In our society for one to claim to be a Christian it’s sometimes difficult unless you mention the name of your church and whether you have been baptised. I remember when I was still very young, mother used to force me to go for bible classes so that I could get baptised. I never really understood the whole purpose behind the bible classes until one day she tried to explain to me that if you want to be a Christian you have to be baptised and in order to be baptised I had to learn the bible and learn the Lord’s Prayer and other stuff. I received the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion when I was still a teenager. This is the normal trend if are raised in the Catholic Church.

My biggest concern with my church is this mass exodus of youths from the Catholic Church. After chatting to some of my friends from various churches I got some fascinating facts about the way in which Catholics, Pentecostals and other different Christian denominations are going about in their day to day sessions of praising the Lord. I have always wondered why most youths now prefer the Pentecostal Church to Catholic Church? A friend of mine highlighted that maybe its about youth coming of age and having the freedom to choose which church to go to and sometimes not feeling connected to their faith in the Catholic Church. A friend of mine later said the reason he decided to go to a Pentecostal Church was because of the space created for youths to express themselves freely, which he never experienced during the times he was a Catholic.

I had the opportunity to attended a revival session at one of the Pentecostal churches in my neighbourhood and I noticed how youths could lead in a praise and worship session. This is something that I rarely see in the Catholic Church. I ended up having a question in my mind whether its time the Catholic Church reformed to meet the needs of the young generation. Its good to carry your prayer book, hymn book and your bible with you to church but when it becomes the norm to recite prayers each and every Sunday and having the same person leading prayer sessions, I find it a bit worrying for the young and energetic.

USD400 for vehicular homicide, 2 years in prison for ‘almost’ running over a cop…

“Kombi driver jailed two years, licence cancelled,” read the headline of story carried by Newsday [Friday, June 3, 2011, p4]. The Kwekwe-based kombi driver was also banned from driving commuter omnibuses and other heavy vehicles for the rest of his life. The story is that the 64 year-old man was cornered by a traffic cop while he was doing what these kombi drivers know best: loading passengers at an undesignated point.

The driver is reported to have sped toward the cop who was riding his patrol bike, intending to knock him down, as the State no doubt proved n court. But the cop was quick enough to jump off the bike only to watch helplessly while the mangled bike was dragged under the kombi.

Now, a young lady was killed a couple of months ago by a drunk driver who got off with a USD400 fine. Being the lay person that I am, I’m still trying to figure out the glaring differences of these sentences: one involves a cop and a kombi driver – those “eternal enemies” – the other a drunk driver who takes the life of a young woman obviously minding her own business.

Let’s exercise our imaginations a little: the drunk driver gets a “slap on the wrists,” but for all we know that’s not the end of his bingeing, drunk driving, threatening the lives of other road users and other traffic offences.

The cop returns to work, gets a new bike, imagine the probability of having another kombi driver trying to run him over.

Imagine the sentences thereof.

I already know about malice aforethought, which could explain the sentence meted out to the kombi driver, but I’m still banging my head trying to figure out why where a life is lost, the drunk driver gets that slap on the wrists, while a kombi driver who “threatened” the life of a cop gets two years behind bars?

But then in Zimbabwe these are the kind of questions that are asked just for the sake of it as responsible authorities have never been known for taking up any queries from members of the public. In fact, you are asked: are you telling us how to do our job? And you may as well end up behind bars yourself!

Given the state of our economy, the current model for Indigenisation cannot help but appear to be another political project that plays on the poverty and disenfranchisement of millions of Zimbabweans but in effect will only benefit a few.

Speaking in an interview with the state media Reserve Bank Governor, Dr Gono says
“It has to be realised that not everybody can fit or benefit from the equity-ownership model we are pursuing. Only a few will and that’s a fact.”

One has to wonder what exactly the agenda is behind the programme. It is no secret that the Minister responsible for the programme is a business man himself, neither is it a secret that our Ministers have used other such programmes to amass vast wealth at the expense of the ordinary Zimbabwean.

There are far too many young people with brilliant ideas who lack the capital to finance their enterprises. There are even more who are frustrated by unemployment and poverty. It is this generation that runs riotously through the streets demanding that foreign owned property and companies be given to Zimbabweans. While for now they might have been persuaded to riot in aid of the Minister of Indigenisation’s cause, it is only a matter of time before they turn on a government that is failing them.

If we are to carry out indigenisation then it must be transparent and it truly must benefit all Zimbabweans.  Indigenisation should not be limited to the expropriation of shares from the few companies that have survived the economic roller coaster of the last decade. Empowerment must be looked at holistically. Rather than simply dividing up an economic cake that is becoming smaller every day, let us consider ways in which we can add to it and create wealth. We cannot continue to brag about Zimbabwe’s vast mineral wealth and human capital without having Zimbabweans at the forefront of exploiting these resources for Zimbabwe’s gain.

We just got this article from Robert Tapfumaneyi who is clearly out of sorts about how the Diaspora has apparently liberated women. Here you go . . .

