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Zimbabwe is home to southern Africa’s highest concentration of rock art. More

The Zimbabwe Market Fair 2012 held in Harare brought together women and young entrepreneurs from all over Zimbabwe. High quality locally made Zimbabwe products were on display. I managed to interact with these three talented groups of women.

1. The Zubo Trust
Zubo hails from Binga, and does Tonga basketry, which they fuse with contemporary stuff to come up with designs for handbags, cell phone cases, cosmetic bags, fruit baskets etc. Available at the Binga Craft Centre or the Craft Designer on 0713 877 949.

2. Gracious Women Institute
These women brought in a unique kind of art to the fair. The seed craft are from Bulawayo. Grace Kamanga who runs the institute also offers training in the following areas: straw art, vase making and flower arrangement. Contact them on 0772 896 798.

3. Stitch in Time Fashions
Ruth Mlambo, an entrepreneur based in Harare’s Hatcliffe Extension, is into fabric design and colouring using the Batik method. Her designs capture Zimbabwean arts and culture. Contact Ruth on 0775 643 709.

Zanu PF has helped Tsvangirai gorge on the perks of power to get him fat like a pimple ready to be squeezed. Motorcades, mansions, women, trips abroad. The Savoy Hotel, one of the most prestigious hotels in London is his most recent accommodation of choice. Tsvangirai may well, at this time, be a better choice than Mugabe. But he’s showing some serious signs that he’s learning some really bad habits, really quickly.

{Note to customs at Harare International Airport: please search Morgan and Elizabeth like you do all of us ordinary folk and make sure to charge them duty on their UK shopping}

Buy one get one for free! 40 per cent discount on all purchases! Get a free product for every purchase! This is how retailers lure customers especially towards the festive season. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation is offering such unbelievable promotions to advertisers that you’d think they’ve turned into a shop ready for Christmas. They are giving massive 40% discounts and free radio slots for every TV slot purchased. This is more to do with the pressure of the competition from the launch of two new radio stations in Zimbabwe than anything else. And to try and keep existing customers and lure new ones, ZBC plays its promotional adverts more than it plays adverts by advertisers! Imagine the heat the ZBC would experience if real life independent public media got licensed in Zimbabwe.

When I asked a colleague why Tsvangirai is in the UK, she said, gone shopping? Such faith we have in our politicians.

From a Kubatana subscriber:

Believe it or not, the challenge of mind-set change is  still a facade and far out cry in the post-independence Zimbabwe! Grotesque levels of corruption, poor health service delivery, hatred, policy shelving, duplicity of politicians, violence, citizens apathy and absence of rule of law continue to spell a bleak future for our country.