It is interesting that politicians will say anything they imagine will win them the people’s vote.

Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube is quoted in The Herald telling a rally that “the Gukurahundi should not be used to block the revolutionary party’s (Zanu PF) efforts to bring development to the people of Matebeleland.”

That would be laughable if it wasn’t reference to an event some have labeled genocide.

“I know most of you are still grieved by the past events. This is painful but we must discuss it. If you elect us we will talk to the Government and solve this issue,” Tshinga Dube pleaded.

I wondered if Moses Mzila-Ndlovu was listening.

Indeed politicians take people for granted and the very fact that Dube actually said once elected into parliament he would engage government on this matter smacks of the condescending attitude that has become the hallmark of politicians claiming to have answers for problems unique to Matebeleland.

To his credit however, Dube did acknowledge that “people are not happy and of course we cannot just say it is over.” But then that’s exactly what the minister of defence has always insisted: Gukurahundi is over, deal with it!

This morning I went to get my national ID so, eventually, I can register to vote, however this is easier said than done. Outside Market Square there are long lines of people, some had been there since 9 o’clock the night before, sleeping on cardboard boxes outside the office – just to get basic documentation!

The actual process only takes about 5 minutes per person; they take a picture, your fingerprints, and ask you to sign some papers, then you are done! Yet you still have to queue the entire day for those few simple processes. It seems an unfair waste of people’s time and energy.

Possibly the hardest is for people trying to get birth certificates. There are dozens of women with new born babies tied to their backs, standing in these horrendously long queues just to get a simple piece of paper for their babies. It is not so bad for families who can support and help each other, but single mothers really have it hard. Opposite me were two mothers, both with tiny babies, they had a friend with them to help, but to sit in that queue, on the dirty benches for hours on end with a child that young is unfair and insulting to the new mothers. If anyone should get privileges, it should be the mothers with their children, who are already suffering from post maternal stress, and need to rest, rather than stand in the cold for the whole day.

Zimbabwe continues to be the destination of choice for refugees fleeing the troubled Great Lakes region, says the UNHCR, and this is because many of the refugees believe Zimbabwe to be a peaceful country where they can easily assimilate.

Refugees from the Great Lakes region remember Zimbabwe from its participation in the second DR Congo war back in the late 1990s.

This came to light during a talk by Ron Mponda, the UNHCR Zimbabwe Senior Legal Advisor to commemorate World Refugee Day in Harare.

There are presently around 7,000 refugees in Zimbabwe, with the majority of them coming from the DRC, while others come from countries such as Burundi, Rwanda and Somalia.

Mponda explained that not all refugees are confined at Tongogara Camp in Chipinge as some can be found in Harare and Bulawayo where they have assimilated and have jobs.

Part of that assimilation has seen some being employed in Ministry of Justice for example where skilled refugees are working as lawyers. Mponda some says are also working in the Ministry of Health as doctors.

Since Zimbabwe got its independence in 1980, thousands of people fleeing civil war in their respective countries have landed here, and it is interesting that Mponda explained that under international law refugees are afforded the same rights as locals such as the right to universal access to primary education.

And indeed out of tribulation comes triumph. Mponda explained that students at the Tongogara Refugee Camp are some of the brightest in the country as shown by their pass rate, and this at a time some government schools are recording abysmal results!

It is sad however that the UNHCR says it continues to receive unaccompanied minors deported from South Africa, and this has become a major highlight of the plight of Zimbabweans living in SA.

It must be an unfathomable decision for anyone to abandon one’s flesh and blood and a minor at that so that the parent can continue their illegal stay in a foreign country.

Yet it does foreground the tough choices some are forced to make, all based on economic survival.

I still find it ironic that the popular refrain for many is that all the toiling humankind does is ultimately for their children, and unaccompanied minors continue being deported?

It’s always tough trying to understand people’s personal circumstances but as Mponda said, being a refugee is not an easy life, and Zimbabwe’s own economic refugees certainly know this only too well.

This year’s refugee commemorations were held under the theme “*1 refugee family without shelter is too many*.”

UNHCR reports that there are 45.2 million refugees worldwide, which is an 18-year high.

In Syria alone for example, the UN says the civil war has produced a staggering 1,5 million, and these are people living under tents and some in the open exposed to the elements.

