After the signal blackout by the South African Broadcasting Corporation the free to air decoders acquired by most Zimbabweans are now symbolic and a reminder of what used to be an alternative source of entertainment. Recently I was watching a debate on ZBC’s “Melting Pot” and I expected to see a pot really melting with some lively debate but my expectations were a bit high. The debate turned out to be a rehearsed and a one sided event with in-between citation of a certain political party’s manifesto which I am sure by now viewers can now sing every word by heart. The show anchor actually did not even shy away from showing his party allegiance to an extent that one would have mistook him for a campaign manager of a certain political party. My previous dealing with shows like these would be remote in hand, flipping channels on my free to air decoder or settling my dollar for two movies from the streets.

I am not alone in this fix. The signal cut off by SABC has affected Zimbabwe’s generation of young viewers who had fallen in love with dramas and soaps from down south. Our own local production companies tried to lure young audiences with locally produced dramas and soap operas but the story line ended up getting tired and boring like the actors. The recycling of the usual actors was a big turn off to young viewers especially when our local television is competing with the youth targeted and fast paced programming from SABC and other digital satellite broadcasting stations. The reason why most Zimbabweans preferred to invest in the free to air decoders is they got tired of Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s programming and monopoly of the airwaves. Also DSTV subscriptions are just too exorbitant.  How to do you expect to compete for viewers when programs like “Madzinza eZimbabwe” and some Korean documentaries with subtitles are aired during prime time viewing when SABC offers programs like Isidingo and Generations? Neither would one expect to watch a repeat of  ‘Talking Farming” after a long day at work.

But since I’m still searching for an the alternative here is my Friday prime time fix from ZBC-TV & Channel 2:

1730-1830 – NHAU/INDABA
1830-1930 – WOZA FRIDAY
1930-1931 – NEWS HEADLINES
1931-2000 – REVELATIONS
2000-2100 – NEWS HOUR
2100-2115 – ZANU PF – THE MANIFESTO
2115-2145 – MA 1 EP 03
2145-2300 – FRIDAY NIGHT ACTION MOVIE:
2300-2315 – LATE NIGHT NEWS
2315-2330 – ACTION MOVIE  (CONTINUATION)
2330-0000 – MY WIFE AND KIDS
0000-0100 – DOCUMENTARY
0100-0400 – IN CONCERT
0400-0530 – MOVIE:  PLEASURE PALACE
0530-0555 – SINJALO EP 11

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.

Julius Malema, an expelled former leader of the ANC Youth League in South Africa has launched a political party platform, Economic Freedom Fighters. Malema says it’s a platform for garnering support from the masses to demand economic freedom from the ANC. Analysts however say Malema is preparing to launch a party and is testing the waters with such moves. Some have likened his move to that done earlier this year by Agang leader, Ramphele, who set up a platform prior to applying to register the political party.

Malema in his launch speech outlines principles that will govern the consultations they will carry out around South Africa. The first two being expropriation of South Africa’s land without compensation for equal redistribution and nationalisation of mines, banks, and other strategic sectors of the economy. This has seen some readers likening Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters to a mini Mugabe state.

Obert Hodzi thinks that the African Union @ 50 is a dream deferred and that the ‘old boys club’ needs a serious overhaul. Here you go:

The African Union has long been accused of being an ‘Old Boys Club’ with neither political will nor a genuine drive to see a reformed Africa. With virtually all African countries being members one would expect nothing short of a vibrant organization capable of stamping its authority when it comes to promoting good governance principles, human rights obligations and purging the scourge of impunity across the continent. 50 years on, Africa stills gruels under various forms of oppression and lack of accountability.

The recent stampede by African leaders to condemn the International Criminal Court (ICC) for ‘race hunting’ in Africa and the clamor to let go Kenyatta, Ruto and Al Bashir is just but one of the many barometers to gauge African Union’s commitment to good governance, transparency and rule of law. It is not just, Al Bashir and Kenyatta but also its response to the Zimbabwean, Swazi, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascan crises of governance and general disregard to good governance and human rights obligations that worries many. Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, after the much condemned June, 28, 2008 election in his country is on record for saying of African Union members: “We have never interfered in their domestic affairs. Never ever. And now we want a country which wants to point a finger at us and say ‘you have done wrong’. I want to see that finger and see whether it’s clean or dirty”. With the exception of a few leaders like Ian Khama of Botswana no one responded to Mugabe’s challenge. Who then can respond to Al Bashir or Kenyatta? Who among African leaders is clean enough to lay a finger on the two and many others, let alone execute the International Criminal Court’s warrant of arrest against them?

