What do you do when the shelfs go empty

I last made the trip to the supermarket two weeks ago. Then the price blitz was intesfying, but to say the least what i saw yesterday was for lack of a better discription, shocking. A TM supermaket next to my work place had all refrigirators emptied, the only thing that i saw was fresh stuffed yeast. The other shelfs which used to stock items such as washing, bath soap, lotions had nothing. Only the front part of the supermarket had something, a few sweets, chocolates, and a few tablets. On the other side, the restaurant had rice, sadza which were being served with soya means and cabbage. But one need not to look very far, things are crumbling and if we are not careful, the situation will deteriorate into anarhy and like i have always said, if there is a time i have always felt ashamed to be a Zimbabwean it is now.

I think Zimbabwe's uniformed forces were told that the country will collapse before December

The way they are bulldozing their way to the front of food queues, i am sure they were told to stock enough food because the country will collapse before December as was said by the outgoing US ambassador Chris Dell. Today i saw an army truc full of mealie-meal taking it to their barracks and last week i saw Major Rugeje and Mugabe's doctor ,Obadiah Moyo looting Makro. He was buying several pairs of shoes and i don't know why he wants them.
The behaviour of the uniformed forces really defies logic. Tatambura suwa.

The feeling of just how it feels to be a Zimbabwean

I was coming from home this morning and i decided to join one of the queues that had formed just next to my bus station as a way of just getting a feeling of what it means to be in a queue to buy a thing. The thing is as a journalist i wanted to get the real feeling and record what those people who spend a day in a queue will be saying or thinking. I can tell you that i was disappointed. These people did not say anything, they were just talking about other things as if nothinmg is burning in this country. This queue was for bread and it was almost 9am and i was getting late for work. But when i was left with about five people before i get to the till to get my loaf of bread, it was suddenly announced that chingwa chapera. Being a Zimbabwean these days is a shameful thing.

You make me proud

Pius, the not so Pius Ncube

Anti-Mugabe cleric Ncube sued for adultery - report

Zimbabwe's Roman Catholic archbishop Pius Ncube, an outspoken critic of President Robert Mugabe, is being sued by a man who said Ncube committed adultery with his wife, state radio reported on Monday.

Ncube was served with a Z$20 billion lawsuit, filed by Onesimus Sibanda, less than a week after returning from a trip abroad where he criticised Mugabe's government, the radio said.

Adultery is illegal in Zimbabwe, although it is rarely prosecuted in the courts.

"Archbishop Ncube is alleged to have been having a two-year adulterous relationship with Rosemary Sibanda, the wife of a Bulawayo resident," according to the report, which added that Sibanda was a parish secretary in the city, the nation's second largest.

"Rosemary has since admitted to the affair to ZBC News," it said.

Ncube, who is the archbishop of the southern Bulawayo diocese, was not immediately available for comment.

He has been an ardent foe of Mugabe, accusing the 83-year-old Zimbabwean leader and his government of human rights abuses and suppressing political dissent.

In March the cleric said he was ready to face bullets in anti-government protests to help bring democratic change in the southern African nation, which is mired in a deep economic and political crisis.

Earlier this month London's Sunday Times quoted Ncube as saying Britain would be justified in invading its former colony to rid it of Mugabe, who has been in power since independence in 1980.

Ncube later distanced himself from the report, saying that South African-brokered efforts to end the crisis in Zimbabwe should be given a chance to work.

Children in Zimbabwe, Gaza need urgent help - UN

By Robert Evans

GENEVA (Reuters) - Children in Gaza and Zimbabwe desperately need help to ensure they have food, clean water and schooling, and international aid is running short, a senior United Nations official said on Monday.

Dan Toole, director of emergency programmes for the UNICEF children's agency, said a shortage of donor cash was having a dramatic effect in the territories, which both face international disapproval because of their leaders' policies.

"Isolation, both externally and internally imposed, combined with underfunding for humanitarian aid, is denying children the basic goods and services that would normally be taken for granted," Toole told a Geneva news conference.

"The children of Gaza and Zimbabwe deserve better. They have the right to go to school and be educated, drink clean water and go to bed without being hungry," he said.

Aid funding for UNICEF programmes in the whole of the Palestinian territories, including the West Bank as well as Gaza, is running at only 36 percent of needs for this year, while for Zimbabwe it is at 29 pct.

The two areas were typical of UNICEF's "forgotten emergencies" where funds are very short for initiatives to help children, Toole said, describing Iraq, southern Sudan, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire and Pakistan as similarly vulnerable.

Toole said conditions for young people were "nothing short of unbearable" in the Gaza Strip, which was taken over by the Hamas Islamist group last month after bloody clashes with the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The vast majority of all Gazans rely on humanitarian aid, but relief efforts have been largely thwarted by the region's isolation, despite a welcome move by Israel to ease barriers to the delivery of goods, he said.

