Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) sent us through this statement supporting the provision of condoms in prisons for important reasons of public health and human rights.

GALZ supports calls by the Ministry of Health and Child welfare to provide condoms to prisoners as a noble move in fighting HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe’s prisons.

The danger of sexual violence in prisons is extremely increased under conditions of severe overcrowding and malnutrition such as currently prevails in Zimbabwe.

Prison culture encourages men to have sex with men if not necessitating it and you will often find aggressor/victim type relationships. The mere existence of sexual relationships between inmates who do not identify as homosexual or bisexual is powerful testimony to men’s need for and ability to create intimacy when faced with factors such as confinement for longer periods.

Due to the fact that men generally have a high sex drive, they are bound to have sex regardless of circumstances. By making condoms unavailable and by not acknowledging that men have sex with men in prison, the government and prison authorities are encouraging the spread of sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS and putting pressure on the national health budget.

Gender roles and identities in prison are defined primarily by the ability to exercise power. It is important that those less able to stand up for themselves and not be bullied into unwanted sex, protect themselves. Not providing condoms to prisoners has serious implications. When prisoners are eventually released and come back into society to wives and girlfriends, they may infect healthy partners and thus spread HIV.

This isn’t about condoning homosexuality. It is a practical health based human rights issue that seeks to protect the health of both those who are incarcerated as well as people on the other side of the prison walls.

Government, in it’s bid to stem the HIV/AIDS infection rates should ensure that inmates are provided with condoms. We also call upon the Justice Ministry to improve the conditions of the country’s prison system and address overcrowding in these facilities to ensure that prisoners are not exposed to diseases such as Tuberculosis.

Making condoms available to prisoners does not encourage homosexuality; it protects the health of prisoners and their partners outside of prison.

Following on from the discussion of the Minsitry of Education’s treatment of pregnant school goers, we sent our SMS subscribers the following message:

Kubatana! Should pregnant schoolgirls be excluded from school or supported to return? Email your views to Min of Ed – moesaczw [at] gmail [dot] com and cc us info [at] kubatana [dot] net

We wondered if people would support the return to stricter measures towards pregnant schoolgirls, or if they would have preferred that the Ministry kept to its August policy.

We received over 50 responses via email and SMS, across a range of opinions from punitive to supportive, with some advocating for special counselling to help young parents adjust to their new lifestyle and responsibilities.

We share their responses below:

• As a mother I feel that pregnant schoolgirls should be supported to return to school and complete their education, we are human and all make mistakes in life and learn from that.  We must remember our children are the future and education is very important. In past cases when a schoolgirl was impregnated by a schoolboy he was allowed to continue with his education while the schoolgirl was not – not fair – as it takes two – he too should have been excluded from school with her. When a single working man/married man/sugar daddy impregnates a schoolgirl he should be made through the courts to pay for the education of the schoolgirl plus maintain the child until it attains the age of 18 years.
• They should be supported and counselled.
• Expelling pregnant schoolgirls is not a wise solution. They need REAL counseling & send back to school. If one puts off fire with fire, ashes will be the remains. After our independence, pregnant mothers & girls went back to school & some of them are now professionals in various fields. Yes the schoolgirl is wrong by indulging in sex, but we can’t correct wrong with wrong.
• Should not be excluded from school but supported to return after matenity leave.
• I think pregnant schoolgirl must be excluded becoz once we consider them its like we are promoting sexual plesure.
• Ministry of Education should not exclude them because if they do so we promote abortion and child dumping.
• They should be suppoted to return to maintain the high literacy we have. If you educate a woman you educate the whole world.
• They shld b supported to return.
• She must go back to schöol
• Yes they must return to school for the benefit of their child’s future
• i write concerning school girls who should continue with school cause that is the only way they can have a better life with the siblings or else it will be worse if they drop out of school cause most these girls will have no one to look after them unless if you want to introduce what is in South Africa were the governement keeps the children until they are mature enough to look after themselves so my own option is that they should go back to school since it is a right for every child to have basic education
• Pregnant schoolgirls should not be seen even near schools because once they are allowed to attend school they will spoil other school children.The only good thing they should be given second chance after removing the child from breast feeding.
• pregnant school girls should not be allowed to go back to school ,by doing so it sends wrong message to other girls , and it will be difficult for them to be displined and whats going to happen when her due date concides with o or a level exams
• Why should we exclude pregnant girls? the gvmnt must prosecute boys who did this to girls because most the girls are being forced sex by man. Also to add on that if she continue with school may be she gonna pass the examinations and might get a better job to care of the child. Therefore to exclude pregnant girls from school does not pay good living to these girls.
• Pregnant students shloud be expelled
• They must be supported, continue with schoolwork in order to support their offspring as well as getting better employment hence being pregnant doesn’t mean the end of life.
• I   think pregnant school girls  should be excluded from school and return after she has deliver, if the boy who is responsible for the pregnant is still at school he should also be excluded until his girl has deliver, it will be fair that way
• Schoolgirls must be given  their right to learn if need arises after giving brith
• They must be supported to return.
• Pregnant skul girls shld be allowed 2 continue with their education.n.b, 2 educate a woman is educating the whle nation bt a man only one persn
• Must get support to complete school and again the gvt must have laws to protect them and their rights
• No!pregnant girls should not go back to school. the reason is that,”they wil influence other girls to get through such bad roles.”
• Definately be excluded from school.
• No they must not be allowed to school when pregnant
• School girl kana achinge ane pregnant ngaadzingwe pachikoro ipapo  kwete kuti ngaadzokere kuchikoro apo ndaramba zvachose
• They should be given second chance for their future back to school
• Pregnant school girls must return to school after giving birth
• Supported to return
• Support them
• They should return after giving birth
• They should be expelled if not that will be encouraging others and big daddies in particular
• They shouldn’t be excluded from school, but legal measures be upon the one who impregnated her.
• Pregnant schoolgirls must permited to cameback
• They should join adult shools because they are adults
• Shld be back to school after delivering sumtimes they are cheated shld attend night school
• Yes pregnant school girls should be supported to finish school not to be expelled from school because education is for all.
• No they shld be given another chance
• They should be excluded from school because their line of thought, social responsibilities will now be diffent from those not pregnant. They must attend adult classes.
• They must do night school because they can spoil other girls
• Pregnant Girls shldnt be allowed back to sch coz that wil promote more pregnancies.
• Pregnant students shloud be expelled
• Pregnart schoolgrils must return to school
• Shld supported to return cz every one how wants to lean has got the right.
• The pregnant scholars  should be supported to return  to school , but we should educate ,control and monitor  their behaviour thoroughry  so that they can have a better life.
• Yes.But night schooll 4 if we pour a cup of urine in a drum full of milk all milk is dirty.I know galz early mature & easily traped by visibl things.Falling is not wrong need counselling rather than 2 abort.
• Pregnant girls shd be xcluded frm sch as wel as the one responsible bcoz skools are not maternity hospitals,educ first bfo parenthood.
• No the pregnant school children should not be expelled from school because their are young and innocent also their are beings the same we also make mistakes
• Schoolgirls who are  pregnat should  exculded  from school.
• Supported 2 return
• children should be given their right to education including pregnant girls
• I think the girls should be allowed to return to school, but only after delivery, and the person responsible should also be made to leave, if its a teacher, he should be banned from teaching forever.
• They should be counselled and supported to go back to school after delivery
• The right thing is to support preg sch girls to come back to sch. They need to go thru counselling and rehabilitation becoz heavy psychological trauma in the process. She’s now a mother learning with girls. Will she swallow this easily? There is need for family counselling in order for parents concerned to accept this circumstance. The sch/mates. What will be their reaction? Isolation(social bulling) is most probable. It is easy to say lets support the girl back but are we aware of what it takes. It’s high time the gvt has to employ sch chaplains and counsellors at each sch. Otherwise nyadzi dzinokunda rufu. The girl will not want to come back in the face of all maner of support. Do we force her? I think prevention is cheaper than reconstruction of a damaged personality of such girls.

The Economist Group today held a one-day conference on “The Future of Zimbabwe.” The high power meeting brought together business leaders, economists and political analysts to explore the question “When will Zimbabwe see a real recovery.”

One of the panel sessions was on Agriculture and food security, and the panelists included Sam Moyo of the African Institute for Agrarian Studies, and John Worsley-Worswick of Justice for Agriculture.

Ironically, the conference was held just two days after the farm house on Twyford Farm in Chegutu was burnt down. According to a report from the farm:

This farm is protected by a French BIPPA and a High Court order in my favour from 2007 and despite all that, I was ordered on the 18th March 2010 to pack all my belongings and fined $200 for illegally occupying the farm. Since then, my home has not been occupied by Jamaya Muduvuri who has an Offer Letter on Twyford. In February last year 30 thugs, led by Muduvuri, occupied the farm and Muduvuri proceeded to steal all my crops, farming equipment and vehicles. Yesterday he finished gutting the farm completely by burning the main homestead. It has taken one year for my profitable farm to become a totally abandoned land where no crop has been planted and the home has been destroyed. Furthermore, Muduvuri already has 4 farms to his name and mine was the 5th one.

What happened on my farm has NOTHING to do with any kind of land reform: the land has not been utilized, the equipment and crops have been stolen, all my animal stock has been slaughtered and finally my home has been burnt.

I look forward to hearing what the conference concluded. But surely we can’t have much hope in the future if we keep on reliving the past?

Last month, the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture issued a new policy which reversed the government regulation which required pregnant girls to be automatically expelled from school.

Instead, the Ministry granted female learners who got pregnant three month’s leave, after which she could resume her studies. A male student responsible for pregnancy would be given paternity leave for the same period.

But a circular issued by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary reverses all of that. Once again, pregnant schoolgirls and prospective fathers will be punished.

