Much noise has been made about Pastor Makandiwa’s latest innovative idea of getting linked to his followers. Pastor Emmanuel Makandiwa founder of United Families International (UFI) ministries popularly known as the “The Man of God” by his followers recently launched an airtime recharge card called Christian Spiritual Link. With this recharge card one can communicate directly to the prophet by calling him to get over-the-phone prophecies and spiritual messages. The airtime card can be found in denominations of $3 and $6. Having the gift of delivering people from the bondage of Satan, Pastor Emmanuel Makandiwa now commands a huge following to the extent that he can fill the 60 000 seater National Sports Stadium for a single service. With such a huge following almost everyone would be willing to have personal contact with the Pastor. Thumbs up to the genius minds behind the idea.

While this is an innovative business venture it also comes with its own irregularities. With its special functions accessing any cellphone network in the country the Spiritual Link recharge card has drawn attention from the Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) leading to an investigation over the legality of this recharge card. On the back of the card, the leading three cellphone service companies can offer recharge platform numbers arousing speculation that maybe this was a partnership deal with these companies. POTRAZ’s investigations to establish whether there was contravention of the Telecommunications Act comes at a time when some papers have suggested that Pastor Makandiwa has fled the country. Its now up to the authorities to determine whether there was any breach of the law but I believe the Spiritual Link is really going to propel Pastor Makandiwa to the prosperity that he preaches in his sermons.

This is Mugabe’s driveway said my colleague. And what a long driveway too. I guess many of you have noticed how the Borrowdale Road is being resurfaced? It was in brilliant shape next to the many other roads that are pot holed and falling apart. But of course Mugabe’s motorcade comes first and as we all know the Borrowdale Road leads to his mansion. We’re all saps was her next comment. Because if you think about it, the upgrading of the Borrowdale road stinks. And what are we doing about it? Sweet F A as my ma would’ve said.

Then we passed a Zimbabwe Independent newspaper advertising billboard that said that our PM is being probed about a $1.5 million fraud. With not much more of a headline to go on I jokingly said well how do you reckon he got the money to renovate his mansion on Kew Drive? Tsvangirai doesn’t have the money himself to live so large so who exactly is footing the bill? Zanu PF needs to keep him under their thumb, so there’s a thought. Or maybe there’s a foreign hand involved. Or maybe its just that big egos can’t live in modest houses, so fuck the povo.

Either which way, what is it with big men in power, and mansions. I know some of you are thinking about that joke about men needing to make up for size in different ways but we won’t go there.

And then we talked about the comments starting to roll in about the Big Brother contestants getting cash from Mugabe. Someone suggested that Mugabe may well be changing sides having given a pale face some dosh, Vimbai, whose mother is out of favour, a kiss, and congratulating Chamisa for being a “supersonic” minister. Hmmm. What’s up with all that.

Had a few good laughs watching ZBC news last night when a senior education official in one of the Mashonaland provinces said President Mugabe had donated computers in schools where there is no electricity. Nothing new really. Sydney Sekeramayi was officially opening a computer lab at some rural school, and the education official’s comments were indeed telling and I wondered why the reporter had allowed that comment to make it to the bulletin considering it was not very flattering if you think of it. The other week Sunday Mail [July 24-30] ran a story with the headline “REA please give us electricity.” REA of course being the Rural Electrification Agency, and it will be recalled that this was one of the vehicles used by the then ruling party to galvanise support in the rural areas, and in the Sunday Mail story it was the rural folks themselves who were making the appeal for magetsi kuvanhu. The Sunday Mail reported: “Many rural areas are still  “in the dark,” more than a decade after the launch of the programme.” You then have to wonder who advises the President when he makes these computer donations to schools in areas where that education official says there is no electricity. But then as we have seen it with local politicians for a long time: what they do or say does not have to make sense, just as long as they are seen to be doing something. So much for an informed electorate in an alleged democracy!

PRESS RELEASE

A Temporary Inconvenience
By Andrew Mutandwa

Poignant poetry collection distils the lonely ache of displacement experienced by those forced to flee political turmoil in their homeland.