In Zimbabwe, where inflation is running at over 4,500 percent and unemployment at 70 percent, "quality health care and schools have all but collapsed," he said.

Price controls recently imposed by the administration of President Robert Mugabe "have resulted in serious shortages of basic goods across the country, including sugar, meat, flour, milk, bread and fuel," hitting children especially hard.

"Malnutrition is growing as parents struggle to feed their families," Toole sa

Are Zimbabweans shopping mad

I was suprised to see a number of Harareans going on a stampede over chezees and jupiter snacks something that they never bothered to buy before the crackdown on supermarkets. How do you explain a situation whereby a grown up man filling a trolley with this little nothings, is it because as Zimb abweans we are shopaholics or we are in a desperate situation and does not know what tommorrow hs in store for us. Funny enough these snacks are the last things to disappear from the shelves and they were going for as little as $36 000 from $70 000 and does that nmake a difference.

Fuel queues in Zimbabwe this morning

The trails and tribulations of living without water

Many people in Zimbabwe are having to do without a bath because of the bungling of water authorities, but does it have to go to that extend to realise that a humanitarian disaster is looming? It's Thursday morning, the thiird day since i last took a bath and all this is not by choice, there is just no drop of water coming out of my tape at home.
Is the world watching.

Here is today's most read story in Africa

Zimbabwe's frenzied shopping spree

Zimbabwe has 80% unemployment and the world's highest inflation
A barefoot woman in Zimbabwe with a supermarket basket at her feet, toes squeezing the wires to prevent anyone grabbing it, was throwing pots of half-price moisturising cream into her basket as fast as she could.

URL: Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6268784.stm

Mother gives eggs so daughter can have baby

Montreal - A Canadian mother has frozen some of her eggs so her seven-year-old daughter can give birth should her genetic disorder make her infertile as an adult.

If Flavie Boivin should become infertile, her mother's eggs could make it possible for her to give birth nonetheless, to a child who would be not only her offspring, but also her half-sister or half-brother.

"It's the first time in the world" for a mother-daughter egg donation, said Seang Lin Tan, professor and chairman of obstetrics and gynaecology at McGill University, Montreal, and medical director of its reproductive centre.

Tan, who treated Boivin, said McGill University Health Centre's ethics committee gave its authorisation for the extraction of her eggs, which will be kept frozen for years to come.

He said the daughter was under no obligation to accept the eggs.

Tswane Brief- Raymond

The only similarity between, Raymond and the legendary Liberian footballer George Weah is their love for power and their horse shoe beard trimming style.
I was very happy to see the guy coming back onto the e-mail forum with a bang because at once i thought he had gone together with Malawi first lady, Ethel Mutharika. I found Raymond to be yet another soul full of life and happiness. He was never one to upset anyone except that sometimes he wanted his happiness excessively. He loved his beer too. One thing however stands out about Raymond's character traits. He loves power and being in authority as evidenced by his calling himself President. Raymond is also a good traditional dresser. He was also very generous and had a high sense of humour which always made most of us laugh in Pretoria. If i am to attend any other workshop by SAHRIT, then the "president" is one person whom i would want to meet again.

This is the car that Mugabe has discarded

This is Mugabe's new car

The day police assaulted people for buying bread

I woke this morning to the shock of my life. I saw people being assaulted by riot police officers at a supermarket in Harare, their crime was that they wanted to buy bread. It has become such a hassle to buy just a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe after the government ordered the slashing of prices l;ast week. During the weekend a host of war veterans joined into the pricing chaos, invading shps and insisting on buying goods at prices that they wanted. A lawyer representing the onwer of a leading Harare supermarket was utterly shocked at the behaviour of the police, "I have never seen such lawlessness and i really don't know where we are going as a country. This is just as good as looting shops with the help of the police." The lawyer was subsequently arrested for speaking his mind.

