With elections looming for this year, many Zimbabweans are wondering how to register to vote. Whilst voter registration is a continuous process, that is, you can go any time to register, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has announced a push for voter registration, and verification, through April.

In the past, these voter registration drives have been accompanied by vast publicity, advertising and also mobile registration, to spare would-be voters from having to go to the small handful of fixed registration offices for this process. However, indications are that a shortage of funds will compromise this mobile registration process.

So, it’s not the easiest thing in the world, but if you want to vote this year you need to be registered to vote. Even if you have voted before, it can’t  hurt to also go and verify your entry on the voters’ roll to make sure you are still there.

How to register to vote – Zimbabwe

1)    Figure out where to go. Use the drop down menu on the Offices tab on the Registrar General’s website to find the office or sub-office for your province and district.

2)    Take everything you need. You can find a list of the eligibility and documentation requirements on the ZEC website as well as on the Registrar General’s website. You can also phone ZEC on Harare 774095 or 759130, or the Registrar General’s office on 706311 or 702295 (we’ve found them helpful on the phone if you hold on for long enough, but it can take some time to get transferred to the right person).

3)    Let us know how it goes. If you go and register or check your name on the voters’ roll, tell us what you think of the process. Drop us an email on info [at] kubatana [dot] net, a comment on Facebook, or a message on Twitter.

Regional WASH Coordinator: Oxfam GB
Deadline: 15 January 2013

Oxfam is a global movement of people who share the belief that, in a world rich in resources, poverty isn’t inevitable.

Public health (water and sanitation hygiene or WASH) plays a central role in the poverty continuum of Southern Africa. WASH is key in addressing issues of HIV, food security, livelihoods and emergencies. Oxfam in Southern Africa through its public health programmes in the region has an opportunity to increase the scale of our public health work, and more importantly to increase the impact of the programme, by ensuring that it is structured to most appropriately respond to the real underlying problems and to ensure that it integrates more effectively with other existing programmes and complements the implementation of WASH related policies in the countries and the region..

Oxfam GB seeks to appoint a Regional WASH Coordinator, based in Harare, Zimbabwe, to play a pivotal role in cementing water and sanitation as a core component of the region’s programme and will ensure that Oxfam continues to maintain key competencies in access to public health and emergency WASH preparedness and response.

The Regional WASH Coordinator will be responsible for leading regional WASH programme development and implementation support and regional WASH emergency preparedness and response.

This is an exciting opportunity to undertake pioneering work and innovation in humanitarian as well as development contexts working in both urban and rural settings. This is also an opportunity to inform and influence Oxfam’s regional and global WASH priorities in areas such as risk reduction, resilience and integrating and aligning WASH with Oxfam’s livelihood and gender work. Oxfam in Southern Africa has upgraded this position to reflect the importance and commitment to these expectations.

Requirements
-Master’s degree in water engineering (or similar) and / or equivalent technical experience and training in the design and implementation of water hygiene systems in Africa
-Demonstrate sound experience in leading public health programmes, programme policy and strategy development as well as the monitoring and management of large budgets
-Experience in assessing and responding to emergencies is essential
-Willing to travel up to 50% of the time.

Click here for a detailed job description and information on how to apply for this position (quote ref: INT5881).

Oxfam is an equal opportunities employer. It particularly encourages applications from people living with HIV and AIDS, people with disabilities, women and previously disadvantaged people.

Oxfam GB can only accept applications from qualified candidates with the right to live and work in Zimbabwe.

The world’s most expensive toilets were built in Namibia at a cost of N$700.00 or US$100 000 each. According to Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-Southern Africa) these Blair toilets were built in rural areas of Omusati region and the Namibian government was fleeced N$20 million in the toilet scam.

Rob Burrell Unplugged / Mann Friday: A night of acoustic tunes

In Zimbabwe for a couple of weeks Rob Burrell surfaces to host a night of acoustic tunes of Mann Friday music, including tracks of their new album Trainrides and Radio Play.

All proceeds from this event go to the Harare Children’s Home.

When: Friday, 11 January 2013
Time: 6:30pm … show starts at 7pm
Where: Tristan’s Bar, 14 Aintree Road, Highlands, Harare

Entrance: $10, and we encourage you to bring some clothes to donate

Special Feature! A cap signed by the members of Cold Play will be auctioned.

Food and drink available.

Come, listen and support a good cause.

Last Saturday I popped into a pharmacy at about 815am and the saleswoman was drinking a can of Red Bull. Where do you go from there I thought.

Then I went into Spar which has opened up just next to Pick and Pay – go figure. Spar didn’t have any decent milk so I went to Pick and Pay. Maybe that’s why we’re seeing supermarkets mushroom all over Harare – shopping can be a bit of a hunt and peck affair. In Pick and Pay the cashier seemed weighed down by the new year just a few days in.

Later on I went for a walk in the Botanical Gardens. Good value for money but better get in quick I reckon before our local authorities give the go-ahead to build another shopping mall on some free land. We walked down to the National Parks offices like we did the day before. On our way a red Camry stopped and a man in it asked us where we were going to which we replied we’re turning around in the car park. He appeared to work at National Parks, given his officiousness. He told us to “get out”. Nice. There’s no sign that says no entry. There’s no sign that says anything. When tourists come to Zimbabwe some of them walk in the Botanical Gardens, what a nice welcome that would have been. We were two Zimbabweans, what a nice way to treat us.

Well as the New Year begins not many people have a clear picture of what the year holds for them and I am one of them. Social and political problems of 2012 continue to haunt our faltering government of national unity (GNU) in 2013 but the big question is, is it gonna be referendum or elections or maybe pay increase for the civil servants?

The issue of a new constitution for Zimbabwe drags into 2013 unresolved and it could be a blessing in disguise for the legislators who are currently faced with end of term in office. Faced with fear of leaving office empty-handed some of the legislators are already demanding what’s due to them before the term expires. With an unimpressive record to show for the time they got elected into office some political parties have blocked conducting primary elections to avoid embarrassing the so-called “top brass”.

Such a move killed my hopes of aspiring to be a politician of some sort. Maybe next time when democracy is not just a bar talk.
 
Election manifestos full of development promises from both parties were washed down the drain as political entrepreneurship took center stage. As people continue to wallow in poverty the only hope they have is in the next ballot which will be held this year. On the New Year’s eve civil servants issued an ultimatum to the government to engage them in salary negotiations. Not much was yielded from last year’s negotiations with the government. Good timing indeed to bargain, maybe this year will be the year for the “servants” as parties in the GNU will be trying to please the electorate. A popular prophet saw gold for Zimbabwe in 2013 but the prediction also had death and turmoil. Whether you believe in prophecy or not let’s just sit back watch as the events of 2013 start to unfold.