Music is a big business and it has transformed people’s lives the world over.  In western countries by just producing one good album it can change one’s fortunes for the rest of his/her life. Media plays an important role in promoting artists music and with bad media publicity it can also destroy an artist’s career. Here in Zimbabwe our own local music artists, especially the urban grooves artists rely on the media to promote their music and some of them enjoy massive airplay on the state broadcasting stations. The rise in popularity for urban grooves was mainly spearheaded by the introduction of 75% local content on national radio stations by the then Minister of Information and Publicity Professor Jonathan Moyo a couple of years ago.  To some local artists it was a blessing to them since competition from foreign music was reduced. However to some artists after rising to stardom their names now appear in the history book for the wrong reasons.

The lyrics of the music composed by these urban grooves artists has attracted a huge following especially amongst the youth. The message in the music is usually associated with love, cash and the ghetto lifestyle. Instead of promoting their music through good publicity, recently it has become the opposite. After starting on a positive note most of these young artists have attracted bad publicity to their music by trying to live the life they sing about in their songs. Some may say the problem starts when these young artists try to merge our local culture with the western culture in their music thereby creating an identity crisis.  Zimbabwe has been blessed with many young talented musicians but most of them have gone quiet after failing to handle fame. The toll of a celebrity lifestyle has proved to be a heavy burden with many young artists falling by the wayside through drugs, prostitution, alcohol abuse and unprofessional contact.

Piracy is also taking its share of problems for these music artists resulting in many of them singing for peanuts. In trying to increase popularity in the hope of pushing music sales some local artists are now using media for the wrong reasons. A couple of a years ago a creative and promising young artist was sentenced to do community service after being found in possession of marijuana and as if this was not enough the same young man could not keep his microphone in his pants as he went around impregnating many girls. After singing so much about money and a high expensive lifestyle another local artist made headlines recently when his sex video was leaked to the press. With this kind of behavior and bad publicity it will take a very long time for our local artists to separate their private life from their public one.

The Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) issued this statement today:

MMPZ advocacy officers Fadzai December and Molly Chimhanda have been detained by Zimbabwe Republic Police in Gwanda in connection with a civic education meeting they facilitated in the town two weeks ago on the 24th November 2011. Also detained in connection with the same case is the chairperson of MMPZ’S Public Information Rights Forum Committee for Gwanda Mr Gilbert Mabusa. They are being charged under POSA for failing to give notice of the meeting despite the fact that the meeting was convened by the membership of MMPZ’s Public Information Rights Forum Committee for Gwanda and was therefore not a public meeting as contemplated under POSA. They are also being charged in terms of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for “participating in gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of the peace or bigotry”. The Gwanda police authorities allege that the MMPZ advocacy officers distributed illegal material in the form of a DVD MMPZ produced essentially calling upon the media to contribute to peaceful elections through fair, accurate and balanced coverage of election campaigns by Zimbabwean political parties.

While MMPZ respects the necessity of the due process of the law, it is MMPZ’s view that this case does not warrant the pre-trial detention of its advocacy officers and Mr Mabusa. They are not remotely a flight risk as MMPZ’s officers have fully cooperated with the police and returned to Gwanda from Harare yesterday to assist the police in their inquiries. The Zimbabwean Constitution protects the right to personal liberty. Depriving an individual of their personal liberty should be an action of last resort. It should not be employed as a first option especially in cases whose circumstances do not warrant pre-trial detention. MMPZ therefore calls upon the police to release Gilbert, Fadzai and Molly from custody forthwith as their attendance at court can be secured by way of summons.

I used to think that women who were beaten by their partners had no backbone. I saw them as weak and stupid. I didn’t really understand how difficult a step it was to bring the culprits to justice in Zimbabwe, until my own sister was entangled in such a relationship.

The first time she told me that he was beating her, I immediately thought “We’re so, gonna get him arrested!” And so, the very next morning, with her injuries still fresh(ish), we drove to Mabelreign police station, ignoring others’ suggestions to take matters into our own hands and get him thoroughly beaten up. I had really high hopes that he would be properly punished, according to the law, for what he had done. In retrospect, we should have beaten him ourselves!

