Last Wednesday I was really pleased with the heavy police presence in the city center. You will have to forgive me for praising an otherwise unfortunate situation but for me this was a day to exhale because with so many police around the street kids went on leave. Especially the little terrorists at the corner Leopold Takawira and Samora Machel Avenue.

If Robert Mukondiwa of Metro Talk (the supplement in the Sunday Mail) had been talking, instead of writing about the menace street kids have become, he would be hoarse by now. Recently he challenged Harare Commission chairperson, Sekesai Makwavarara to go to McAdams (a popular kebab restaurant in the city) on foot and buy a pie, and see if she could make it safely to Herald House. Because many women have been attacked and had her bag, food or necklace snatched by these rascals while our so-called ‘city fathers’ turn a blind eye to it all.

Speaking from personal experience there is one particular street ‘man’ who has taken an unusual and very scary liking to me when I get an omnibus at Parklane. On three occasions he has made a point of spotting me in the crowd along that road and menacingly coming straight at me or following me. On all occasions I have somehow managed to escape his filthy clutches; at one point a car packed with kind gentlemen stopped and they scared him away. At another point I nearly got myself bumped when I suddenly crossed the road just to move out of his path. I have no idea what his intentions are if he succeeds in getting close enough but I’d rather not find out.

Instead of the police flexing their muscles and threatening ordinary citizens under the guise of various ‘operations’, they should put themselves to good use by effectively dealing with these young thugs, maybe under “Operation Go-Away!”? But it honestly looks like the government doesn’t care about the wails of defenseless women in this country. How ironic – with all the fuss and clamor made over the passing of the Domestic Violence Bill, we women are still being abused on the streets of our own country.

As I mentioned earlier, was it merely coincidence that when there was a heavy police presence in town, the street kids were conspicuously absent? Do the police not realize the ‘amazing’ power their mere presence has over street kids? Will anybody do anything about this?

This week, Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Auction Floors were meant to open for trading, weeks earlier than normally scheduled. Although the first few weeks at the floors are usually slow while farmers wait for competitive prices, not one farmer brought forward their golden leaf.

The tobacco farmers are said to be telling ‘Gono’, our Reserve Bank Governor, to give them a favourable exchange rate that will allow them to match their production costs.The concerns of the tobacco farmers are legitimate. If you spend XYZ on production you would also expect to be paid an amount that is more than XYZ and is profitable. Previously Gono created a special exchange rate for tobacco farmers but this year it seems he has had enough of farmers.

Recently the governor announced he would no longer be assisting our A2 farmers with any inputs or subsidised fuel as has been the case over the last seven years. It seems like its payback time for the farmers who have said: if there isn’t “devaluation”, then you won’t get any golden leaf.

Speaking on our one and only television station last night during News @ 8, Gono warned farmers not to hold the state to ransom over the exchange rate. “Lets not fight, it’s not necessary,” the governor said. He said that the government has given farmers subsidies in the form electricity, fuel and free inputs. The governor added, “this is tantamount to biting the hand that feeds you”.

The Financial Gazette reported today that there were no bookings at the Tobacco Auction Floors. The paper quoted the acting Chief Executive of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) as saying the tobacco farmers wanted an exchange rate in line with the parallel market. The official rate of the Zimbabwean dollar is pegged at $250 to the greenback while the parallel market rate is $13 000.

Will the farmers continue to hold the state to ransom? Only time will tell.

Battered activists finally made it to court on March 13 after being arrested and assaulted in custody since Sunday March 11th. Their crime? To turn up for a Save Zimbabwe Campaign prayer meeting/rally in Highfields, Harare on March 11.

Note that a high court order was required to compel the police, among other things, to produce their prisoners at court on March 13. Ambulances were required to bring a number of the injured to the court. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights provide a very good summary of events.

View an animation of photographs (500kb) taken on March 13 when these activists were brought to the Magistrates Court. Right click the link and save the file onto your computer to share with others.

The animation includes . . .

• A ZRP police truck arriving at the courts with civic and political leaders, some injured
• Jubilant supporters provide solidarity and support
• Ambulances ferry some of the activists who were seriously injured in police custody, to the court
• Throngs of people turned up at the courts in solidarity, including some members of the clergy
• Grace Kwinjeh, Morgan Tsvangirai and Lovemore Madhuku leaving the court
• A defiant Arthur Mutambara

Read a round up of all press releases, statements, images and articles concerning the Save Zimbabwe Campaign prayer meeting which was disrupted by police in Highfields on Sunday, March 11th.

So what am I hearing here in Harare?

In several conversations I’ve had with high density dwellers they have stated that there is a heavy police presence, not only in Highfields but many other high density areas as well. An illegal curfew has been put in place which sees bars closing as early as 6pm. People walking in groups of 4 or more are particularly at risk of harassment and intimidation. Pedestrians are randomly being accused of being the “ones that stoned the police” at the rally on Sunday.

Peter, a waiter in a cafe in Harare, told me that he didn’t know that the rally was taking place, nor did his football team mates so they were turned away by police when they arrived for a game at Zimbabwe Grounds, the heartland of the rally that was disrupted. Peter was indignant and said that the ban of public meetings was ridiculous and that both Zanu PF and the MDC should be free to meet as they please.