Truth be told, there seem to be no ‘African solution to African problems’ nor is the ‘African Renaissance’ rhetoric anything more than a dream. History proves it. Over a decade after its inception, the African Court on People’s and Human Rights has heard only a few cases; the African Peer Review Mechanism has only had a few volunteers while the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, which aimed at fostering good governance principles and economic liberalization in Africa was dismissed by many as a western initiative. Today, the ICC faces the same old demon; the African Union continues to urge its member states not to cooperate with the ICC first on Al Bashir’s case and now on Kenyatta’s. The enthusiasm with which African countries like South Africa have heeded that call begs a lot of questions: To what extent are African leaders willing to overlook grave human rights atrocities to protect their fellows? Can the AU be trusted with the mandate of ensuring and enforcing accountability, good governance and human rights across the continent? Could Africans afford a good night’s sleep unless the AU is transformed by the renewal of its member states’ leaders? Are any of the African leaders’ conscience clean enough to formulate policies to purge impunity enjoyed by most of them, and are their hands clean enough to execute those policies without fear or favor?

It is this multitude of questions that confronts us today. Possibly it is high time that African leaders are taken to task, both on a national and continental level. It is imperative that the civil society and dreamers of a better governed Africa take their governments to task regarding some of the decisions they make at the AU. It is high time Civil Society Organizations start campaigning for reforms in the AU bearing in mind that unless the AU transforms from an ‘old Boys’ Club’, Africans will continue to suffer at the hands of oppressive leaders who enjoy unquestioned impunity and no reprimand from the continental body.

I attended university during a period where going to school seemed like wasting one’s precious time and adding more strain on family’s financial budgets. This was the period of 2006-2010 where Zimbabwe went through a major economic downfall, the 2008 elections and the dollarisation of the currency – a very difficult period. It did appear much better for one to quit school and cross the border to a neighbouring country as they would be guaranteed of access to their needs and wants. It is during this period that corruption within the various systems in the university grew like it was growing in any other sector in the country. You could see how people would manipulate the system because of a certain commodity they held, which was in demand. You would be shocked to hear what a lecturer would do when promised a bag of maize. As the economy got better with goods and commodities available, corruption, like cancer, still existed.

Students in Kenya and Uganda have established an anonymous website, Not In My Country which seeks to expose acts of corruption within universities in these two countries. By acting as whistle blowers, students rate their lecturers’ performances and have an optional field to explain their ratings. These are crowd sourced to provide ratings. In South Africa, university students at Wits are using the university newspaper, Vuvuzela, to expose lecturers who engage in misconduct in their work through sexual harassment. Students all over have been using various media to expose corruption within their universities but these are only effective if the university’s authorities take up their responsibility by investigating matters reported. Systems run by students often fall short as university staff protect each other as investigations or follow ups on reported cases are not made.

It always been said women are better at telling their own stories, but one South African guy has defied all odds to take readers on a journey of a female university student. Please note that the identity of the writer was only revealed towards the last chapters on the blog, Diary of a Zulu Girl. I came across this blog a few weeks back and have been addicted to Thandeka the main character whom I thought was real and telling her own university experience story. Thandeka according to the writer, is making the transition, ‘from mud huts and umqombothi (African beer) to penthouses, expensive weaves and Moet”. I have only read a few of the first chapters but learning that the writer is male will not deter me from continuing with my interesting read.

I fell in love with Thandeka, not just that my best friend in primary was named Thandeka, but because in some scenes I could easily relate to her. For instance her first night of going out, not that my first night out happened as fast as hers, in the first 24 hours of her university life. But in the sense of how easily girls fall to ‘peer pressure’ in universities by the ones they trust. In the story, Thandeka had a ‘cousin’ S who was already enrolled at the university and whom her parents entrusted her to. It’s therefore easy for such people to influence whoever they have to watch over in campus be it in a good or bad way. On heir first night out, Thandeka dressed in her best clothes but according to her ‘cousin’ S the clothes were not suitable for going out….

…At 1030pm S came to my room to check if i was ready. I was wearing my hip-hop outfit (trend back home), skinnies with sneakers etc. You know the teen high school uniform for going out. We all look like lil Wayne wannabes. Looking at her i felt stupid! …She laughed and said we are not in Mooi River anymore I will have to change. I told her I did not have any such clothes and she said don’t worry i will hook you up…I had a weave on which back home we commonly call “razor” you know the one which short and is flat but curly at the back. She told me that by the end of the week this must go because here it was called “kasi weave”. She told me to rather stick to braids or my hair if i didn’t want weave. i was an eager student and dint wanna look rural so i absorbed it all…

The writer through the chapters that I have read so far, portrays real characters whom people can relate to out there. In an interview with The City Press, he says he drew his inspiration ” from years of giving advice on Facebook to his friends.” At least its not from the movies, its from real girls he interacts with no wonder he was able to portray the real life of a typical university girl. What really left me pleased with Mike and all the characters in his blog, is that his blog was entirely written on his mobile phone! The blog has been running for three weeks and ends with Chapter 51.

A comment made on the log reads: “I would like to start off by thanking you for opening our eyes as the youth. I am a 21yr old journalism student from Durban and I must say this blog really touched me. I am set to leave for JHB in the next two months and I will really be the “Zulu girl going to JHB” LOL…I feel that you have prepared me for what is to come and you have encouraged me to really take a look at myself and really check where my values stand.”