Andrew Mutandwa’s debut book of poetry charts the struggle to escape oppression and the difficulties the journey presents to those forced from their homes, lives and families by domestic troubles. This heart-wrenching volume initially draws on the harrowing experiences faced by those living in the iron grip of a brutal regime. Contracting the pain and suffering of oppressed faceless millions into the compelling testament of one man, the poems evoke the violence of life lived under a military dictatorship. Swinging from the loss of self at home to the loss of self abroad, the poetry brings to light the traumatic erosion of individual identity that confronts refugees who flee one type of violence only to be confronted with another deeper violence – the defacement of individual identity and the erosion of cultural expression amid the lonely diaspora. This powerfully moving collection lays bare the pain and pathos of politically displaced individuals, articulating the lifelong effects of what initially seems like a temporary inconvenience.

With striking realism Andrew Mutandwa portrays the emotional battle to carve out a new home for one’s family when ‘home’ becomes a hostile and dangerous place. Providing an insight into the erosion of freedom in Zimbabwe, Mutandwa offers a powerful testament to the bravery of individuals in the African diaspora and of displaced peoples around the world. Providing a much needed exposition of the cultural tensions that repeatedly rock Africa to the core, A Temporary Inconvenience is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand why this rich land is failing its own progeny.

About the Author: Andrew Mutandwa is a former civil servant, diplomat and journalist who has specialised in international development, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and human rights issues. He was in the first group of journalists to be formally trained when Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980. He currently lives in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

The book is currently being sold on line through a number of distributors such as Amazon, WH Smith, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, and Author House.

It is so easy for one to throw litter on the streets without caring about who then picks it up. Some of this litter finds its way into the city’s water sources, which in turn means that the City Council has to fork out millions to purify the water. Failure to do so then means residents will receive a short supply of this precious resource. The possibility of it being contaminated and dirty cannot be ruled out.

Tisunungureiwo Cooperative is a community-based organisation that recycles waste material. The cooperative collects the rubbish from unemployed people who move around the city of Harare.

It is the Cooperative’s dream to build solid infrastructure at their complex and also be able to do the recycling themselves. For example, melting plastic bottles or grinding metal objects. They also wish to have a supply of electricity and water, both of which they currently don’t have. Some members of the group have received training in waste management but they also wish to further their knowledge and the skills of all their members.

These photographs show the work of Tisunungureiwo Cooperative. This is a way they earn their living by being responsible citizens.

The Parliament of Zimbabwe is attempting to make changes to the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13). The Electoral Amendment Bill, 2011, currently before Parliament seeks to make several changes to the existing law with a view to promoting free and fair elections. Dr Alex Magaisa last week presented a lecture on the analysis of the Electoral Amendment Bill. This event was organised by Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN).

Alex, who is a lecturer at the University of Kent in the Law School, broke the Bill into simple and edible modules for all to understand. Often these bills come in many pages, filled with legal terminology that will not be easily understood by the majority of citizens. Among other things, Dr Magaisa emphasised the need to remove deceased or absent voters from the voters roll. A report published earlier this year by SAIRR indicated that persons listed on the voters roll are questionable as some of them their ages go over 109 and many were all born surprisingly on the same day.

Dr Magaisa said that in the Bill there was a provision for a mechanism to allow for the removal of the dead, and those absent from the country. It does so by allowing the relatives of the deceased, or absent voter to require the Registrar’s Office to remove the persons upon proof. He said however that people need incentives to go forth and report.

For example in Mozambique they ran a campaign in which relatives that managed to inform the Electoral authorities of their deceased were given state assisted burials. Dr Magaisa put forward his own suggestion, which he deemed to be more practical in the Zimbabwean context. He said that the Registrar’s Office has records of deceased persons since it is a prerequisite for a burial order to be produced before one is buried.

In his words, “There should be a process of inter office exchange of information, so that upon notification of death to the Registrar General’s Office this information should be passed on to the Commission which will then effect the removal of the person”.

This is one of the many issues that need to be addressed to ensure credible elections in Zimbabwe.