Censorship is the sincerest form of flattery.
- From Ethan Zuckerman’s blog

The December 2010/January 2011 issue of the Africa Report, included an article on 11 Ideas for 2011 to make real change. I read through the ideas and thought that the idea that suggests, “Nobody can become President over the age of 69″ was the best for me. I found it to be a low cost solution enabling freedom of choice among Africans benefiting the majority. I truly agree with the sentiment that says we appreciate the goodness that comes with ‘old wine’ – that is wisdom, experience and perspective. Surely our much older leaders in Africa deserve a round of applause for exhibiting these characteristics. However, having them in leadership positions for too long brings major discomfort to citizens as promises made go undelivered. Also when a leader stays in power for too long citizens begin to see their imperfections more clearly.

The pursuit of African leaders to stay in power even when the populace is no longer comfortable with them has proven not to be a general thing of late. This is evident with the protests in Tunisia and Egypt.  The anger brewing in the hearts of these citizens in these countries has been put in the limelight for the whole world to see. And the possibility of having other protests rising in other African countries cannot be ruled out. As Cameroon, Egypt, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe go to vote in 2011 we hope to see a new age bracket of leaders govern our countries. Simply put, we want new faces in leadership positions.

We have to continue to pray and be patriotic towards our desired change in Africa. We truly desire to have selfless and visionary leaders at all levels of the government. There is a need also to have youths in leadership, as they are the future of tomorrow.

I conclude with a quote by Nelson Mandela, which says, “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.”

Leaders will be more appreciated and recognized if they take steps towards these wise words.

The IFLA/UNESCO Public Library Manifesto of 1994 defines a public library as, “The local centre of information, making all kinds of knowledge and information readily available to its users.’ The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users and was founded in 1927.

The main Harare City library is at the Civic Centre and there are branch libraries in Greendale, Highlands, Hatfield, Mount Pleasant and Mabelreign. I stay in Chisipite so I decided to visit the Highlands Branch Library.

The location of the library is a good one opposite to a primary school, just off the main road making it accessible to users from other suburbs such as Eastlea, Newlands and Chisipite.

My visit made me to give my blog this title because the infrastructure is all there. All that needs to be done are upgrades. Library updates should be done in a similar fashion as upgrades of computer operating systems. Operating systems change now and then due to transformation in consumer needs, preferences and expectations and advancements in technology. We have witnessed operating systems running on MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows XP, Vista, Windows Live and Windows 7 just to name a few. My visit to the library was more of an experience of using a computer with an operating system of MS-DOS in this day and age.

The out-datedness, the unattractiveness, the slowness … you name it I experienced all that by merely entering the library.

The library’s opening hours are on the negative. Two thirds of the time the library is closed. I can justify the full day closure of the library on a Thursday because its important to do so that administrative work can be done without the librarian being disturbed by patrons.

Let’s hope the relevant authorities start taking our libraries seriously and upgrade them for the benefit of all Zimbabweans.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights recently launched a book entitled; “Zimbabwe’s Status of Compliance with Human Rights Instruments” at a ceremony attended my human activists, media, Members of Parliament, members of diplomatic corps and civic organisations.   The book gives an overview of how much and how far Zimbabwe as a nation has come in compliance with human rights instruments both domestic and international. The book was described as useful tool by academics, researchers and civil society organisations. The book is also supposed to help legislators identify gaps in human rights law and help educate citizens of Zimbabwe on human rights.

During the launch prominent lawyer Mrs Beatrice Mtetwa gave examples of some court case scenarios where human rights laws are not well interpreted in the courts of justice in Zimbabwe. She noted with great concern the lack of provisions on children’s rights in our constitution. In her examples she said children are being prejudiced especially in the cases of having access to legal documents like birth certificates and also the law not being clear on inheritance issues when parents get divorced and property sharing issues.  Mrs Mtetwa went on to share experiences of some court case involving women, by giving an example of a scenario where custody of children is given to the mother and guardianship of the children going in the father’s favour thereby denying the mother the rights to be the automatic guardian of the children.

During the launch the Speaker of Parliament and also guest of honor, Hon Lovemore Moyo gave a keynote address by thanking ZLHR for coming up with a publication, which focused on human rights. During his speech he noted that Zimbabwe has not done well in terms of compliance to human rights instruments both internationally and domestically and stressed that the issues of compliance should not be left to government only but should include civil society.

In her obituary of Yvonne Vera, Ranka Primorac wrote: “The most courageous among them [her other books] is The Stone Virgins, the first work of fiction that openly exposes and condemns the government sponsored violence [Gukurahundi] against civilians in Independent Zimbabwe.”   Primorac goes on to praise its “stylistic mastery and political bravery.”  Yet The Stone Virgins has never been banned; Vera (who, curiously, received the Tucholsky Award of the Swedish PEN for a writer in exile or undergoing persecution) never went into exile, was never persecuted, never even harassed.  The novel was published in 2002 when the government’s policy of re-crafting and subverting the law to support its ideology of “patriotism” was in Operation [upper case deliberate].  How come they left her alone?  I can think of two reasons: first, that Primorac is wrong about Vera’s political courage; second, The Stone Virgins is a novel written in turgid English, and was never likely to influence the restless povo, for most of whom books are unaffordable, and English is very much a second or third language.

By blurring distinctions between dissidents, pseudo-dissidents, and soldiers; between war and massacre; by the timing of the atrocities described in the novel, Vera creates self-protecting ambiguities.  For example, the brutal murder of the shop owner, Mahlatini takes place in 1982, before the Fifth Brigade was officially mobilised.  His killers are called “soldiers”.  Just before he dies, the author puts a suggestive thought in his mind: “He did not want to see who was killing him, just in case he recalled something about the eyes, the forehead, the gait of this man.”  Just in case his killer was a local?