The UNHCR says “if the number of people fleeing the Syrian conflict continues to increase at such a rate every 10 weeks there will be more 3.5 million Syrian refugees, or 15% of total population of Syria, by the end of the year.”

In Africa, there are “more than one million Somali refugees in the East and Horn of Africa and some 1.36 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Somalia, the country remains at the centre of one of the worst humanitarian crises UNHCR has faced.”

And we only have to recall the treatment the Somalis have received from South Africa and the xenophobic attacks they have endured, never mind all claims that refugees should under international law enjoy all protection from their host country.

A participant in the Mponda talk asked if the UNHCR was looking for the root causes of the refugee crisis in the first place than merely trying to deal with assisting them and it was a telling question about African politics and the quest for power at all costs.

Solving conflict is certainly one area the UN in its 68 years of existence has been found wanting.

Recently, in Washington, it was ruled that human genes may not be patented. This is a huge step forward in genetic research, as it will disallow privatisation of information on important genetic studies. This court case was mainly concerned with the company Myriad Genetics, which in the 90s, won two patents on the human genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, which if varied can significantly increase breast and ovarian cancer risk. This patent allowed them to offer an exclusive test at high prices (over $3000). However, with the new court ruling, others will be allowed access to the information and therefore allow further research and cheaper tests for cancer risks.

Whilst this is a huge step forward for genetics research, it seems ridiculous that these large companies can have so much control over our very make up, and that they can control and sell important knowledge. It seem unfair how they claimed a patent on something they did not make (as it is natural human DNA) and then charge ludicrous prices for a test, especially as most of their data which allowed them to discover the genes came from the public database.

Yet the battle for the research is not over. Although the patent has been removed, there are still problems with access to the data as the company holds it as a trade secret. These kinds of closed policies in the pharmaceutical field are really slowing down valuable research, which could save lives, all for the need for profit.

Zimbabwe makes a very bad case of state enterprises and parastatals that are in the habit of casually dismissing any financial obligations that accrue to them because of their negligence.

ZESA is a very bad case in point.

An alarming number of cases have arisen where Zimbabweans minding their own business have been left scarred for life after coming into contact with live electricity cables the victims say were very negligently left exposed by ZESA personnel.

A recent case is one of a 10-year old who is said to have been left badly disfigured after being electrocuted by live ZESA cables that had been left exposed.

The young lad who is said to have been an athlete, soccer player and a traditional dancer at school had his left hand amputated after the incident which occurred on October 30, 2011.

He also lost two toes on his left foot and four toes on his right foot.

He is claiming USD60,000 which I still think is paltry considering that he has been maimed for life.

In other highly litigious countries, he could have “easily” claimed millions, but what does Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) say?

“In response, ZETDC pleaded with the court to dismiss the application, arguing there was no link between Zesa cables and its firm. ZETDC is a separate and distinct legal persona; defendant on this basis denies any liability. Any assistance rendered was for an accident involving the defendant and was made on compassionate grounds,” ZETDC said,” according to the news report.

But this not the first such case and it has come to typify how our public enterprises deal with issues of compensation for their brazen negligence.

In early June of this year, it was again reported that a Banket farm worker who was electrocuted by naked ZESA cables in 2010 was still struggling to get her compensation.

The woman who had her left hand amputated and her eyesight affected by the electrocution told a local daily that “although she had approached the power utility seeking $30 000 compensation for her injuries, she had not yet been paid “a single cent”.”

A medical report says about the woman: “Long-term complications are post electrical burns syndrome, which include cataracts, seizures and chronic pain. Left below elbow amputation will result in permanent disability, phantom limb pain.”

And she is yet to get a cent?

In May this year, it was reported that a man who had been electrocuted in Zvishavane had sued ZESA subsidiary Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) for USD80,000 after coming into contact with exposed ZESA cables in 2010.

A news report puts ZETDC’s response this way: “ZETDC, however, hit back on Mavenga’s claims and said it was not negligent in any way since its power lines are constantly maintained. ZETDC further said no report of a broken power line had been made. The Plaintiff (Mavenga) was negligent in failing to keep a proper lookout whilst using a footpath that was close to the power lines,” ZETDC said in its papers.”

Where is the responsible minister to stop all this nonsense?

And then when people boycott paying their bills, ZESA cries foul!