According to the circular: “The law provides for the exclusion of a learner who falls pregnant, and expulsion of a learner responsible for it.”  After consultations between the school and parents or guardians, a girl could be readmitted to school three months after a baby’s birth at the grade or form she had been in before she had the baby. However, the boy responsible for the pregnancy would be considered for admission at another school, and only after a period of 12 months. “It should be noted that re-admission of the boy learner is not automatic, as approval would have to be sought and granted from the ministry of education before re-admission in any other formal school,” the circular said.

Join the debate!

Protest the renewed discrimination against learners who are also prospective parents. Email your views to the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture on moesaczw [at] gmail [dot] com

Disagree? Think pregnant students should be punished, not supported? Share your feedback on this issue with us – comment below or email info [at] kubatana [dot] net

As this excerpt from an IRIN article last month illustrates, “falling pregnant used to mean the end of school for girls in Zimbabwe.”

In 2008 Sarudzai Gopoza, now 19, dropped out of school after falling pregnant. “He refused to marry me. My father said he could not look after me, so I had to look for a job. Luckily he let me leave the child under the custody of my mother,” she told IRIN.

A government regulation stipulating that pregnant girls automatically be expelled from school meant that Gopoza – who was about to write O-Level examinations, a school-leaving certificate that would have greatly enhanced her job-finding prospects – had to work as a domestic worker.

“My life is ruined – as a housemaid I am earning hardly enough to buy food and clothes for my child, and I don’t see myself being able to further my education and get a better job in the future. I will consider myself lucky to get a husband who will also accept my child and look after both of us,” she said.

So I was excited by and impressed with a new regulation by the Ministry of Education, Sport, Art and Culture that would give pregnant female learners three months’ maternity leave, after which they could resume their studies. The new regulation also gave a male student responsible for pregnancy paternity leave for the same length of time.

But the latest report from IRIN sees the Ministry backing away from these provisions. There is a return to the previous, harsher attitude toward pregnant learners – and  accordingly a far more punitive response to them.

According to IRIN:

“Learners in all schools may be suspended, excluded or expelled from school for various acts of misconduct of a serious nature,” Stephen Mahere, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, said in a circular.

“Pregnancy of a learner, and being responsible for it, are such an example of misdemeanour of a serious nature. The law provides for the exclusion of a learner who falls pregnant, and expulsion of a learner responsible for it,” the circular warned.

After consultations between the school and parents or guardians, a girl could be readmitted to school three months after a baby’s birth at the grade or form she had been in before she had the baby, Mahere said.

However, the boy responsible for the pregnancy would be considered for admission at another school, and only after a period of 12 months.

“It should be noted that re-admission of the boy learner is not automatic, as approval would have to be sought and granted from the ministry of education before re-admission in any other formal school,” the circular said.

I attended the Civil Society Monitoring Mechanism (CISOMM) meeting commemorating the second anniversary of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) yesterday. The meeting also launched the six month shadow report on the performance of the inclusive government of Zimbabwe – 2010

The event included a panel discussion with Prof Lloyd Sachikonye, Tabita Khumalo, Bulawayo East Member of Parliament and member of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC), and Member of Parliament Paul Madzore.

Prof Sachikonye started off the panel discussion by outlining the state of Zimbabwe two years after the signing of the GPA. He looked at five key performance areas for the GPA. His analysis was more balanced, but I made my own score card for these five areas:

• Economic: 0.5 (half a point for kerbing inflation, zero points for economic growth and job creation)
• Constitutional reform: 0 (How can we have a functionally consultative Constitution making process in an environment where citizens are still harassed and intimidated and public meetings are still cancelled by the police)
• Media reform: 0 (Sure, there’s now a daily version of the Zimbabwe Independent. But what about radio licensing? Independent television? Not to mention renewed jamming of SW Radio Africa)
• Security sector reform: 0 (Minister Makone: What New Leaf)
• Transitional justice and reconciliation: 0 (How can we even talk about justice when there is still violence?)

Total: 0.5/5

Sachikonye said “some things are happening,” as if this gave the GPA a positive score. But to me it felt more indicative of just how much we’ve been through. He spoke of the trauma of political violence in 2000, 2002 and 2008, but I think the trauma Zimbabweans have experienced goes beyond just political violence. It’s about our economy, our governance, and the myriad ways in which people have been disempowered over the past 10 years. We’re so traumatised that we are grateful that “some things are happening,” that there is fuel at the service station and bread in the shops. We view that as progress – rather than viewing that as normal, and demanding more from our government.

About JOMIC, the body specifically created to monitor compliance with the GPA, Khumalo said “we have no power to force signatories to observe or implement the GPA. We write them letters.”

Madzore spoke of the continued harassment by the police at political meetings, and how even MPs have been arrested for holding Constitution outreach meetings. He said “we have no cooperation at all.”

Sachikonye said the picture was mixed. But I’d say it’s downright gloomy. We’re only positive about the GPA because of how bad things were before.