The saintly man, Cephas, associated with the mazhanje (umhobohobo) fruit of the eastern highlands, is Shona (his tagged on surname, Dube, notwithstanding); the diabolical man, Sibaso, associated with the marula fruit of Matabeleland, is Ndebele.  Dissidents and pseudo-dissidents did commit atrocities, some hundreds, mainly against whites and so-called sell-outs; but the Fifth Brigade, targeting innocent rural folk, killed, raped, and maimed tens of thousands.  Vera’s choice of perpetrator in this context seems somewhat skewed.  No wonder she wouldn’t allow copies of Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace, to be displayed in the Art Gallery shop when she was the Director – the same art gallery where Owen Maseko’s exhibition remains sealed off to the public.  So, Ranka Primorac is wrong – there is nothing in The Stone Virgins that” openly” condemns and exposes Gukurahundi.  On the contrary, it is full of lyrical self-censorship.

The second reason why the authorities might have left Yvonne Vera alone recalls the words of the writer, Stanley Nyamfukudza: “One of the best ways to hide information in Zimbabwe is to publish it in a book.”  The Board of Censors tends to overlook the written word because the vast majority of people in this country have little access to books, especially fictional books.  The visual arts, township drama, and performance poetry are another story!  The Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiongo was imprisoned not for his novels in English but for his plays in Kikuyu.  The authorities don’t want the masses to get too excited.

So, why Owen Maseko?  Again, I can think of two reasons: first, his exhibition is courageous to the point of recklessness in its exposure of what has now been officially classified as genocide; second, as a visual artist his work is immediately accessible to the restless povo.  It speaks a universal language.

John Makumbe writing on ZimDiaspora believes that MDC-T is “sleeping on the job”. Two of John’s suggestions are interesting to me:

Being in the corridors of state power seems to have made the MDC-T lose its focus as a dynamic political party.

and

I am urging the progressive leaders of the ruling MDC-T party is to show some political muscle by organizing well-controlled and managed street demonstrations and other effective responses to the actions of the Zanu (PF) hoodlums. Failure to do that in a timely fashion can easily be interpreted as cowardice.

But the failure of real change taking root in Zimbabwe rests with Zanu PF, MDC and the people of Zimbabwe. The MDC won’t organise street protests or boycotts or stayaways because they won’t get anyone to participate. I wonder if 2011 will be the year in which the description of Zimbabweans being cowards is shot down?

Here’s the full article:

Reports of the Zanu (PF) militia running amok and disrupting normal council business in various parts of Harare are a clear indication that the ruling party, the MDC, is sleeping on the job. We all know that Zanu (PF) is desperate to return from the political wilderness into Harare and win some of its constituencies again.

We also know that most of the hoodlums causing havoc in the name of Zanu (PF) are not Hararians, but rural bumpkins who are being bussed in from Bindura, Chinhoi, Banket and Karoi. Zanu (PF) no longer has any significant numbers of youths in Harare.

They all have defected to the ever-popular MDC-T. With the ailing Mugabe calling for elections this year, the dwindling supporters of the dying political party think that they can re-group, intimidate the Harare residents and make them vote for the former liberation party once again.

Fortunately, this is not going to happen; indeed, the hooliganism that they are displaying is only going to alienate more people from the beleaguered party.

But the point of this contribution is that being in the corridors of state power seems to have made the MDC-T lose its focus as a dynamic political party. Somehow the party thinks that it has arrived. The truth of the matter is that, guys, you are not there yet. The struggle must continue on all fronts until final victory and the realization of real change.

It is surprising that whereas Zanu (PF) youths are being organized to march and demonstrate against Harare City Council and MDC-T Members of Parliament (MPs), those of the Prime Minister’s party are conspicuous by their absence, silence and inactivity. I personally believe that if MDC-T youths were active in the streets and the suburbs and townships, Zanu (PF) hoodlums would not have the courage to run amok disturbing normal business.

It is high time that these lawless hired hands were made to know that their reeling party lost the political support of the people of all urban centres years ago. Confrontation is an effective weapon against riotous puppies of dictatorship.

The people of Mbare are experiencing serious levels of harassment from these misguided Zanu (PF) militia on a daily basis. Flea market vendors are being intimidated and robbed of their wares practically every day. When the victims of these demonic acts report these incidences to the Zanu Repressive Police (ZRP) they are told to bring to the police station the people who will have harassed them.

Senior officials of the MDC-T behave as if all is well, even though these reports are being made to them regularly. Zanu (PF) must not be allowed to have its way with the lives of innocent people without being made to pay the price of such folly. I am not suggesting that MDC-T supporters and youths
adopt violence as a response to the wild actions of the Zanu (PF) hooligans.

Far from it.

All I am urging the progressive leaders of the ruling MDC-T party is to show some political muscle by organizing well-controlled and managed street demonstrations and other effective responses to the actions of the Zanu (PF) hoodlums. Failure to do that in a timely fashion can easily be interpreted
as cowardice.

One of the reasons why Mugabe is calling for elections in 2011 is that he sees the actions of these hired rogues as evidence that Zanu (PF) now has the upper hand in terms of political support in Zimbabwe’s urban areas. A spate of MDC-T street demonstrations throughout the country will quickly dispel these ill-advised notions and allow the country to go for elections when the time and conditions are right.