Corruption in Zimbabwe has now reached the grass roots; this simply means that even a new ZRP recruit who just earned his blue uniform to be a neighbourhood watch now knows that the only way to make a living is to squeeze the life out of other people’s pockets. A few days ago I hinted to my friend that our country is fast becoming a little Nigeria, the culture of corruption that was instilled in us from the top will only be an inheritance that we will forcibly pass on to our children and theirs.

Instead of fighting corruption, the politicians have spent much of their time preparing threatening well dressed speeches and planning how to fight corruption without active resolve. The president has during the last five years been making threats to stamp out corrupt ministers. We have rallied behind him in such efforts, the Anti graft commission has on the other side fed him with a vast amount of information to vaccinate and pacify his cabinet of corruption but we are still waiting for the time his ministers finish pursuing that function, maybe after that we will see action.

Thabo Mbeki at one point provided him with detailed information involving corrupt Zimbabwean ministers and ANC members. Press reports said names and amounts of demanded kickbacks were provided and the president even confirmed that but up to now we have not seen action to show commitment to free our country of this bondage. Some have taken the current rants on Goodwill Masimirembwa as a sign that the president is willing to fight corrupt government officials. Still we have to realise that sacrificing our allies when they become expendable is not fighting corruption. This has always happened in the past that whenever a government official falls out of his master’s grace, he becomes a sacrificial lamb.

I renew my support again today in fighting the scourge of corruption in Zimbabwe before it eats our dignity out. Unnecessary immunities to face justice among some ministers and oligarchs in our country should be lifted and the anti corruption bodies should be allowed to execute their duties without repression or fear of persecution. Corruption is fought by structures and procedures which are designed to bring good governance rather than speeches, sacrifices and threats.

According to the International Center for Research on Young Women the world’s youth population currently stands at 1.1 billion and 85 percent of these young people live in poor countries.  As the youth population continues to grow not much is being done to integrate young minds into the development of their countries.

Socially entrenched attitudes have relegated youths to mere spectators of development in their respective countries and recently young people have resorted to engaging in protests to seek redress from governments. The only time young people’s contribution to society is valued is when politicians look for support during elections. Many young people have been used as foot soldiers in unleashing violence in the communities they live in. Young people’s voices continue to be suppressed as they lack representation in decision making at the highest level. The appointment of a new cabinet in Zimbabwe is a good example of how the young generation continues to be sidelined in decision-making.

Year in and year out Zimbabwe continues to churn out graduates from various colleges but most of these young minds end up on the streets or cross borders to do menial jobs in neighboring countries. Some people may blame our education curriculum for not doing much in helping young people who are not gifted academically but talented in other fields. A high literacy rate with the backdrop of high unemployment figures calls for debate as to whether these young people and educated men and women are lacking technical skills for them start something of their own?

The recent Food For Thought debate session hosted by US Embassy Public Affairs section brought together young panelists from various backgrounds to share experiences and the way forward in creating opportunity for young people in Zimbabwe. A presentation by Chiedza Gadzirai of the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe highlighted that sport has contributed a lot of social and economical benefits to a lot of young people in Zimbabwe.

Masimba Kuchera of the Center for Disability and Development gave an example of how government in Kenya managed to create opportunity for youth through the formation of an i-Hub where young people meet to share opportunities and ideas in the information technology sector. As a young person born with visual impairment Masimba lamented government’s failure to give adequate support to people living with disabilities. The low priority status given to programmes targeted at disabled people has resulted in many failing to participate fully in the development of the nation. Glanis Changachirere founder of the Institute for Young Women’s Development reiterated the fact that the playing field can only be level when young people are accorded an opportunity to represent themselves in decision making at top level.

President Mugabe noted that the economy was facing numerous challenges characterized by declining production levels, high production costs, company closures and high unemployment level. The government will therefore prioritize sustained economic recovery and growth and in particular the implementation of pro-poor economic policies. – Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust newsletter on the First Session Eighth Parliament

Elections in Zimbabwe came and left so many unanswered questions diffusing victory celebrations for those who won. Every political party engages in elections to win and sometimes the result is not always a favorable one especially when the playing field is biased. Whilst losers lick their wounds and go on soul-searching missions, victors embark on a difficult task of fulfilling election promises. The benefits of winning an election are you doing what you want in your own time even when it harms the nation.

International observers endorsed the recently held election and this has raised questions as to whether the Zimbabwe problem had become a burden for far too long for the regional bodies. At the same civil society in Zimbabwe failed to expose the irregularities in a compelling way to the international community. The blame cannot rest on the shoulders of the civics alone; key political players in the inclusive government had a critical role to play in ensuring, for example, a clean voters roll and the fulfillment of a variety of reforms before engaging in elections. The “participate and protest later” strategy adopted by opposition political parties saw ZANU-PF reigning supreme.

