Members of civil society, donor agencies and government representatives from various countries converged in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss ways to make the Internet free under the discussion topic “Who Controls the Internet.” Civil society representatives were mainly from African countries and the Kubatana Trust of Zimbabwe was part of the workshop. Global Partners and Associates organized the workshop with support from the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Ford Foundation and Association for Progressive Communication (APC).

Internet as a tool to democratize free speech has come under attack and surveillance especially from authoritarian governments. The race to control the Internet by governments under the disguise of protecting public interest and national security has made civil society realize the need to shape the Internet environment nationally, regionally and globally.

In order to shape the Internet environment delegates at the workshop shared ideas on how to engage governments in policy formulation, which addresses human rights online. The need to sensitize Parliaments was also seen as an effective in making policy makers aware of the changing and demanding environment of the Internet thereby helping them when crafting Internet friendly policies.

The launching of the Freedom Online Coalition in December last year was seen as positive step towards the direction of protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms online. The Netherlands government representative at the workshop explained briefly about how the Freedom Online Coalition works by highlighting that the Coalition is made up of 17 countries across the world committed to promoting Internet freedom. At the launch last year the Coalition also pledged to provide greater support for cyber activists and bloggers under threat. As part of this effort, the United States and the Netherlands committed funds to a new Digital Defenders partnership. Currently the Netherlands government is working in Kenya on a program to make Internet free in that country.

Civil society representatives collaborated on a shared statement covering issues discussed in the three-day workshop covering effective strategies to use across the continent and what other stakeholders can do in the shaping of the Internet environment.

So much about what appears to be glib public statements on zero tolerance to political violence: “An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a since interest in prolonging lives of poultry.” George Eliot, 1866

This is a piece of street art created by Banky depicting a missile instead of a javelin, but it might be erased by the authorities … there’s a ban on graffiti during the Olympics.

More here

The lengthy interview of Welshman Ncube published by Sunday Mail does make the case for bit of reality check for some politicians. When asked his honest opinion about what he sees as prospects for his party in the coming election, if he considers his formation a government-in-waiting so to speak, Ncube threw modesty to the wind and declared he believes he will win.

Look, nothing against any ambitious politician or human being for that matter, but it did highlight many things wrong with all efforts to usher in a truly government of the people without yet another flawed poll that has only spawned collation governments across the mother continent. Afro-pessimists say some irrelevant politicians throw their hats to the ring being only too aware of the possible benefits of being incorporated into the government on some technicality or frivolous claim to represent one region, ethnicity or another.

Welshman’s bitterness is all too palpable in all interviews one reads, and he still considers himself relevant to national politics, perhaps that is one of the reasons why accusations of him being a tribalist always creep into these sit-downs his has with scribes because by asking why he still imagines his relevance it is thought or seen to be ineluctably tied to his belief that there just has to be a chap from Matebeleland in the political scheme of things. But that’s for federalists, regionalists, devolutions to prove at the polls. These things are for some reason always understood that way because Ncube still apparently has to prove his claim of any representation of the people from that region seeing that he himself is not an elected MP or Senator.

He has been asked if he will consider any united front for political parties to come together and battle Mugabe from one corner, and it is only folks who have not followed Welshman’s politics who ask that question in the first place. He still does not have convincing answers as to why he let Mutambara make what was essentially a unilateral decision to back Simba Makoni in the past polls or indeed why Mutambara took the helm at the “smaller faction of the MDC”. By now he knows the old adage that there are no permanent friends in politics, not even permanent interests as Jonathan Moyo has shown. But one thing emerges from all these claims of relevance to national elections not only for Welshman Ncube but also those populist politicians who seem to want to ride on the back of the history of Matebeleland and whip up people’s tribal emotions even, that the people by now know better that the time for splitting votes is long gone, what the country needs, and which Zanu PF is painfully aware of, is a group of people who have relevance to the future of Zimbabwe. And these are politicians who bring to the electorate not stories of perpetual justification why they are engaged in gladiatorial politics and deserve the people’s vote but those whom the Zimbabwean people have no second thoughts investing their time under the scorching African sun to cast their vote as informed by the proverbial bread and butter issues.

For now, in numerous conversations in the streets of Bulawayo, without any pretense to scientific methodologies, questions have emerged if it is at all true that regional representation is an issue for that woman whose kids know not bread with butter, that Ndebele-speaking Nuts university graduate walking the streets as a loafer, that guy right there who for the umpteenth time has been given pairs of shoes by his employer in lieu of his pay cheque. Those are the bread and butter issues.

HARI SREENIVASAN: All right, so if modern-day dictators aren’t using firing squads or kidnappings, what are they doing to stay in power?

WILLIAM J. DOBSON: Well, the modern dictator understands that if you are going to try and keep ahold of your people, you have to use new and different techniques, such as — take, for example, Putin. Putin chooses to send tax inspectors or health inspectors to close down or shutter a dissident group. In Venezuela, laws are written broadly and then used like a scalpel to — against any group that is deemed a threat. The Chinese Communist Party frequently refers to democracy and makes sure that all of its top leaders only serve two terms. There are all sorts of different ways in which regimes are finding how to move and navigate through forces that challenge their regimes that make them appear to be other than what they are.

More here and here

Here’s a press release from ZINASU.

I’d suggest that the GNU isn’t barking up the wrong tree. It is the Wrong tree and it’s Barking mad.

GNU Barking Up the Wrong Tree

The Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) is alarmed that political parties in the GNU have made an ill-advised decision to increase seats in parliament. Whilst there is need for gender equality in all government bodies, parties in the GNU are going about ensuring this in the wrong way.

Currently, the legislature is monolithic in comparison to the size of our country. To add sixty more seats will result in heavy drainage of financial resources that can be channeled towards education, health and other vital sectors.

According to plans for enlarging parliament, 60 female MPs will be seconded by political parties on a proportional representation basis in line with the number of seats the parties would have garnered in elections. This means that these sixty legislators will be MPs with no constituencies. Already the country has over thirty non-constituent MPs in Parliament appointed by the president and heads of political parties in the GNU; to then add sixty more to this number will result in a perversion of the purpose of parliament which is to represent citizens from various constituencies.

If political parties are serious about gender equality they should implement quotas for contesting parliamentary elections in their parties that promote the afore-mentioned notion.

If parties in the GNU persist on including this ill-thought and ill-fated arrangement in the draft constitution it is guaranteed that the latter is seriously going to be mobilized against during the referendum stage.

Noting the absurd and avaricious demands that are made by parliamentarians from time to time and being aware of the huge drain that the financial needs of the current Legislature effects on national coffers, there is no way that ZINASU, can in good conscience allow this plan to proceed.
If the afore-mentioned plan somehow contained provisions for introducing parliamentarians that have a definite capacity to better the quality of legislation and debate in parliament it would have been better.

For if truth be told our parliamentarians are known for propelling some of the most ridiculous arguments, which include among others, advocating for legalization of marijuana, attempting to legislate laws that ensure that women dress shabbily to lessen the preponderance of HIV/AIDS and arguing that men should take drugs that cause them to want less sex as a means of combating the afore-mentioned disease. Given this background, to then superfluously add more parliamentarians into the legislature without ensuring ways in which the quality of their contributions can be enhanced is highly retrogressive.

ZINASU