So the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria did an audit on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and discovered that £4.5 million of the £65 million grant money allocated to Zimbabwe was no where to be found. They are demanding the money back, and rightly so.

Mr Gono is understood to have said the money was diverted “for other national priorities”. Just when you thought the regime had their fill of looting, they sink even lower.

But it is no secret where the money was diverted to. The Mugabe government has spent a fortune importing tractors, combine harvesters, limousines, plasma televisions and a range of other expensive items. These were handed out to Mr Mugabe’s cronies, magistrates and others, while cash was used to bribe voters.

If ever the ICC needed an excuse to haul somebody before its grand courts, now is the time. I think the greatest crime against humanity is deliberately denying individuals, and a whole nation in our case – the opportunity for better health care and leaving them to die from preventable diseases.

How does the man called Gono sleep at night?

That Gono has so far returned  $7.3 million of the money is also of no consequence. This is a complete outrage and we as the beneficiaries of that fund and the rest of the global community must ensure that this does not happen again. This regime has been allowed to trample us underfoot for too long. We demand proper accountability for that money, not the shallow diversion Gono gave yesterday when he said:  “Only cheap minds would go as far as to suggest that the money was used to buy tractors and TV sets.”

Oh Really?

For the second time all my pet fish (that’s all I can keep in a 7th floor apartment) have inexplicably died and this time I was determined to find out what’s happening to them. It’s the water. The fish just can’t handle the quality of water. What more human beings?

The cholera epidemic is spreading fast. Our toilets do not flush and there is just no way of knowing which hands we greet daily carry the deadly bacterium with the fancy name vibrio cholerae. The disease has historically wiped out whole communities with people dying in a matter of minutes at a time. In this age when cholera has become one of the easiest diseases to cure it is an embarrassing realization that this Zimbabwe has been reduced to the ancient times when basic medical treatment was non-existent and people died needlessly from minor ailments. Some people, with their high tables and mineral water have no idea what it feels like to live in constant fear for your life. They can afford to trot from one hotel to the next, postponing the ‘talks’ over and over, while the rest of the country spirals out of control for lack of leadership.

When cholera appears in a community, it becomes essential to ensure three things: hygienic disposal of human feces, an adequate supply of safe drinking water, and good food hygiene. Dr Anderson Bonapart advises that effective food hygiene measures should include cooking food thoroughly and eating it while still hot, preventing cooked foods from being contaminated by raw foods, water, ice, contaminated surfaces and/or flies, and avoiding raw fruits and vegetables unless they are first peeled. Washing hands after defecation and particularly before contact with food or drinking water is equally important. How the hell do you ensure you always have hot food when ZESA is gone 22 hours of the day? How do you make sure your veggies are clean if you’re gonna douse them with the pungent effluent Zinwa is churning out as water? How do you make sure your hands and your neighbor’s are clean after using the toilet, when you do not have the water to flush the toilet in the first place? It is scaring the hell out of me to handle public doors and people’s hands.

Even the Herald newspaper is now admitting that the cholera outbreak is threatening to become endemic. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is reported to have ‘joined the cholera war’. Gono, predictably, has injected quadrillions, vehicles and fuel into the dysfunctional Zinwa in order to normalize water supplies and keep the cholera outbreak in check. Money and vehicles . . . that’s how he attempts to make all his problems go away. Why doesn’t somebody tell him it’s the engineers that left, not the equipment. They also required the protective clothing he conveniently overlooked. The Civil Protection Unit (CPU) has also jumped into the ruination, tasked to provide clean water mostly to the affected areas. Finally something has caught the attention of the so-called authorities. It must be that bad. But this is no smiling matter.

It’s disappointing to have to say that all these efforts are not enough. As usual, our trusted city fathers are choosing to deal with the symptoms and not the cause of the problem. So the CPU will supply Budiriro and Chitungwiza with water, but what about the rest of the country? They plan to deal with each breakout as and when it happens after lives have been needlessly lost. The RBZ will furnish Zinwa with vehicles and fuel, but who will drive them to the burst pipes and fix them? The majority of the engineers with the requisite technical know-how left eons ago because they were overworked and underpaid. The remaining ‘top’ guys will just distribute the vehicles amongst themselves to drive to and from their posh offices where none of the real work needs to be done.

The CPU has recently banned street vending as one of the measures to curb the outbreak. A widow and my favorite fruit and veg seller was raided recently. I no longer see her outside my window. I wonder what she and her two small children will do for money and sustenance, especially now that most shops demand lots of cash or forex for basic commodities…

My best friend woke up with a running stomach today. Like a lot of people he thinks its nothing and it will go away soon enough. Probably something he ate. It is infuriating and at the same time disheartening to realize you cannot convince somebody who has low personal risk perception that they may be in danger. A lot of people have already died needlessly out of ignorance. How is one expected to stay sane somebody tell me?