ZIMBABWE: Death Penalty Stifling Free Speech

By Stanley KwendaHARARE, Feb 27 (IPS) - Zimbabwean rights activists are campaigning with unprecedented vigour for an end to the death penalty as the country’s political and economic crisis deepens, arguing that this is essential for an open debate on the nation’s future and its joining the "civilised democracies of the world"."The death penalty is a threat to freedom of speech," Edson Chiota, the national coordinator of the Zimbabwe Association for Crime prevention and Rehabilitation of Offenders (ZACRO) told IPS. He was interviewed while attending the Third World Congress against the Death Penalty in Paris at the beginning of February. "The government is trying to silence the opposition. If you publicly criticise the state leader, there’s a good likelihood that you will be charged with treason. That’s a threat to be feared. Treason carries the death penalty," Chiota said. Zimbabwe activists recall how two leading politicians were charged with treason in a campaign of intimidation before past elections. Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the main opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has been charged with treason three times, the last just ahead of the 2002 presidential elections. This trial lasted almost two years. It ended with a surprise acquittal. Ndabaningi Sithole, the leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was also charged with plotting to overthrow the government. This was just ahead of the 1996 presidential elections. But he was found guilty. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but released because of failing health. His sentencing disqualified him from attending parliament until his death three years later. Both politicians claimed they had been framed by the state security service. Launching ZACRO’s national anti-death penalty campaign with a newspaper article on Jan. 4, Wonder Chakanyuka, ZACRO’s information and publicity officer, side-stepped the issue of how the death penalty was being used to silence dissent. He stressed rather that it was alien to the country’s African traditions and left-over relic from colonial times. "It was used to intimidate and eliminate black people and as Zimbabweans we cannot continue having this law on our books," he wrote in an opinion article. "An increasing number of African states have abolished the death penalty and Zimbabwe cannot afford to be left behind," he added. The article in the state-backed newspaper 'The Herald', ended with an editorial note that ZACRO’s crusade against the death penalty was not party-based and should not be used to "demonise" the country. This appears to confirm ZACRO’s view that Robert Mugabe’s regime will not block its campaign. "We have never clashed with the government on this issue," Chiota said. "They are letting us go free. This means that they want to leave the public to take up its position." ZACRO’s campaign is likely to gather strong public support from many non-governmental organisations, churches, traditional leaders, lawyers and even members of the justice department. "Killing someone for an offence will not change or solve anything," David Chimhini, executive director of the Zimbabwe Civic Educational Trust (ZIMCET) told IPS. "No one has the right to kill another." ZIMCET advocates life sentences in place of the death penalty for the most serious crime of murder. The Human Rights Trust of South Africa (SAHRIT) has also staunchly come out against the death penalty. The death penalty should be replaced by life imprisonment for "reflection and reform". "The courts can sentence someone to death, but they cannot be 100 percent sure that the person has committed the crime," Noel Kututwa, its executive director, told IPS. He expressed scepticism that the Mugabe regime would listen to the voices of the abolitionists. "I don’t see the government moving an inch on the death penalty law," he said. Zimbabwe lawyers have also expressed concern over the possibility of judicial error and are likely to strongly back the ZACRO campaign on this issue. One of the most tragic cases was that of Sukoluhle Kachipare, a mother who was condemned to death for allegedly inciting her 17-year-old maid to murder her own new-born child. Only a concerned nation and international campaign saved her from the gallows in 1997. She would have been the first woman to be executed in Zimbabwe since 1898, when the British colonial regime executed the spirit medium Mbuya Nehanda. Though Kachipare’s sentence was first confirmed by the Zimbabwe Supreme Court, lawyers continued her legal battle. She was eventually acquitted, Stanford Moyo, president of the Zimbabwe Law Society told IPS. Church groups are expected to take part actively in the ZACRO campaign -- especially Christian churches. There are roughly seven million Christians in Zimbabwe, just over half the population. Anglican bishop Sebastian Bakare has publicly preached that state killing is against "the word of God and all biblical commandments". "It does not prevent people from committing violent crimes. Rather, it creates an illusion that violent crime is under control and being eliminated," he told IPS in an interview. All groups are likely to rally behind the campaign’s call for an end to the secrecy surrounding the death penalty issue in Zimbabwe. "The lack of public information is the biggest concern," Irene Petras, the acting director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, told IPS. ZACRO’s Chiota complains that his organisation is barred from visiting any death row prisoner. "We can’t say anything about them. Only the authorities know their situation exactly." High Court records show the number on death row totals 47. But efforts by IPS to obtain a list of the names was met with the response "classified information". ZACRO now intends to take its anti-death penalty campaign to all ten provinces in the country. It has plans to print and distribute millions of pamphlets and posters. Everyone in the country will be offered a campaign T-shirt. But only with outside funds will it be possible to finance such ambitious plans. Though nearly 100 years old, the prisoners’ rights organisation still operates from humble offices in the old township of Mbare in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. Inflation is currently the highest in the world -- some 1,600 percent. Unemployment is over 85 percent and the economy is in a free fall. A third of all men and women between the ages of 15 and 49 are HIV positive. But rather than despairing, ZACRO activists seem undeterred. "We are trying to get a movement going. There’s never been a fully-fledged campaign before to make this issue really visible," said Chiota. "When the death penalty is gone, we believe that people will come out of their shells and express their hopes and wishes." (END/2007)

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Zimbabwe's education 'is all zero'