I’ve been seeing Zimbabwe like a cake lately. Morgan Tsvangirai, Raymond Majongwe, Mike Davies, Grace Kwinjeh (etc) are the candles burning big and bright. The icing is made up of a small section of civic and political activists. While the actual cake itself comprises the Zimbabwean people. And until we, the Zimbabwean people, come to the party and support civic and political leaders working for change, then not much will happen. The cake has got to cook. It’s got to get warm, and bake and maybe even burn, but it can’t stay like it has – unmovable.

Because if it does, no matter how many Highfield rallies we have, and no matter how iconic Tsvangirai becomes, the struggle for freedom in Zimbabwe will remain lop-sided.

I’m feeling sorry for Tsvangirai. Because he’s been assaulted, together with many other comrades, but also because I wonder whether he’ll succeed with his most important challenge? Which is to persuade Zimbabweans to join him / in the flesh / in person and on the streets and present a unified rejection of the Mugabe regime. For the last 4 years it’s been a case of “you go first” (Tsvangirai to the people) or “you go first” (the people to Tsvangirai). This needs to change.

The fact that Tsvangirai and his comrades displayed immense courage on Sunday is undisputed. What is also undisputed is the fact that Zimbabweans must consider how, when and where we will fight for our rights.

I was watching tv last night and the host of the discussion programme asked whether the Democratic Party in the USA was owned by MoveOn.org. It got me thinking about the aftermath of yesterday’s rally (The Herald is correct I think – it wasn’t a prayer meeting) which was disrupted by the ZRP in Highfields in Harare.

The media in Zimbabwe is owned and operated by the Mugabe regime. So Sunday’s aftermath, aka how the events are being portrayed, is in the hands of the State. Zimbabweans, since last night, are being force fed a diet of MDC thuggery, non-attendance and opposition violence.

This makes me wonder when the pro-democracy movement will get its act together in terms of creating its own robust media and information response unit.

The majority of Zimbabweans don’t get satellite tv so Zimbabwe’s prominence on the BBC last night is neither here nor there for those who want to get the real story. It’s also unlikely that the SABC would provide an unbiased portrayal of events given their track record of unquestioning support for the Mugabe government. The only (so-called) independent newspapers in Zimbabwe will be published at the end of the week, and as we know, just a few hours in politics is a long time, let alone a whole week. In the meantime the State media will endeavor to reinforce their side of the story.

Where does that leave us?

Well, there are a few options (that is if the Save Zimbabwe Campaign took communications seriously):

• The organisers of the rally should have had their media support team in action on Sunday writing first hand accounts of the situation (unembellished) and getting, where possible, photographs and footage
• Sunday night and Monday should have seen the MDC and NCA (aka Save Zimbabwe Campaign) printing presses working overtime using the material gathered by the media support team
• Leaflets and street tabloids detailing what really happened should be landing on the streets of Harare on Tuesday morning
• Posters denouncing the state’s ban on public gatherings should have been pre-printed and plastered around Harare in the early hours of Monday morning
• If there really were church groups involved in the organising of Sunday’s rally, prayer meetings in churches throughout the city should be organised for Monday night in solidarity with those who are detained and injured
• Large scale SMS campaigns should be engaged to keep people informed
• A press conference should be organised in readiness for Tsvangirai’s (and others’) release from prison

Highfield was a very localised event. Many Zimbabweans weren’t there and want to know more; they want the facts.

Who is going to provide them?

WOZA women have taken to the streets in cities and towns across Zimbabwe to raise awareness of their social justice charter – The People’s Charter. They have suffered arrest and beatings in the process, all the time maintaining their dignity and disciplined non-violence. They have sung and danced, carried flowers, banners and babies. They’ve been hard at work on the public face of this campaign since at least November 2006.

Yesterday, on International Women’s Day, 20 WOZA women remained in custody in Masvingo – illegally detained for over the maximum of 48 hrs allowed for in the Public Order and Security Act (POSA). Meanwhile in the capital Harare, diplomats and bureaucrats from local women’s organisations celebrated International Women’s Day in fine style. They were busy celebrating the passage of the Domestic Violence Act through parliament in 2006. The Domestic Violence Act finished its contentious passage through parliament on Dec 20, 2006. It was finally gazetted on Feb 26, 2007. (Note: Many would consider the provisions of this Act weak when compared with similar legislation in other parts of the world). For all the celebrating you would think that the Act was actually in force. Reading the small print you will see that its date or dates of commencement will be fixed by the President by statutory instrument in terms of section 1(2) of the Act, which allows different dates of commencement to be fixed for different provisions.

I wonder why Mugabe couldn’t be persuaded to sign the necessary documents in time for International Women’s Day? Technical details aside, surely this would have been a date to aim for?

And finally, of what real benefit is the Domestic Violence Act to women in Zimbabwe whilst unemployment and inflation are at world beating record highs? And when laws suffocate the normal freedoms required for the people of a country to organise and mobilise?

The privileged and educated women working for swanky civics and coalitions in the cities need to make more of an effort to support and participate in the grassroots endeavors of organisations like WOZA. Donors need to make an effort to ensure that a significant proportion of the money they mobilise for women’s issues reaches impoverished communities.

Mugabe was recently roundly criticised for his lavish birthday party. Similarly, the next time NGO bureaucrats and diplomats celebrate in the city, I’d like to see them do it over buns and tea and not wine and fancy snacks.