As the state continues to be largely negligent and indifferent, the death toll is rising while there has hardly been any proactive intensification of educational campaigns around cholera. It is an outrage. They will continue to drink mineral water and they need never shake hands with rustics from the ghetto so they are safe. Yesterday I received an SMS from the UNICEF warning people to boil drinking water. It is doubtful though that most people exposed to the illness in the crowded high-density areas own cell phones.

Meanwhile our offices are being inundated by residents from the nearby police camp. Every morning long queues snail from the lone tap located in our car park. Spouses and children of our revered uniformed forces are seen armed with buckets and jerry cans hoping to get a load of the precious liquid. None of them concerned or aware of the fact that this reduces the water pressure to the point that our toilets no longer flush. Or that there will be an enormous water bill to be paid by us the tenants of the building. Much as water is a human right and our humanity and sense of morality will not allow us to deny these residents some water, practicality also sets in to question whether we are prepared to pay the extra quadrillion for somebody else. How far are we willing to bend over backwards, watching our toilets getting clogged and smelly while all the water is eternally filling jerry cans downstairs? What of the inherent health hazards to us?

In our office we discussed what would happen if one day we just locked up our gate and tap. Well, the Zimbabweans I know would just close that chapter and embark on a new one. Probably walk some long distance to another vulnerable building, or simply find other sources of (dirty) water as long as life goes on.

One of my colleagues highlighted the very true fact that as Zimbabweans we have harbored for too long the tendency to appeal to the wrong people whenever we have problems. When our taps do not release any water, we inundate our vulnerable neighbor who either has a borehole or is simply lucky to have Zinwa supply. When the city council does not collect our garbage we simply take it to the nearest clearing in the bushy areas famously known as ‘marabu’ and dump it there in the thick of night. She asked why don’t people just go and dump it at council offices or some such government establishment? Surely with the stink right in their faces some action would be bound to take place? Why are we always so scared and how come we never think of forceful means that will get the government to act, like dumping our garbage in their yards and queuing for water there as well?

As long as rubbish is not collected, waste management and water supply is not improved and sewer lines are not de-clogged, we are on the highway to nowhere.

I was at Newlands Stanchart this afternoon getting my one green note of the day. It is less than a month after its introduction. But to just leave it there is tantamount to watching the animal called inflation gobble up all your savings without at least trying to salvage the little you can. Next to the ATM, there was a table that has been there since the beginning of the month and on it are photocopied forms that account holders are supposed to fill in and sign. Each time I have only managed to just glance at them. If they contained something to make my relationship with the bank a lot friendlier, I’d probably have already filled one in.

Today next to it stood an ‘official’ from the bank who was asking people in the queue if they had filled and handed in the form. He was practically ordering everyone who hadn’t to take a copy, fill it in and sign it. I was trying to remember what the form contained and I was sure I hadn’t filled it in because I simply felt it was not important. I walked over to the table and picked one up to refresh my memory. Oh yes, the Addendum to the General Account Terms. I was supposed to ‘hereby consent to Standard Chartered Bank disclosing information relating to me, including but not limited to details of my facilities, transactions undertaken and balances and positions with the bank to professional advisors, permitted parties and any court, governmental or quasi-governmental authority’ among others.

What a load of bollocks. Consent to what? What an insult. I mean, these guys do what they like with our accounts anyway. How often have we heard Gono saying he’s let loose his dogs to sniff out suspicious account holders? Doesn’t that entail delving into the account databases? Whose consent have they been seeking then?

Both myself and others dropped the forms and rejoined the queue. The surprised ‘official’ now literally demanded that we fill them in, saying that it was a requirement and there were serious consequences, but he wasn’t telling what. Seeing that wasn’t working, he changed tack to say we lose nothing by filling in the form. He rambled on and on to deaf ears. Well, the bank also loses nothing by taking those forms and shoving them you know where. What’s the worst the bank could do that we haven’t already seen? Close the accounts? They are practically useless anyway. You withdraw a useless $50 000 which by the way was my one trip to work with the new bus fare today. And you cant use the VISA swipe anymore because all the shops now demand straight cash or forex.

I am reminded of what Dr Alex Magaisa implied when he asked why don’t they negotiate in Mufakose? Individuals that are positioned to make critical decisions concerning the lives of the ‘people’ waste a lot of time and resources focusing on the insignificant things that don’t matter to the rest of us. They purport to represent us, pretend to consider our opinion yet unashamedly shove their wishes upon us. It is utterly exhausting. You’d think the least they could do is just shut up because they are beginning to irritate us like hungry mosquitoes.

Although it may be a far-fetched analogy, but the Stanchart form – like the agreement – to me is just a useless piece of paper that somebody wanted to make official but whose provisions they will manipulate and do what they like whether we sign it or not. I’ve chosen to not be insulted all over again. I also sincerely hope, that they who’ve ‘signed’ before are cognizant of the idiom – once bitten twice shy.

