As the world starts to open up its doors to you that is when you realise the importance of learning as many foreign languages as you can. My father spoke three languages and I used to think he was trying to show off, not realising that because of his quest for greener pastures he had to adapt to new environments fast, and being comfortable speaking many languages was essential to job hunting. After learning English in school my belief was I that I could conquer the world not realising that the world doesn’t work like that!

When I was in Firenze recently I went to a restaurant and ate something that I didn’t order. Amongst our group nobody knew how to speak Italian. On the menu there were some English translations but we decided not to order the obvious and went for something different and Italian. I was the first to place my order and the waiter who was serving us also had language challenges. All I could hear from her was “Signo, Poi and Prego”.

Every meal you take in Italy you have to complement it with wine. So whilst I was waiting for my meal I was sitting in front of two bottles, one of red wine and the other of olive oil. I was in Italy to learn not to get knocked in the middle of the day so two glasses were enough for the occasion. By the time the main meal came I thought there was going to be some more coming not realising that I was eating the main course! To me it looked like a starter or something. The order I had placed was in Italian so I got grilled meat in tomato paste. It tasted good but sounded strange to me to eat meat with tomato paste. That’s when I realised that the world works well for you if you master the local language – red meat in tomato sauce could have been avoided if I had managed to read the menu well in Italian! The next time we went to the same restaurant I could see waiters switching so that we got served by the English speaking waiters.

So here I was in the middle of this Italian town that English speaking people prefer to call Florence but actually it should be pronounced Firenze.  One thing I noticed from the day I set foot in this town was the church buildings. If you studied the Roman Empire in school you would know what I am talking about.

This a town where people just love art, art is everywhere. From buildings to the streets and even on the toilet paper I got in my room, art is just part of the day-to-day life in Firenze.

When I was walking around I saw this couple on honeymoon sitting in front of this artist having their picture drawn. They call it caricature.

Its summer in Italy right now so day light time stretches up to 11pm and this kinda affected me so much that I could find myself in the middle of the city after midnight, something I wouldn’t do in Zimbabwe. I would get back to my room around 2 am!

During my stay in Firenze I was living with about 8 friends from different parts of the world. The fear of getting lost was almost to none as the people there were helpful in giving directions and the motorists respect pedestrians so much unlike some places I know – Zimbabwe!

The Herald today reported that 29 political parties, the latest being formed on Monday 13 this week, are asking to be bankrolled by government for their political activities ahead of elections.

Interesting.

29 political parties asking for funding from the fiscus?

And we are only hearing about some of these obscure outfits now, talk about trying to cash in on politics, as if we are not seeing it already from individuals sitting in the Inclusive Government who are resisting primaries!

Ok then let’s take a look at the numbers.

It’s been reported that under the Political Parties Finance Act, the country’s three main political parties, were expected to share USD5 million according to their parliamentary representation.

But according to a ZBC report last month, the parties had received only USD500,000 with Patrick Chinamasa saying they (Zanu PF?) are “putting pressure on Finance Minister Tendai Biti to release the outstanding US$4,5 million.”

Now, seeing that Biti is already failing (or reluctant, depending on your political leanings) to “give” Zanu PF and the two MDCs the remaining USD4,5 million, where the hell is the money for the 29 political parties expected to come from, considering that 29 more can easily emerge from the woodwork in the weeks ahead of these elections?

Perhaps like every vulture that has emerged in our very amoral political landscape, these folks are expecting the largess to come from the diamond manna … why, more diamonds have been discovered in Bikita!

The Herald reported last December that Zanu PF had budgeted USD600,000 for the referendum for its awareness campaigns, lord knows where they got the money from, but the point is, funding any political activity is not for the faint hearted, that is why Zanu PF gets hot under the collar when the MDCs run around across the country using resources whose source Zanu PF desperately wants revealed.

You then have to ask exactly how much are these 29 political parties asking for?

Perhaps they should quietly return to the dustbins from where they crawled, but then it has been whispered that some political parties that always emerge in the run-up to elections are spoilers created by the spooks to muddy the waters for Tsvangirai not to see victory!

So then, it could be these are the same people pushing for the funding of their political outfits, after all, they always know something that we don’t about the nation’s wealth, which apparently is also being kept away from the finance minister.

“The money is there, let’s form a political party,” they whisper.

Check out this public discussion from SAPES Trust:

Media and politics in Zimbabwe public discussion

Southern African Political Economy Series Policy Dialogue Forum

Topic: The media and politics in Zimbabwe: An overview
Date: Thursday 16 May 2013
Time: 5pm – 7pm
Venue: SAPES Seminar Room, 4 Deary Avenue, Belgravia, Harare

Presenter: Trevor Ncube, Chairman of Alpha Media Holdings (AMH)
Chair: Dr I. Mandaza, Executive Chairperson, Sapes Trust

All welcome!

Cost: $10 for non-members. SAPES TRUST Policy Dialogue Forum Membership forms available at entrance.

