So this Sata[n] guy is now Zambian president. But we can see where this is going. He is the “opposition” guy who during this presidential bid slammed the “opposition” guy of another country, and we obviously wondered what his priorities were, whether he had run out epithets for Rupiah Banda, the then Zimbabwean Zambia president. And we obviously have to ask what this will mean about Tsvangirai trying to rally or engage other SADC leaders in his long stand-off with Mugabe. Can we expect Tsvangirai to have Sata’s ear? Maybe he will have it [the ear] for a bit of wringing like they do those bratty kindergarten kids, for that’s exactly how the new president was behaving in the run-up! But then it must be remembered this Sata guy was being advised not to stand for election because of his apparently failing health.

It’s already being asked about the political implications of voting for a guy whose “tenure” on earth is already under close scrutiny not by his opponents but his physicians! But then the history of post-independence African politics has plenty of these ailing old men who imagine themselves to be agile Herculeses imagining they can withstand the rigours of the rough political terrain known in these rather cruel parts. Recall that old fool Kamuzu Banda falling and failing to use his reflexes that had been slowed by old age and hitting his mouth on the hard earth? He still insisted he was raring to go, “the people still want me,” he said, like someone we know, despite plenty evidence to the contrary even among his very own comrades!

I ain’t no clairvoyant nor a tsikamutanda, but Zambians – and indeed the world – are obviously watching this Sata guy and will soon be asking themselves why the heck they voted for a sick guy for president.

Zimbabwe International Film Festival arrives is on – 30 September – 7 October. Screening venues include Harare Gardens, Alliance Francaise, and the Embassy of Spain Cultural Centre.

Films include:

• An African Election (Ghana, 2010)
• Mama Africa (South Africa, Finland and Germany, 2011)
• The Redemption of General Butt Naked (USA, Liberia, 2010)
• Blood in the Mobile (Denmark, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2010)
• Kinyarwanda (Rwanda, 2011)
• A Small Town Called Descent (South Africa, 2011)
• Sinking Sands (Ghana, 2011)
• Viva Riva (Democratic Republic of Congo, 2010)

Download the programmes here

According to NewsDay, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has reversed its recent directive which had dramatically restricted the activities of property sellers:

In a major climbdown the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has indefinitely suspended the implementation of recently introduced policy measures requiring proceeds from disposal of immovable property valued at $50 000 or more to be paid in tranches.

Read more

Chickenshed present …

The Rain That Washes

At Chickenshed

Tuesday 29th September 2011 – Saturday 8th October

An epic journey through Zimbabwe’s turbulent history. A true story that is poignant, political and personal, this beautifully realised one-man show brings to life the human drama behind the history and the headlines.

Following the dream of majority rule, one man sees Ian Smith’s Rhodesia become Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.

From refugee camps in Botswana to air strikes in Zambia via Marxism in Bulgaria, he returns to Zimbabwe, only to witness the greatest betrayal of all.

Age Recommendation: 12 plus
Running Time: Approx. 60 minutes
Tickets: £8 (£6 concs)

Venue: Chickenshed Theatre (Studio)
Address: Chase Side, Southgate,London, N14 4PE

Box Office: 020 8292 9222

Nearest Tube: Oakwood/Cockfosters.

More here

Call for Small Grant Applications: Zimbabwe Media Access and Professionalism Program

IREX is an international non-profit organization providing leadership and innovative programs to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media, and foster pluralistic civil society development.

Founded in 1968, IREX has an annual portfolio of over $60 million and a staff of 500 professionals worldwide. IREX and its partner IREX Europe deliver crosscutting programs and consulting expertise in more than 100 countries.

