Harare magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini yesterday delivered a ruling in the Munyaradzi Gwisai and five others’ case in which they are accused of inciting public violence. Mr. Jarabini found the accused guilty on charges of inciting public violence. Before he found the accused guilty, Mr. Jarabini addressed the court and he said, “It is not an offence to view video footage, the motive behind viewing of the footage of events which took place in Egypt and Tunisia on that particular day was not for a good cause and was meant to instill feelings of hostility against the government.”

Gwisai is jointly charged with fellow activists Welcome Zimuto, Hopewell Gumbo, Antonater Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, and Edson Chakuma. The charges arose from a meeting, which was convened at the offices of the International Socialist Organisation – Zimbabwe Chapter in Harare in February 2011. Forty-five people were arrested during the meeting and later charged with treason. Treason charges were later dropped and 39 people were released in March after spending close three weeks in prison.  The state later preferred a lesser charged of inciting public violence after High Court Judge Samuel Nyakudya ruled that the case against Gwisai and his colleagues was weak.

” I see no iota of evidence that any Zimbabwean ever contemplated a Tunisian and Egyptian revolution,” Nyakudya said in his ruling.

The case was referred back to the magistrates Courts for trial after the accused had been granted $2000.00 bail each by the High Court. Defence led by prominent human rights lawyer Alec Muchadehama successfully sought for an adjournment to today to prepare for mitigation. Under section 36 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act, public violence attracts a prison sentence of up to ten years, a fine or both.

The Apps4 Africa Climate Challenge is a competition for innovative program developers in Africa to find technological solutions to everyday problems focusing on climate change in Africa. The brainstorming session I attended brought together members of civil society together with program developers to share ideas on climate change issues, solutions and the best mobile applications that can be used to help combat climate change.

Marieme Jamme, the Chief Executive Officer of Spotone Global Solutions, said that Apps4Africa started in 2009 with the idea of trying to help people in Africa use technology to their benefit. The first challenge was held in 2010 and the winner of the competition was a lady from Kenya who developed a mobile application called iCow to help farmers. After holding the contest in East Africa, the Apps4Africa challenge is now spreading to southern African countries and prize money of US$25 000 is up for grabs to developers who will come up with best application which can be used to reduce climate change.

Building on the recently held United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP17) conference in Durban, the Apps4Africa Challenge is trying to develop synergies between policy makers and software developers so that technology can help combat climate change. The entry categories include Agriculture (Distribution), Early Warning and/or Disaster Preparedness, Resource Management, Forestry/Deforestation, Transportation/Traffic/Emissions, Food Security, Livestock Health and Sanitation.

During the brainstorming session, climate change in Zimbabwe was mainly attributed to the lack of alternative resources, funding, government support and too little information. Climate change has affected the southern African region and Zimbabwe has not been spared. The country has faced severe droughts in recent years and floods and changes in weather patterns have affected places in the low laying areas.

The challenge will open the doors for savvy developers in Zimbabwe to come up with the best applications that will be used to reduce climate change. The applications have to be local, user friendly and, if the application wins in the challenge, will be used everywhere in the world.

Interested participants can access the Apps4Africa website for the rules and the application.

Zimbabwe’s education system has been regarded as one of the best in Africa but recently it has been falling behind the times. The global trends in the use of ICTs in education have left gaps in our education system and calls for the review of the education curriculum is currently underway.

Speaking at a no holds barred function hosted by DefZee at the US Embassy Public Affairs Section members of the public had an opportunity to direct questions to the Minister of Education Arts, Sport and Culture, Senator David Coltart. During the session the Minister revealed that Zimbabwe’s education curriculum was last comprehensively reviewed as far back as in 1986. Therefore government has embarked on a curriculum review process to try and transform the system and embrace the use of ICTs in schools. Just like the constitution process the education review process was started through consultations with teachers, parents, children and partners in the education sector in Zimbabwe. The process will be finished by the end of the year. Some of the key areas where there are gaps in the education system include the teaching of civic education, tolerance and the use of non-violence in resolving conflicts.

Commenting on how government is going to help children who are not academically gifted the Minster referred back the findings of the Nziramasanga Commission of 1999. In the report findings it is stated that the 100% academic orientation was not beneficial to the nation and part of the key recommendations was to balance our education curriculum between academic and vocational orientation. Unfortunately these recommendations have not been implemented up to now, so government is trying to promote entrepreneurship through the introduction of vocational education in the new curriculum.

The Minister said he will be presenting a five year plan to Cabinet and he hopes by the year 2015 the Ministry will have implemented a comprehensive change of curriculum for both primary and secondary schools.