Feel free to visit our website at www.sapes.org.zw

The Women’s Trust in 2007-2008 ran the Women Can Do It! Campaign, which saw many women contesting Parliamentary seats. The campaign, which ran smoothly and was synonymous with the song, ‘Ndi mai vanogona’ spread to all corners of the country. On the 2nd of May, The Women’s Trust launched the SiMuka Zimbabwe Campaign that encourages women to take part in elections with three main objectives. The campaign wants women to register to vote, to vote and to vote for other women. The campaign’s promotional materials include four different coloured t-shirts, which convey various messages in three languages Shona, Ndebele and English to accommodate every Zimbabwean.

Simuka Zimbabwe is not only for the new voter but for women who have voted during the past elections too. To these women, the campaign encourages them to check that their names still exist in the voters roll. The Director, Memory Kachambwa during the launch clearly pointed out that the campaign has various strategies to target the different women in the country. It is with interest to note that Simuka Zimbabwe is of a dynamic and broad spectrum as it not only encourages voter participation but goes a step further to give a wake call to men and women of Zimbabwe to get up, wake and rise ‘n’ shine.

A booklet is available that empowers women to make better informed decision when voting. The words of founder and Board Secretary Luta Shaba sum up all what Simuka Zimbabwe seeks to achieve, “If you have seen what you want then go and shop for your leader.” The Women’s Trust through their campaign continue to try and develop a critical mass of women who can articulate issues and effect changes.

It’s become all too predictable that each time Zimbabwe approaches an election, arrests of anyone from reporters to politicians to drunks hits the stratosphere, and this year is coming as no surprise.

But there is a disturbingly comical element to it that you have to ask why the cops apparently always sleep on their jobs seeing that some of these “crimes” border on the ridiculous.

For example, we have Tongai Matutu, the MDC-T legislator for Masvingo Central who faces incarceration for allegedly calling Mugabe a dog some eight years ago. Eight years ago? Surely something must be wrong with this picture.

The Ndebele say “icala kaliboli” literally meaning a crime does not rot as comeuppance will be visited on the offender when they have long forgotten about it.

But then, one has to ask why it would take eight long years for the “wheels of justice” to catch up with Matutu if it is not some arcane and nefarious motive in a country already known to punish people who laugh at the presidential portrait?

This is a country where defenders of the Republic readily beat their chests proclaiming a strict observance and adherence to the rule of law, but it’s a cruel contradiction then that for a country that claims to scrupulously uphold the rule of law, the same justice has been very slow in being applied, effectively denying citizens their right to expeditious legal processes! After all, is it not a well-worn aphorism that “justice delayed is justice denied?”

Early in the year, we had Douglas Mwonzora being arrested for having called Mugabe a goblin back in the excitement of 2008.

Mwonzora has also previously faced arrest where he is alleged to have defrauded someone of ZW350million in 2005!

Law abiding and “fair minded” citizens seeking protection from the Attorney General’s office would no doubt ask why these things are happening now and question the competence of that respected office.

Some would proffer that perhaps someone has been sleeping on the job, but that would be incorrigible naivety as we already know it goes beyond the oft claimed backlog of court cases made worse by shortage of magistrates!

Then there is also Chimanimani West MP Lynette Karenyi who was convicted for “holding an unsanctioned meeting” last year. Last year really?

One could go on and on with this, but it does point to the futility of engaging the Cheka in any political jousting and as long as this continues it makes one shudder to think what crimes, real or imagined, will be “excavated” from the vaults to “let them have it” as the elections loom large!

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

Two (2) Community Based Officers: Action Contre la Faim
Deadline: close of business 17 May 2013

Contract: Up to 31 October 2013

ACF is a registered charity, founded in 1979. Action Contre la Faim operates in 41 countries. The international network of Action Contre la Faim is represented in Paris, London, Madrid, New York and Montreal. Teams in the field combat hunger on four fronts: nutrition, food security, health, water and sanitation.

In Zimbabwe, ACF is seeking for two Community Based Officers for projects being implemented in the district of Mberengwa.

Main objectives
-Implement the Community Based Management Approach of WASH Facilities
-Participates in the Implementation of KAP 2 and 3 surveys
-Monitor the activities of the Village Health Workers (VHW) and Community Health Clubs (CHC) following the training & establishment of these community based stakeholders by the selected technical partner
-Organizes the distribution of tool kits and spare part donations

Level of studies and experience
-Diploma in Public/Environmental Health or related field plus minimum of two years professional experience in Community Based Management (CBM) and Participatory Health and Hygiene – Promotion (PHHP) in Government/NGO Sector

Required skills
-Competence in training,
-Organising and implementation of participative approaches in collaboration with the technical partner
-Scheduling of activities
-Good organizational ability
-Excellent Facilitation Skills
-Good knowledge of the intervention areas
-Dynamism & Flexibility
-Strong Computer skills (knowledge of some data analysis packages will be an added advantage)
-Motorbike driving license and riding experience;
-High Communication skills and a team player.
-Ability to interact and work with Government Departments at District Level.

Applicants should clearly indicate the post applied for on the envelope or subject line (for email). Cover letters with up-to-date detailed CVs should be forwarded to the undersigned not later than the Friday 17 May 2013 at close of business.

Please note that the successful candidates will be required to start immediately.

Email applications to: hrdpm@zw.missions-acf.org

Or

The Deputy Human Resources HOD
Action Contre La Faim (ACF)
29 Golden Stairs, Mount Pleasant, Harare
Zimbabwe