The outcome of the just ended election provides an opportunity to reflect on the role of civil society in Zimbabwe. As calls and accusations of election rigging quickly die a natural death, the new political dispensation offers a great opportunity for success to those who failed in the last election as compared to those won. Of late civil society organizations have been accused of being political appendages to certain political parties. Civil society in Zimbabwe is being criticized for failing to push for a peoples’ agenda. Principles and benchmarks were abandoned during the run up to the July 2013 Harmonized election as some members of civil society became aligned to certain political parties.

At a lively debate dubbed “July 31 Election Outcome: Challenges and prospects for democratization in Zimbabwe” hosted by the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute in Harare panelists from civil society reflected on the just ended election and strategies of moving on as a genuinely people driven movement. Instead of spending time antagonizing over the outcome of the elections civil society was urged to utilize the new space created to regroup, organize and engage the new government in order to reclaim its rightful place in the Zimbabwean political landscape.

FES Youth Leadership Training: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
Deadline: 16 September 2013

The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Zimbabwe, a non-profit making, public interest institution, is offering leadership training for young adults. The training will target young leaders with proven social, civic and political interests and abilities from political parties, trade unions, civil society organisations and youth organisations.

Women are particularly encouraged to apply.

The training shall provide young leaders from the full political spectrum of Zimbabwe with leadership skills and the opportunity for political networking. This process will run for about 8 months.

FES will meet the actual training for the selected participants while any other associated costs will have to be borne by the participants. No sitting allowances or per diems will be paid.

Interested candidates should fulfill the following criteria
1. Between 20-35 years of age
2. Team player
3. Proven political and social interests
4. Ability for political analysis and knowledge of political developments in the country
5. Be part of the programme throughout the whole training period

To apply
Please send your CV, and a half page justification why you should participate in the training to the following email address: info [at] fes-zimbabwe [dot] org

I have a friend of mine, a very sensible man who loves his country Zimbabwe very much.

A few years ago he left the country to pursue further studies abroad, made frequent visits back home and always talked about returning to work here, explaining that living in a foreign land was just too much for him.

Not an unusual story for many Zimbabweans scattered across the globe.

So this buddy of mine made that visit back home again in time for the July 31 elections which he says this was an opportunity for him to contribute towards voting for something that would give him the hope of returning to his motherland so long yearned for.

We met again after the “official” results were announced and his dejection was palpable.

“I’m buying a one way ticket back to Europe,” he said to me.

“I do not see any reason to come here anyone,” he said, expressing what he said was a common sentiment from Zimbabwean colleagues abroad who had kept in touch with him to follow the July 31 poll.

The colleagues keeping a pulse on developments back home were just as dejected.

It was nothing new really: the same reasons that had made them leave the country were only being extended now, they figured, deflating all the verve they ever had about very voluntary repatriation of the kind preached by Marcus Garvery.

Imagine anyone vowing they will never return to their homeland as long as so-and-so is alive?

Even in villages as we know them this said a lot about the individual so despised, but the that’s what this country has become.

It’s heart-rending stuff because these are folks who have mothers and fathers still alive in Zimbabwe, siblings, nieces, nephews they will only see on the day they have to fly in for a relative’s funeral.

Nothing new there, yet the fact that they had expected a homecoming of sorts only serves to re-ignite and re-imagine the misery of Zimbabwe’s Diaspora.

Some guy left for South Africa in the late 1980s only to return back to Bulawayo more than a decade later, and when he saw a teenager who was always hanging around in the house excitedly shadowing him he asked: “Who is this guy?” He was told: “He is your younger brother, you left when he was four!”

These are stories that have shaped the narratives of many families in the past 15 or so years, and while the anecdote above is based on a chap who left long before the chaos of post-2000, it is a story that has poignant resonance for many, including the “educated” guy who years for that return home but asks himself: “if I got back to Zimbabwe, am I going to be able to purchase a descent home, a descent car, is there anything called mortgage in my country,” yet he is part of millions who have been told that no one forced them out of the country, that they are always free to come back.

It is then understandable within that context at least why Zimbabweans living outside the country will never in their lifetimes be “allowed” to vote because as the friend based in Europe illustrated, they are eager to come back home and settle, work for their country but only when there are clear signs that there is a government that is equally interested in improving people’s lives.

These are apparently simple requests made even by those who have remained in the country amid all the chaos and deeply are concerned about, yet find denied the most basic of human rights: food, clothes and shelter despite all the rhetoric of creating a better life for all. Only the ALL in this regard has firmly remained THEM.

I found myself musing about these things recalling about what has happened in my life in the past few months.

One of those moments was when I got an opportunity to travel across the globe, and when I returned an in-law said to me: “Ah why did you return, given half the chance I would never come back.”

So it is that as I reflect about the future, the guy who said to me he is buying a one-way ticket back to Europe is not alone after all: ordinary struggling Zimbabweans would leave given the opportunity.

Me? Well I’m sure sticking around.

It’s a tough life.