Stanley Kwenda Harare, Zimbabwe
15 April 2007 11:59



Six-year-old Chippy Ncube jubilantly hurried home as soon as she received her school report. She could not hide her excitement at being the top student in her grade-one class when schools closed for the holidays recently in Zimbabwe. Such an achievement can only be attained with great effort in a country where the education system is under severe strain. Chippy deserved it. Her parents can no longer afford to pay bus fare for her. Not only has she had to contend with walking to school, but also with carrying a chair to school along with her books.The governing body at her school, Blackstone Primary located in Harare's Avenues area, sent letters to parents requesting them to buy chairs for their children. The school can no longer afford basic infrastructure due to the extreme costs caused by hyperinflation of more than 1 000%. Chippy's experience represents the state of primary education in Zimbabwe. Several of Zimbabwe's cash-strapped public schools have requested pupils to bring furniture from home. The education system is struggling under the weight of the country's seven-year-long political crisis.Zimbabwe's school system was one of the best on the African continent after the country gained independence in 1980. Previously the government provided furniture and other necessities. Government provision has faltered and the authorities have imposed a ceiling on fees to prevent schools from raising money to cover the cost of chairs and desks. DilapidationBlackstone Primary School, a "whites-only" school before independence, is regarded as one of the top primary schools in the country. At first, it was one of the many schools that benefited from the strides the government made after independence in building new schools, libraries and providing learning materials.But the school has lost its glitter after years of underfunding. Like all government schools, it lacks everything from textbooks to toilet paper. Infrastructure at schools is in a state of total dilapidation. The Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe, one of two teachers' representative bodies in the country, said the fact that authorities require parents to provide chairs is testimony to the state of decay in most public schools. "It shows the extent of the chaos in the education sector," stated a representative.Teachers have also been adversely affected. High levels of stress due to low wages are driving scores of them from the profession. Those that remain are spending their time selling sweets and other goods to supplement their meagre salaries instead of concentrating on their core business of teaching.Zimbabwean teachers on average earn between Z$400 000 and Z$800 000 (between about R11 000 and R23 000). According to the government's Central Statistics Office, an average family of five people requires about Z$900 000 per month (or R25 000) for basic goods and services. Farai Mpofu, a parent, believes it will be a "miracle" if Zimbabwe attains universal primary education by 2015, as per the United Nations's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). "Education in Zimbabwe is in a bad state. The standards have deteriorated alarmingly compared to 10 years ago. Because of the harsh economic environment, teachers are now selling sweets and knitting jerseys," said Mpofu."The education sector is losing highly qualified teachers to neighbouring countries. Kids at public schools are left with teachers who have no interest at all in the job because of low salaries," according to Mpofu.'Near zero'Alice Muchine, a primary-school teacher, described the state of primary education as "near zero". "It is all zero here. We have no resources. We want textbooks to help the children during reading time. We have no charts of instruction, or chalk, or syllabuses. We have nothing. "Most of the parents can no longer pay fees for the kids. The Beam scheme only pays for the fees and not for books for the kids," said Muchine. The Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) is need-based financial aid awarded by the government to orphans. It is limited to school fees and caters for 10 pupils per school. Tariro Shindi, a student, shares the same view. "There are a few textbooks which are shared by four students at any given time. Students are sitting on the floor. Teachers sometimes abscond and if students do the same, no questions are asked. Everything is disorganised."Last year, the UN launched a national education plan for girls to help Zimbabwe with achieving the education MDG. The plan also aims to address emerging HIV/Aids-related and cultural challenges, such as forced early marriage, abuse and economic exploitation, which harm particularly girls. The UN has also actively supported the Ministry of Education and other partners in the launch of a back-to-school campaign in September last year. The campaign seeks to re-enrol children who dropped out of school during the government's widely condemned slum-clearance Operation Murambatsvina.Before Murambatsvina, UN Children's Fund (Unicef) statistics indicated that national primary-school enrolment rates improved from 92% to 96% between 2000 and 2004. Nearly four out of five orphans and vulnerable children were attending primary school. Even the most recent data from a Unicef-led assessment of the impact of Operation Murambatsvina on children's schooling status across Zimbabwe showed that 90% of children affected by the operation are going to school despite being forced to relocate."Zimbabweans are making many sacrifices so that their children can continue going to school," said Unicef's representative in Zimbabwe, Dr Festo Kavishe. According to the US State Department, the country continues to boast the highest literacy rate in sub-Saharan Africa. -- IPS
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Zimbabwe Price Chaos

A group of Central Intelligence officers assaulted a TM supermarket manager because he had told them that he was waiting for a directive from his head office to reduce prices after President Mugabe went on a tirade at the Heroes Acre last week threatening to arrest businesses which continue to increase prices. But since when has the running of an economy require the services of intelligence officers? What is happening Zimbabwe at the moment is just a microcosm of just how things have reached the precipice and one can not hope for anything worse to come than this. Amid the price chaos, i watched a television clip on ZBC TV showing Mugabe coming out of his new official car and wondered how much he bought that car and from where. What hypocrisy.