Pouring your heart out at an embassy or with embassy officials is not politics, its merely a demonstration of subservience. Whether they expected the American government to solve our problems we might never know, but the fact that they indeed went out of their way to brief them betrays a simplistic understanding of state politics and power.  Proximity to the American government is not necessarily proximity to the people of Zimbabwe. All the briefings that Zanu Pf and MDC politicians gave the diplomats, in their lucidity, have never been given to the people of Zimbabwe. Instead we have had media blackouts on what is transpiring in the inclusive government or in the parties that comprise it. When we are lucky we get half baked briefings in the run up to some  SADC summit while diplomats are spoilt for choice regularly. It would therefore be expected that from now on, our political leaders will begin to explain themselves more to us, the citizens of Zimbabwe as much if not more than they generally prostrated themselves before diplomats. Read more from Takura Zhangazha

I’ve just received an email newsletter from a Harare based travel agent saying that the Harare International Airport will “boast” Africa’s longest runway by December as Zimbabwe seeks to lure major international airlines. Apparently the extra 5ks of runway is costing US$30 million. Meanwhile I’ve heard of yet another incident of travellers on their way home from the airport being targeted and assaulted by thieves. I mean I just Don’t Get It. The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe pulls out all the stops to increase the length of our runway but the fact that returning residents and visitors to Zimbabwe get robbed and assaulted once they’ve landed doesn’t seem to faze them. What they need to do is work hand in hand with the Zimbabwe Republic Police and increase patrols on the main airport road to stop these criminals having a field day.

People queuing for water, and carts carrying firewood, are now an everyday sight in the town of Chitungwiza. Chitungwiza gets the bulk of its water supply from the City of Harare but with the recent erratic water supply experienced by the capital city, a negative and severe impact can now be felt by the residents of Chitungwiza. Clean water, which is a basic necessity for everyone, is now a luxury for some residents. People have had to resort to digging shallow wells after going for weeks, if not months, without running water.  Residents now fear that the cholera pandemic, which caused havoc in 2008, is set to come back if the city fathers of Chitungwiza take their time getting their act together to resolve their differences with the City of Harare. To ease the burden a bit, UNICEF in conjunction with some NGOs, managed to drill a few boreholes in the town but since the demand for water has risen sharply, only a few can access clean water from the water-points.

To make matters worse, the pathetic electricity supply from Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority has created a scenario, which leaves one wondering if Chitungwiza is a town or rural area. Residents now resort to using firewood. Others, who can afford it, use gas or paraffin. Customer satisfaction from ZESA is now a thing of the past as residents only get electricity supply during the night or for less than 8 hours per day. No explanation or apologies for the inconvenience caused is given and the only thank you residents get is disconnection for non-payment and tariff hikes. During the Zim dollar era Chitungwiza Town Council and ZESA used to hide behind the forex shortage to cover up for their service delivery shortcomings. However now that forex is in abundance, clear signs of incompetence and poor administration are evident.

I had the unusual pleasure of masquerading as a designer on the closing night of Zimbabwe Fashion Week. The stress of not really knowing what was going on was overcome by the excitement of being part of a real fashion show. Well done to the organisers for being the first to bring the glamour of international fashion to Zimbabwe. Pictured above is the fabulous Denise Mutsamwira.

I’ve noticed around Harare the billboard above advertising The Herald: News packaged to your taste. And I’ve been wondering if it is actually a terribly clever subversive undermining of the state media by whomever they hired to do their marketing. Because I don’t know about you but the image used – a crusty day-old bread roll, a bit of polony, some wilted lettuce and a few slices of that tasteless, processed, pre-sliced, plastic orange stuff that tries to pass as cheese – doesn’t exactly leave me salivating to by my latest copy of The Herald and tuck right in. But then again, I’ve always found The Herald pretty tasteless – in both senses of the word.

The Book Café Carpark, Harare
Friday 9 September, 6-11.30pm

This week Sudanese hiphop star EMMANUEL JAL lands in Harare for a whirlwind hiphop collaboration with Zimbabwe.  A mega performance in the Book Café car park on Friday 9 September from 6pm will headline Jal and his 6-piece band, following a star line-up of some of Zimbabwe’s best – feisty mbira star Chiwoniso Maraire, ‘Comrade Fatso’ and Chabvondoka, and ‘Outspoken’ and The Essence.

Emerging from a vicious background of child-soldiering in Southern Sudan, and after escaping to Kenya, Jal fell in love with hiphop and felt it could provide the easiest and most effective vehicle to express his story.  Emmanuel Jal’s music grew in Kenya, reached the word through the airwaves, and he is now an internationally renowned hiphop artist, with a strong message of peace for the world.  “Jal set the hip-hop bar higher,” wrote the Washington Post in 2008.

Despite his accomplishments in music, Jal’s biggest passion is for Gua Africa, a charity that he founded. Besides building schools, the nonprofit provides scholarships for Sudanese war survivors in refugee camps, and sponsors education for children in the most deprived slum areas in Nairobi.

Jal, whose own childhood was robbed from him, aims to protect the childhood of others through music. “Music is powerful.  It is the only thing that can speak into your mind, your heart and your soul without your permission” he said.

Jal will be making powerful music on Friday 9 September, alongside Zimbabwean artists who also have a story to tell, gifted young musicians, songwriters and poets who have achieved some acclaim in the world, also gracing stages from New York to Berlin and Capetown to Zanzibar.  The open air concert kicks off with the Zimbabwean artists, followed by Emmanuel Jal at 10pm.

‘War Child’
A documentary film about Emmanuel Jal called ‘War Child’ was made in 2008 by C. Karim Chrobog.  It made its international debut at the Berlin Film Festival and its North American debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the Cadillac Audience Award, and an autobiography under the same name was released in 2009.

As part of the Emmanuel Jal programme, ‘War Child’ will be screened on Thursday 8 September, at the Mannenberg Film Club