Last week my neighbourhood experienced a massive electrical fault.  It was caused by a young man who was attempting to steal oil from a ZESA sub-station.  He got electrocuted in the process, was badly burnt and triggered an explosion that disrupted power supply to many homes.

I’m told that this chap was not more than 25 years in age and bizarrely, he only had one arm.  What could possibly lead a crippled person to do something that precarious, risking his remaining limbs and his whole life?  I know that there are millions in dire poverty in this country but it is only a few that would do something that dangerous.  I could only put it down to desperate times driven by the type of thoughtlessness that typifies youthfulness.

Apart from their rashness, youth are also known to be naively idealistic, wanting and claiming honesty, prone to personal selfishness and constantly questioning the status quo.  Used constructively, some of these attributes have seen youths all over the world revolutionise people’s thoughts, societal norms and entire systems of government.

And what of Zimbabwe’s young people?

History places them at the forefront of the fight against real and imagined colonial oppression. Modern policy states that our youth are the beneficiaries of the country’s wealth. Reality shows that this demographic has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS, unemployment and substance abuse.

So what is my point?  Zimbabwe’s youth are characteristically not much different from their peers around the world; so foolish acts (executed clumsily with one arm) can be expected.  However, whilst our youth brim with energy and potential, they lack outlets to constructively direct these.  And this is by no means a result of their doing.

The responsibility lies with their elders who have spread intergenerational infections, held onto power and position, unfairly distributed land and other resources.  The youth have been denied their chance to grow, to lead and to shine.  So yes, without opportunities, youth is wasted, and it is wasted by those who should have guarded the future.  And under these circumstances the young do what they do to earn a living and to keep themselves occupied.

Full page advert in The Standard newspaper on 13th March 2011:

ATT: Honourable Minister P. Chinamasa
Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs
New Government Complex
Block A 6th Floor

Dear Minister Chinamasa

We write to your attention the fact that Dr. Munyaradzi Gwisai, Hopewell Gumbo, Welcome Zimuto, Antonator Choto, Tendai Mambeyarara and Edison Chakana are being held unjustly in Zimbabwe’s remand prison. The 6 were unjustly arrested while conducting a meeting at the International Socialist Organisation, in which developments in North Africa were shared verbally and visually on the 19th of February 2010, and have been incarcerated since. This group is now charged with treason, which as you know is a serious crime carrying he death penalty. We demand that the 6 be released urgently for the following reasons:

·    The 6 have been incarcerated long enough to allow the prosecution to conduct investigation, and now they are unjustly being denied of their freedom.
·    The charges are frivolous and it is clear to us that watching videos and discussing political developments elsewhere do not constitute a crime.
·    Our constitution allows the freedoms of association and assembly which they were exercising at the time of their arrest.
·    Democracy is not treason.

We would like to protest the subjection of Dr. Munyaradzi Gwisai and his co-accused to inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment at the hands of the police while in custody.

This matter deserves your urgent attention, because justice delayed s justice denied.

Yours Sincerely

Concerned Zimbabweans

Dr. Gwisai and 45 others Detention Timeline

19 February 2011: Dr. Munyaradzi Gwisai and 45 others arrested while watching a video and discussing protests in Egypt and Tunisia. Amongst the 45 are people living with HIV and AIDS, diabetics, students and economic justice campaigners.
19-23 February 20011: Accused held with no access to lawyers, medical  attention and running water.
23 February 2011: The 46 formally charged with treason (a crime that carries the death penalty in Zimbabwe), and make their first court appearance.
24 February 2011: Defence Lawyers, raise concerns around torture and denial of medical attention for the ill, or legal counsel for the group.
Monday the 7th March 2011: Magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi, releases 39 of the 45 due to lack of evidence. Dr. Munyaradzi Gwisai, Hopewell Gumbo, Welcome Zimuto, Antonator Choto, Tendai Mambeyarara and Edison Chakana remain in custody.

Our Appeal
Dr. Gwisai and his 5 colleagues remain in custody for a crime they did not commit or for which they have not been found guilty. We urge you to join the campaign to have the six innocent people freed. You can do so by signing the letter above, cutting it and sending it out to the Minister of Justice. You can also sign an online petition at www.freethemnow.com and be sure to attend their next month court appearance on Wednesday 16 March 2011.

·    Justice delayed is justice denied
·    Democracy is not treason
·    Today its Dr Gwisai, tomorrow it could be you

Help free Dr Gwisai and his 5 colleagues. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. An injury to one is an injury to all!!

Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs
Hon Patrick Chinamasa
Government of Zimbabwe
New Government Complex
P. Bag 7751, Causeway
Harare,
Zimbabwe
Fax: 00 263 4 790901
Salutation: Dear Minister

The Attorney General
Johannes Tomana
Government of Zimbabwe
P. Bag 7714, Causeway
Harare ,
Zimbabwe
Fax: 00 263 4 777049
Salutation: Dear Attorney General

HE Mr Gabriel Mharadze Machinga
Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe
Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe House,
429 Strand,
London WC2R 0JR,
United Kingdom
Telephone:00 44 207 836 7755
Faxes:00 44 207 379 116
Email:zimlondon@yahoo.co.uk

I’ve been watching the first season of Sex and the City and, despite season one being more than ten years old, the money-power-sex issue is still one that goes unresolved.

In an episode titled the Power of Female Sex, the girls have the following conversations:

Samantha: Women have the right to use every means at their disposal to achieve power. Miranda: Short of sleeping their way to the top. Samantha: Not if that’s what it takes to compete. Charlotte: But that’s exploitation! Samantha: Of men, – which is perfectly legal. Carrie: So, you advocate a double standard. Women can use their sexuality to get ahead whenever possible, but men should not be allowed to take advantage of it? Samantha: No, I’m just saying that men and women are equal-opportunity exploiters.

Samantha: What are you getting so uptight about? I mean, money is power. Sex is power. Therefore, getting money for sex is simply an exchange of power.

Men have the money, women give sex in exchange for money, who has the power?

Yesterday I attended a presentation on Human Security by Farai Maguwu, a Zimbabwean human rights activist.

Over the years, many states have focused their security strategies on defending and protecting their nation through the use of the military. In Zimbabwe the defense Ministry has done exceedingly well in this regard, considering we have never been attacked by any state since independence. However, the blueprint surrounding the word security has since embraced a new aspect, which is human security. Human security expresses the basic needs of an individual in terms of secure systems of education, health, shelter and job structures.

Thus the ‘security’ that nations should provide for their citizens should go a long way beyond having safe borders to protect the nation at large to having individuals needs met within that secure environment. Human security in Zimbabwe is dilapidated. This is evident in the number of Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora who have failed to get a job in their own country, who have failed to get medical health care, who seek better education systems and whose freedom of expression has been violated. It is also evident from the number of street kids we having living in the streets, who have failed to secure a shelter over their head, a basic birth certificate (which is a right), education, and food to mention a few examples.

I personally fear that one day I might fall ill and fail to pay for my medical bills. Student at universities fear not getting a job after completing their studies. Pupils in schools,, both primary and secondary, fear that one day their parents will wake up to tell them there is no money in the house to pay for their fees or examination fees. The internally displaced communities and a majority of citizens have failed to put a roof over their heads. This, like the presenter put it, will lead to structural violence which he defined as the slow death of an individual through being deprived access to basic material needs.

What measures should we undertake as a nation to make Zimbabwe secure?