It did not take long for me to see that the matter was of little or no importance to them. They asked her to make a statement, which they convoluted, writing it in their own words and later asked her to sign. They then casually mentioned that they had arrested him before for assault and knew him reasonably well. They laughed as they recapped previous encounters with him. The whole issue seemed to have lightened to mood of the station and offered the officers some comic relief. I told them this was not a laughing matter.

They assured me that they were sending a car out to get him, he arrived nearly 2 hours later, (driving his own car), nonchalantly eating an apple. The “Public Relations” officer explained that he would like to talk to them both, in order to ascertain what really happened, and give them both counseling. I insisted on going in with my sister, (I was not going to let her be in the same room as that monster!). The counseling, if one can call it that, was done in a small room where we all sat on the same small bench. Was I dreaming? How can they expect a victim of domestic violence to sit next to her abuser and give all the details of the experience?

I complained to them about the whole procedure and their lackadaisical attitude and several of the police officers said to me, “Siyanai nazvo. Inyaya Dzerudo!” (Stay out of it. This issue is about love). They would say this to me again and again as I made repeated attempts to report the beatings my sister received in 2009. The attitude the police have is that domestic violence is not a real criminal issue but a minor problem within personal relationships, and is therefore too trivial for them to bother with.

When faced with this reality, how can another women, a new victim of domestic violence of a long-sufferer who has had enough go to the police and expect help? Where can women go for real help, when those whose jobs it is to protect all citizens from this country from a myriad of harms, think her husband or boyfriend beating her is a laughing matter?

I am not discounting the existence of compassionate members of the police force out there, who would treat matters of domestic violence with some level of professionalism and treat these matters with the importance they deserve, but I, and the majority of Zimbabwe’s women are yet to meet or hear of such a police officer.

To commemorate World AIDS Day, Kubatana invited subscribers to send in their positive prevention messages. Using Frontline SMS, we received over 600 messages in response, and short listed them for selection.

The word cloud above shows gives a visual of the words most used in our subscribers’ responses.

The winning SMS came from Lloyd Nyarota, who said:

To prevent HIV transmission, try various sex positions with one partner NOT one position with various partners.

The runners up responded:

• A cat has many lives but we humans got one only. Be wise and be warned. AIDS kills the one we got.
• Stick to one partner. Always use condoms. Do masturbation if you have feelings during the absence of your partner.
• One Love. Learn the facts about HIV. Be faithful. Talk openly. Use condoms consistently.
• Everyone is positive until proven negative. Get tested!

Read the rest of the prevention SMS here

At the MPOI event on Thursday, 24 Nov 2011. Four speakers on “2011 in Retrospect And A Prognosis For 2012”. Lots of interesting stuff, and they all droned on and on as they will do!

But what got me sitting upright was the Zanu PF speaker – Goodson Nguni. He did not speak as a Zanu PF spokesman, but as a staunch Zanu PFer. And what he said held my interest.

“We love democracy, but we love Zimbabwe more than we love democracy.”

Now what does this mean? He explained, and I understood, that democracy is all well and good but Zanu PF intends to retain a grip on Zimbabwe even if democracy – that is, the will of the people (of Zimbabwe) – tells them to let go. So democracy cannot unseat them. They will retain power … just because. They believe they know what Zimbabwe wants better than Zimbabweans. They believe they know what is better for Zimbabwe than Zimbabweans do. They believe they own Zimbabwe. They believe Zimbabwe is them.

Which basically means they are not democrats. They do not believe in democracy.

All the people who died for the right to vote were actually dying to put Zanu PF in power. Not for democracy.

He further stated “the war vets did not fight for elections, they fought for the end of Rhodesia.”

So, help me. Is my understanding of what he said correct?

And is this not what Gbagbo is being tried in The Hague for a this time? He lost the elections, and instead of stepping down (bowing to democracy), he unleashed a wave of violence, which resulted in many people being killed.

He loved Cote D’Ivoire more than he loved democracy.