Women citizens of the adopted country

In the height of political and economic discord in Zimbabwe, from 2000, most Zimbabwean men allowed their women to retrace colonialism, by going to the United Kingdom, in search for greener pastures.

Men were left behind, looking after the kids, while their wives sent money for amenities. Little did husbands know that they had let their wives out of the noose?

The United Kingdom is a developed country, which champions democracy in the empowerment of either sex. Worse still, coming to Diaspora without the company of the usually oppressive gender, meant that they had the chance to experiment with challenges that came along. In fact, it toughened their resolve to be independent forever.

By the time their husbands trooped to join them, things had totally changed. Because of Zimbabwe’s publicity, that is when almost everyone in the Diaspora, especially in UK, took advantage and sought asylum or refugee status.

This also enhanced the women’s standing. For every man who was to follow, he was regarded as a dependant. Dependant in the sense that women were acknowledged as Citizens of that adopted country.

In the event of disagreements, the law would always protect the woman. If the woman felt otherwise, the man could be deported forthwith.

As I write, almost all men who followed their women to the United Kingdom fall under the umbrella of their wives because of VISA requirements.

In other words, it’s now easier for our dear wives to divorce husbands in the UK, than back home. It is because of this trauma that men especially in the UK, are secretly building their empires back home because they are not sure of what tomorrow has for them in Diaspora.

Recently, I went to the garage owned by a Zimbo (lingua for Zimbabweans). There I met guys from Zimbabwe, and whilst we were discussing the political situation back home, the issue of Zimbo women’s independence was brought to the fore.

As much as all men agreed that it was worthwhile to immigrate to UK, we all agreed that we made the worst blunder of letting our wives come earlier to achieve this independence.

The sad reality though is that having experienced the first world life experience, it’s pretty unthinkable that our women consider Zimbabwe as their home.

Don’t be mistaken to hear your wife referring to Zimbabwe as kuAfrica. To be honest, almost all men in the Diaspora are in a catch 22 situation. Of course I agree that the world is a global village, but the question to ask is whose village? Our situation is made worse because we have exposed our kids to this eccentric environment. They no longer regard themselves as part of the culture that we always strived to engrain in them.

Life in diaspora has a plethora of challenges that will leave every man in awe!

Robert Tapfumaneyi

Upcoming Lecture

‘A Shadow of Its Former Self? Robert Mugabe & Zimbabwe’s Education System’

by Peter Godwin, award winning foreign correspondent, author, documentary maker and screen writer

Chaired by Baroness Bonham Carter

on Thursday 9th June 2011 at 6pm, followed by a reception, 7.30-9pm at the New Academic Building, Lower Ground Floor (LG.09), London School of Economics

PLEASE RSVP TO: zimbabwe.cara [at] lsbu [dot] ac [dot] uk

Admission is FREE but donations welcome on the door, towards CARA’s work supporting Zimbabwean academics and the re-building of the country’s higher education system.

Raviro, a Kubatana member, recently shared her experience of having her first kiss:

Saturdays were always a girl’s day out. I had planned the day before with my friends that we would go out to Avondale to watch a movie and later get a quick snack at Nandos.  I woke up as usual on that Saturday and did the household chores because that was the only way my mother would give me pocket money and also permission to go out.

I finished my household chores and made a few phone calls with the landline on the logistics with my friends since cell phones weren’t a popular device back in 2002in Zimbabwe. I got ready for the outing and I dressed in my black paddle pushers and a spaghetti top as it was the fashionable clothing at that time.  I got a lift from my neighbour hood and dropped off at the Copacabana bus station to get another lift, which would take me to Avondale Shopping Complex. I dropped off at the Avondale bus stop. I met up with my other friends and went to the 7 Arts movie house and watched the Juwwanna Mann, a romantic comedy that was the talk of most high school students. During the movie one of my friends who had a cell phone at that time had made frequent calls to some of the boys that we were at school with. We were not aware of what she had told the other guys. But we enjoyed the movie and it ended in a very romantic way that even my feelings were aroused.

We went to Nandos food court and grabbed some snacks. Whilst we were eating one of the boys that I learnt with whom I had a deep crush on came and we chatted. Whilst we were chatting I realised that all my friends had given us space and I was left alone with him. He asked if I could escort him to his brother’s car to meet his brother. Little did I know that I had been fooled. The brother was nowhere in sight. We sat on the backseat of the car and continued with our chat. However we ran out of stories and within minutes we were cuddling. I couldn’t control myself however as my feelings had been aroused by the movie that I had been watching.  I just found myself on top of him kissing him. At first I thought I was dreaming. I pinched myself only to realise it was true. “I HAD MY FIRST KISS”. All my dreams had been shattered because I had always dreamt of giving my first kiss to the man who would marry me, and walk me down the aisle.

My crush with this boy ended that very day because I failed to trust him since he had lied to me that I was going to see his brother. Even though I put the blame on him I also failed to control my feelings.