocacy and media strategies.

Responsibilities
-Working closely with colleagues across the organization to ensure that communications and advocacy targets are met, Ensures marketing of GALZ’s work is effective to our target audiences
-Create new opportunities for partnerships and support
-Create and execute an innovative three-year strategy and annual action plan for communications and advocacy including the organisation’s annual report
-Develop LGBTI information material for different audiences. You will work across the organization to mobilise and align communications, media and advocacy activities to engage the membership, communities, society, and supporters and attract funding
-Represent GALZ at external meetings as required, acting as key liaison with Civil Society, Media, government officials, international agencies and local organisations

Qualifications
-Bachelor’s degree in Communications/Public Relations or relevant field
-Experience in communications, LGBTI rights, human rights, international relations, development or a related field
-At least four (4) years of relevant professional experience, working in communications and advocacy, media, at a national and/or international level preferably in the NGO sector
-Exposure to reporting requirements of donors
-Competence in use of digital and social media tools
-Excellent IT skills

To apply
Interested and qualified candidates who match the profile are invited to submit by email their CV and application to jobs [at] galz [dot] co

Only short listed candidates will be contacted

In pursuit of Robert F. Kennedy’s dream of a more just and peaceful world, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Europe officially launched the RFK International House of Human Rights based in Florence, Italy.  The training center is housed in the Le Murate, which used to be a former prison but recently went through some renovations. It also hosts offices for RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights’ European branch. After going through a major facelift the building still maintains its prison features as a reminder of its past history of torture and other human rights abuses. In an official opening speech by Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, she said that in pursuit of her father’s dream the Center will be a place where digital dissidents will get training from technology experts on how to use technology in promoting human rights.

Specialists from Tactical Technology Collective (TTC), Global Voices Online, OneWorld Digital Security Exchange, Witness.org, Electronic Freedom Frontier and Human Rights Watch shared their knowledge with the first group of digital activists who were selected from various countries including Zimbabwe, Mexico, Pakistan, Myanmar, Philippines and Sri Lanka. The one week training programme focused on adopting the latest technology tools in digital activism, use of social media to promote human rights and also provided a platform to share experiences with other human rights defenders. Coming from different backgrounds human rights defenders at this year’s training session were exposed to the best practices in implementing human rights work and the latest technology tools, which will help transform and overcome the day-to-day challenges of promoting human rights.

What is Zimbabwe’s equivalent?

How Phone Messages Helps Eritrean Revolutionaries
Some have called Eritrea Africa’s answer to North Korea and it is indeed the seemingly most repressive country on the continent. Revolution is practically unheard of and the country’s jails overflow with critics, opponents and dissenters. But you can’t keep liberty down, writes The Economist: for the past two years an expat protest group has been making calls to Eritreans, telling them to “Start asking questions”, or “Don’t take this lying down”. But in order to reach as many people as possible, the campaign recently turned to that most-hated of telemarketing tricks: the RoboCall. Using this automated technology, the group says it is reaching over 10,000 people a month with small but important messages encouraging change in this police state. – Source, MSN

It is always interesting, well, for me at least, that many leaders, African or otherwise, while apparently extolled elsewhere, are often “unwanted” and face harsh criticism in their own countries.

And this has nothing to do with the hiding-being-religion motif of a prophet being unwelcome among his own people. Far from it.

I have been thinking about this in the past few days that when our President was heaping praises on Zambian President Michael Sata for literally feeding Zimbabwe with 150,000 tonnes of maize, university students in Lusaka were protesting, taking to the streets demanding that their “crazy president” resign.

The students were protesting against something that resonates with Zimbabwe’s tertiary education students who however would never dare bum rush the streets in the manner seen in Lusaka.

That was not the end of it.

Jobless youths reportedly joined in the protests demanding jobs, and a comment attributed to one youth summed up the mood: “Let them come and arrest all the young people for speaking out on the wrongs that are beng done by the government. This is a government that has lost popularity so early and we cannot wait to vote them out. They don’t want to listen to people who voted for them and since they have closed their ears, we can take to the streets because that is the language they want to understand.”

One of the accusations leveled against President Sata was that he had become “arrogant and insensitive to the plight of the people.”

And we await here the day when students can get on their soapboxes and speak their minds about their wretched circumstances.

Yet because student activists will tell you there are spooks who sit through lectures pretending to be students, this has crippled any militancy you would expect from an impoverished aspiring academic.

But we read that President Sata’s response was typical of an African leader who is antithetical to the right to protest: LOCK THEM UP, he is alleged to have instructed cops.

That was not the end of the crackdown. Police have in past few days also locked up Zambia’s own protest poets for music critical to Sata.

The offending lyricist when translated went something like: “You were lying ‘Tata’ (old man). You promised cheap fuel; you said you will construct roads but you were lying as people are still sleeping in tunnels.”

We are in good company hey? Thanks for the maize.