IREX is re-opening a grant competition for small grants to projects supporting media access and professionalism in Zimbabwe. Projects and activities eligible for consideration should fall under one or more of the following categories:

-    Journalism Training: Supporting the professional development of independent journalists
-    Alternative Media: Developing or expanding alternative or new media approaches to gathering and distributing news and information to underserved audiences
-    Media Management: Improving the capacity of media professionals to manage small and medium traditional and alternative media operations
-    Content Production and Distribution: Development of relevant and informative news and information to audiences with limited access to professional media
-    Media Law, Rights and Advocacy: Efforts to reform media laws and regulations, improve implementation of laws or regulations, support journalists, educate journalists and citizens on media law.

IREX anticipates awards ranging from $2,500 to $20,000. Applicants interested in smaller or larger grants should contact IREX before completing an application. Applicants may request training or consulting from IREX or other sources as a component of the grant. Grants should run for up to six months.

This grants program employs a two-part process. First, interested applicants should submit a statement of interest and illustrative budget, according to the guidelines on the following pages. From the statement of interest, IREX will select a limited number of projects and request a completed application.

Grants will be awarded on a rolling basis until funds are expended. Questions regarding this grant application should be submitted to ZMAPPgrants [at] irex [dot] org

Eligibility Criteria:
-    Applicants must be legally registered entities.
-    Zimbabwean organizations are strongly encouraged to be the prime applicant. Partnerships with other organizations are acceptable.
-    Project activities must fall under the topics described above.

Evaluation Criteria for Applications
These criteria are intended to serve as the standard against which all applications will be evaluated. The following criteria are listed in descending order of importance:

-    Ability of project to improve the media environment in Zimbabwe
-    Capacity of applicant to carry out proposed project in personnel, equipment, and experience
-    Efficient use of sub grant resources
-    Ability to leverage other funds to multiply impact

This request for grant application does not commit IREX to pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a grant application not funded or contract for the services or supplies described herein. IREX reserves the right to reject any or all applications received.

Please return the grant application and address all inquiries to: ZMAPPgrants [at] irex [dot] org

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself about the frequency of knee-jerk reactions of government officials each time there is a political scandal that the mandarins invariably blame on the media for being “beamed’ to the public. The latest of course is the WikiLeaks excitement that has Zimbabwe in suspended animation to see what happens next as Mugabe fumbles for loyalists. Webster Shamu has responded rather predictably by threatening to shoot the messenger – the private press who are understandably having a field day reporting the explosive contents of the cables from US diplomats in Harare.

Like always, Shamu is dealing with fringe players who have nothing to do with the leaks. And this at a time when the relevance of the private media has never been so pressing as Zimbabwe heads for polls anytime in the not-so-distant future. The private media and proponents of unfettered access to information have reason to sit up and take notice and can only ignore Shamu’s pronouncements about effectively outlawing “Fleet street” to their own peril well knowing of course there is precedence to these threats to press freedom.

Someone mentioned the other day that Zimbabwe is now ripe for another printing press bombing, and when people start talking like that, you have to ask yourself if our politics is really that antithetic to democratic conversations. But then, you can ignore Zanu PF threats only if your name is Johnny Bravo! That of course is not any attempt to treat the country’s political and media relations as a laughing matter – remembering of course that a miffed Shamu once called some folks Andy Capp-types! Shamu typifies the straw-man fallacy in that, instead of addressing the real issues, he chooses to attack a constituency that has nothing to do with the matter at hand: he has chosen to attack the media, effectively telling the messengers not to deliver what no doubt has so far become 2011’s biggest political story here.

After all, in the aftermath of these leaked cables, everyone (at least in my world, every sensible Zimbabwean!)  is already celebrating the  first public signs of the demise of Shamu’s party and creatives are busy crafting pun-filled epitaphs. And now that Jonathan Moyo has said it loud and proud and after sleepless nights that these presidential back-stabbers must own up to their utterances, we wonder then why the heck Shamu is getting so volcanic hot under the collar and getting all puffed up inviting the wrath of cardiac arrest and at the wrong people! But then when you have SpongeBob Squarepants-types in charge of managing political information and attempting to hide behind very thin fingers, you can bet your ass you will be engaging in a dialogue with a bunch of morons.

Instead, let them eat each other, no one will mourn.