Responding to a question on the introduction of the early childhood development progamme in schools the Minister said the theoretical policy behind pre-school education is to cater for children who come from poor backgrounds. Thus government had to come up with an early childhood education progamme. Still on that same matter the Ministry of Education is lobbying for more resources and the introduction of rural allowances in order to place more qualified staff in rural schools. The Minister also suggested that schools should not be used as places for partisan politics and as a minister he is going ensure a safe working environment for all teachers in Zimbabwe.

In an effort to promote arts and combating piracy in Zimbabwe the Minister said the National Arts Council should come up with an electronic inventory for all artists in Zimbabwe and develop marketing strategies for the artists in order to compact piracy. Artists should also be trained in how to market themselves. The Ministry has made tremendous efforts in trying to promote local culture through the teaching of mother tongue languages and recently the Tonga language has been introduced in primary schools and is now being examined at Grade Seven level as well as to secondary level.

The Help is a movie set during the civil rights era and is based on a novel written by Kathryn Stockett and was directed by Tate Taylor. The movie tries to tell the story of how black maids faced racial and personal injustices inflicted on them by the wealthy families they worked for in the sixties. During that time white people were regarded as special to the extent that black maids had their own separate toilets outside the house. The way white people allowed their children to be brought up by black maids and yet still regard them as second class citizen in America showed how much white people regarded themselves as superior at that time.

The vile treatment these hard working women received at the hands of the white women somehow gave them the courage to tell their story even though they knew that they would face retaliation from their employers. With the help a young white lady with a passion for journalism two black maids went on to tell their story of discrimination based on color which they faced everyday in white families. Since the movie was written and directed by white men and women some may ask whether whites can tell the real black man’s story well. Also whether the movie is a historical white wash and sugar coated so that it can instill the spirit of forgiveness and moving on while doing away with real injustices inflicted on black people at that time. But on the other hand it’s all about the endurance that can the make us be able to change the bad policies of the past.

The US Embassy Public Affairs Section in Harare screened the movie as part of its efforts to commemorate Black History Month. Black History Month, is an annual observance in the United States for the remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African Diaspora. It is celebrated annually in the United States during the month of February.

A study carried out in Malawi recently by team of researchers from World Bank showed that cash payments given to randomly selected young women helped to reduce transmission of HIV infections and sexual diseases. According to the study the cash handouts given to the girls helped in behaviour change and reduced temptations from men than those who had not been given the cash.

The issue of poverty seems to be the real cause for high HIV infections amongst young women leading to a suggestion that young women who come from economically disadvantaged families are at a high risk of being exposed to HIV infections and sexually transmitted diseases.

Every year people like to set goals and resolutions but as the year progresses we lose out on the implementation part. In order to motivate and share ideas on the art of goal setting DefZee in collaboration with US Embassy started the year with a talk called “Screw it Let’s Do It”. The theme of the seminar was borrowed from a book by Richard Branson. To some people the theme of the seminar may sound dirty but from just a few minutes of presentations from the facilitators you end getting motivated to embark on your goals and resolutions for the year. A well picked panel of some of Zimbabwe’s finest entrepreneurs consisted of Fungai James Tichawangana the founder of a popular entertainment site ZimboJam and Rudo Nyagulu a lawyer by profession and founder of Ethos and Stimulus group gave testimony and motivation to the audience on how they started their businesses and the importance of setting goals and achieving the best in life.

Starting something from scratch is the most difficult thing especially in an unfriendly environment and some people are scared of taking risks. The key to goal setting is your ability to turn vision into reality.

Creating SMART goals also involves passion and getting over the default mindset of defeat before you even start. Goals can be set according to your timeframe; some can be short term (0-6 months), medium term (6-18 months) and long term (18-24 months). With no time frame tied to your goals it means there is no sense of urgency and you may end up relaxing. A specific goal has a greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. Measure your progress so that you stay on track. The reason why some goals are not attainable is because they are not realistic. Like for example to start a business in Zimbabwe you need to have capital and to get a loan from a bank requires one to have collateral which you might not have. So if your goal is to own an operational company by the end of the year the chances are high that your goal won’t be realised in one year. So set goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.

The event gave motivation especially to those aspiring entrepreneurs as it provided the opportunity to learn from the best. According to Richard Branson “looking, listening, learning – these are things we should do all our lives, not just at school”. The food for thought session created the space for members of the public to hear live testimonies from people who started from scratch but with a “screw it, let’s do it” attitude they ended up creating something.