As the summer of 2012 continues to be windy and dry almost everyone is now wondering what the Gods have in store for Zimbabwe this season. In the midst of jostling for political power and dishing out of farm inputs not much attention is being given to the weather patterns. The Meteorological Department Services recently indicated that the country is likely to face yet another dry season characterized by erratic rains. These predictions are slowly proving to be true as we are almost reaching midway of the summer season and very little rainfall has been recorded countrywide. March 2013 has been set as the month for holding the next elections in Zimbabwe. March is a month familiar with elections. During the month of March in 2008 the country experience food shortages, violence and hyperinflation. Elections in Zimbabwe bring nightmares to many, even worse when the rains have been erratic. Election fear and hunger will characterize the 2013 ballot. My spiritual fear leads me to think that maybe drought is a curse bestowed on elections in this country.

After facing years of persecution and harassment, members of the Church of the Province of Central Africa in Zimbabwe can now pray with both eyes closed after winning property ownership in the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe. The highest court of appeal in Zimbabwe has ruled that rightful ownership of Anglican Church assets belongs to the faction led by Bishop Chad Gandhiya and the CPCA.

Part of the Judgement delivered by Justice Omerjee at the Supreme Court reads:

“When one leaves a club one does not take its property with him or her. It has long been established as a salutary principle of law in this area of property ownership that when one or more people secede from an existing Church, they have no right to claim Church property even if those who remain members of the congregation are in the minority.”

Now what that looting and plundering has been put to a halt what remains to be seen is whether the ex-communicated Bishop and his followers will face the same fate of beatings and teargas by the police as they conduct services at the gates of the properties they once seized.

As the nation’s power utility company ZESA grapples to meet electricity demands from customers, its a different story south of Limpopo as South Africans march in protest not just energy but for clean energy. Greenpeace Africa and other civil society organisations in South Africa took to the streets In Johannesburg on Saturday 10 November in support for a just energy solution.  (Picture: Greenpeace Africa)

Imagine making monthly pension contributions for six years and when you try to claim your pension from your insurance company you get a $20 bill on the spot as a once off payment. I was reading with great concern an article published in The Herald of 9 November 2012 on the feud between pensioners and insurance companies. Pensioners in Zimbabwe continue to suffer in silence as insurance companies reap big. The economic meltdown orchestrated by the hyperinflation environment of the 2008 era gave insurance companies some reasons to get away with it. To say that contributions were wiped out by inflation without considering value of the policies pre-inflation era somehow is tantamount to day light robbery. Some of these insurance companies invested in immovable assets, which appreciate in value and for the record, these insurance companies’ own most commercial buildings in city centers and they charge exorbitant rentals.

The paltry payments are not even enough to foot the transport bill for an ordinary person traveling from Gwanda to Harare, where most of these insurance companies are located, to make a claim. With no source of income, and having reached retirement age, most pensioners are left with no option but to accept the peanuts on offer from the insurance companies. This daylight robbery also left depositors penniless when banks failed to account for depositors’ money after Zimbabwe began using the American dollar; up to now it’s still a blame game between commercial banks and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Unlike in some countries where political rivalry ends in the loss of lives and election results take ages to be released, Americans got to know what the future holds for them quickly as a closely fought contest ended in a nail biting finish with the current President of the United States of America retaining his post for four more years.

Running with the background of a weak economy and high unemployment in America, President Obama made successes by providing health care insurance to ordinary citizens in America, ending war in Iraq and going after the world’s most dangerous terrorist Osama Bin Laden. As people were casting their votes Obama sent a message on Tweeter to his supporters, “We’re all in this together. That’s how we campaigned, and that’s who we are. Thank you. – Barack Obama.” The rich favoured Mitt Romney but women voters propelled Obama back into the White House. Obama stole women’s hearts in America through advocating for reproductive rights, access to health care and fair pay. The next four years in office will be a challenging task for Obama – he will have to work hard to fulfill the promises, and build on the gains, made in the last four years.

I recently interviewed the energetic and vivacious Chenaimoyo Mudede co-founder of With Love Foundation, a dynamic organization dedicated to helping those less fortunate.

Background and Objectives
With Love Foundation is a charity organization, which came into existence in 2012 and has been operating for the past seven months. After getting education and exposure to different cultures overseas, the organization’s founders came back to Zimbabwe and realized that the country is living in a selfish generation where people are not willing to share with the less privileged or dedicate time for voluntary activities. Driven by the passion of improving the quality of life and bridging the gap between communities and the marginalised members of the society, With Love Foundation is a collective idea, which is mainly driven by young people, mostly women, with the ambition of building better communities. The foundation aspires to make a difference in Zimbabwean society through engaging ordinary people in voluntary work. With Love mainly runs three programmes in Harare namely the Soup Kitchen, Zim Clean and One Million Pieces in various areas in Harare.

Programmes
Under its Soup Kitchen programme the organization receives donations of cabbages and mealie-meal from local farmers, which they distribute to the disadvantaged. Assisted by volunteers, the Soup Kitchen runs every Tuesday in Mbare and it provides hot meals to orphans and the less fortunate. So far the organization has been working with the Lutheran Church in Mbare to implement the programme while Childline also chips in identifying the marginalised children.

In order to complement efforts by City of Harare in trying to return the sunshine status of the city, With Love engages in a once a month initiative under the banner of Zim Clean to clean Harare’s streets. Volunteers dedicate their time for this worthy cause, which has received commendable support from the corporate sector in the form of cleaning materials. The organization has also received support from the Zimbabwe National Army and the Mayor’s office

One Million Pieces is such an initiative packaged to address some of the economic challenges being faced by the elderly and orphans. Items of clothing from donations from well wishers are distributed to orphanages and old people’s homes in the country.

Highlights and Future Plans
Recently With Love Foundation hosted the L.O.V.E Funfest aimed at raising funds and donations for the less privileged. Before the end of the year the organization is planning on spreading love through hosting a charity dinner and a Christmas party for children at Stoddart Hall in Mbare.