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

I find it disturbingly tasteless that even before we hit the half year mark, there are already complaints about the President’s traveling habits.

To make it clear, what I find tasteless isn’t the news people reporting about the First Citizen’s globetrotting, but the First Citizen’s unbridled penchant for travel despite all the criticism over the years.

And because this is the first half the year, imagine then the other half of it. Imagine the First Citizen’s carbon footprint! Talk about money to burn!

An entourage of more than 50 officials to Japan next month, we were informed today and last time in another such jaunt, we are informed the number was somewhere near 100! And the numbers that joined the First citizen to Ethiopia for the African Union commemorations?

We recall that the same President Joyce Banda who has taken our President as her mentor, has previously vowed to cut back on international travel to cushion Treasury from what she saw at the time of her swearing-in as unmitigated profligacy by her predecessor. Interesting ain’t it?

You have to feel pity for the guy holding the nation’s purse whose favourite epigram has become “we eat what we kill.” Really?

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

A question was asked during an election reporting workshop concerning how journalists and civic organisations can report or walk the fine line between bringing knowledge to the people and not attract the wrath of the authorities who have criminalised voter education.

It highlighted the problem many have with the conditions that prevail as the country prepares for elections whereby while political parties are encouraging supporters to vote on one hand, and on the other institutions expected to play a role in ensuring that the same voters make informed decisions being fettered by the threat of imprisonment.

Anyone seeking to make inroads into remote rural areas for example to “educate” voters does that at their own peril, and it has to be queried how then a people known to have no access to radio, TV and newspapers are supposed to participate in processes they have no clue about.

It could well be a replay of the referendum where voters merely followed instructions from their political parties and vote for issues they have no clue about.

And because this is a high stakes poll, we can expect all voters to be denied by the usual suspects all the information they need to make informed decisions.

This buttresses the charge that rural folks are “instructed” or “persuaded” with brute force who to vote for, and we have already read about Jabulani Sibanda “frightening” villagers in Lupane, which is just the beginning of worse things to come.

Common sense would tell you that the period in the run-up to elections provides insight into the credibility of any poll, and Sibanda’s reported actions in rural Matebeleland only serve to cast more doubt into the country’s – or Zanu PF’s seeing that he is a Zanu PF functionary – commitment to creating conditions “ideal for a free and fair election.”

And because these rural constituencies have rather unflatteringly been labeled as “unsophisticated” they are seen as very malleable in the hands of political hoodlums, and it is here where an informed voter can take charge of their political circumstances and indeed political future.

Thus we hear exhortations from some quarters that the rural folks must remain docile and allow themselves to be herded to rallies but make their choices known inside the voting booth!

A famous Tony Namate cartoon back in the 1990s actually has a peasant woman mischievously winking as she puts her “X” on a candidate contesting against Zanu PF, and while such commentary did indeed help magnify the extent of what has become a post-independence millstone around our necks, Zanu PF has still been able to claim the vote, raising questions whether if at all rural folk “vote freely.”

But it’s a debate that will take forever as some have already opined that Zanu PF has never allowed defeat to stand in the way to claim victory!

It thus has become a well-worn cliché that access to information is the bedrock of all electoral processes and democracy, yet we find ourselves doing the same things over, and over but still expecting to get different results.

It is essentially because of this that some of the most vocal people you meet in the street criticizing the status quo go to the pub instead when other citizens join long queues under the blazing African sun to cast their vote!

Another issue to look out for again this year would be the spread of newspapers, which areas they reach as they seek to report about the pre-election climate.

Yet one thing that has precedence is the “outlawing” of certain titles from certain areas where reading a particular paper has in the not-so-distant past been a punishable offence with vigilantes using cudgels on fellow villagers for merely reading a newspaper of their choice.

To an outsider it sounds crazy, but this is what we can expect in the coming months, that is if it is not happening already.

30 April 2013

Harare International Airport

I was given a jolt at the check-in around 1500hrs when some dude said “nah mate we cannot let you through you gotta have a visa.” A flurry of emails between the WPFD organisers, and I’m back by the Internet cafe and the guy comes to me and says, “We have found a way to get around the visa thing. Since you are travelling through Germany you won’t be leaving the airport so, abracadabra, you can travel!”I be like, “Dude, that’s what I was telling you all the time!”

I am sitting at the Harare International departure lounge watching some TV and I’m like what the fuck, shouldn’t we be watching DSTV! But then I soon realize it would be deemed treasonous showing such content at a “strategic national treasure!” Somewhere in the distance I can hear “last night a dj saved my life” blasting from the radio and I be like wow, that gotta be some coincidence. I move to another end where I order a pint of lager and I sit in front of a screen showing BBC news.

Arrived in Zambia shortly after 1900hrs but departure was delayed due to some technical fault in the checking system, the pilot explained. Finally left at 2040 PM for Dubai. Bloody long, 5,793km to be exact … check out the entire diary here

Very fitting for Zimbabwe’s GNU, just replace Washington with Harare: “I once saw a snake having sex with a vulture, and I thought, It’s just business as usual in Washington DC.?” Jarod Kintz