When the AU was formed in 2002 as a successor of the OAU, one of its main objectives was to achieve peace and security in Africa and to promote democratic institutions, good governance and human rights. It was also going to promote and defend common African positions on issues of interest to the continent and its peoples.

The Zimbabwe crisis is just the latest indication of why we must place no confidence in the ability of either the AU or its young brother SADC to handle regional problems as well as sail this continent onto the path of development. Their inaction on Zimbabwe is shocking and appalling to say the least and it smacks of both lack of will and incompetence.

Mugabe derives his spunk from the indifference and silent support of his peers. Ejecting him from the AU and verbally condemning his actions would probably have made some difference in his behavior or at least lessened his confidence. But only a few leaders like the late Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa, Botswana’s new President, Seretse Khama Ian Khama and lately, Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga have dared to be vocal about Mugabe’s self-imposed government and have even called for his and Zimbabwe’s suspension from the AU. The rest of the whiteheads especially in SADC have been inexplicably maintaining what Odinga calls a “diabolical conspiracy of silence bound by personal misdeeds and complicity in refusing to condemn their neighbors,” especially Mugabe. The same culture of impunity is what nurtured the excesses of the continent’s infamous dictators like Mobutu Sese Seko of the DRC and Uganda’s heartless Idi Amin under the banner of predecessor OAU’s founding principle of respect for national sovereignty.

In trying to understand why the AU and the SADC are toothless bulldogs barking endlessly from the periphery, Odinga postulates that African leaders are an old dictators’ club that have an inherent fear of criticizing each other. This is because, as Mugabe so rightly put it at the Sharm el Shaik, Egypt AU summit, they too have skeletons rattling in their closets.

It is thus not surprising that the AU has failed to put the people of Zimbabwe first and to stand up for democracy. In an ironic joint statement, the AU/SADC pledged “As guarantors of the implementation of the agreement, both AU and SADC will spare no effort in supporting its full and effective implementation.” What have these two organs done in the face of Mugabe’s latest unilateral declaration of cabinet? Again, as was the case in Kenya, the party that should have rightly taken over power is being forced by regional pressure to concede to an increasingly unworkable compromise deal and endless mediation processes by an inefficient go-between who insists on a concept of quiet diplomacy that only he understands. Recently, in response to a legal application filed against it by the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum two months ago, SADC has for the first time acknowledged that Mugabe should not be recognized as a legitimate head of state. But the organization rejected the demand to refuse to allow Mugabe and his government to participate in future SADC activities. Its excuse was that former South African President Thabo Mbeki, the SADC appointed mediator, was able to facilitate a power sharing deal to end Zimbabwe’s political crisis.

What ‘African’ common position are the AU/SADC defending when they fail to condemn errant dictators who hold whole starving nations to ransom in order to protect selfish interests?

In its thirty-nine year history, the OAU could only be judged as an abysmal failure. It failed to challenge any major dictator on the continent and stood idle while civil wars, ethnic conflicts, poverty and disease ravaged ordinary Africans. Its only success was in preserving the notion of sovereign borders in Africa. Wole Soyinka once described it as a “collaborative club of perpetual self-preservation.” The AU is the new OAU under a different name: its membership is the same and there are no new institutions to suggest that it will be any more effective or less selfish than its predecessor.

As a pan-African organization, the AU must be willing to stand up to African dictators and military rulers that have been the real causes of bloodshed and poverty on the continent. So far the AU has failed in this mission: Mugabe is still a revered charter member of the AU and it has failed to recognize Morgan Tsvangirai as the country’s rightful elected leader. If we start to question the complacency of the AU, we start to ask, why was it tolerable that a tyrant lost an election, imprisoned, killed and molested those who dared oppose him, then proceeded to reelect himself to the presidium, and no action was taken?

The AU has failed the people of Zimbabwe by its unwillingness to deal effectively with the political crisis that was single-handedly constructed by one dictator. For months they have insisted on mediation and dialogue when decisive action has been called for. The AU has failed too often or remained inert when it should have acted, and its internal procedures are often agonizingly inadequate for the challenges it faces in problem countries. For far too long, and with immensely destructive consequences, the AU has downplayed the dimensions of crises in various African countries and the urgency of large-scale humanitarian intervention. This is particularly true of the situation in Africa’s largest country, Sudan with the longstanding and ongoing conflict in Darfur that stretches as far back as 2003. Look also how dictators recently bulldozed their way into leadership in Kenya.

The AU has only been good at issuing statements. The AU’s fine words at the moment are little consolation to Zimbabwe’s hungry, oppressed people. Once more, like its predecessor, the AU is set to fail the people of Africa.

Over the weekend I waltzed into some of Gono’s FOLIWARS (Foreign Exchange Licensed Warehouses and Retail Shops) at Fife Avenue. It was a sight I had not seen for close to a year. Shelves were overflowing with goods. Cooking oil sat gracefully among other basic commodities that have been scarce and the shops were brimming with cheery shoppers. There was also the unmistakable smell of freshly baked confectionery wafting in the air from laden breadbaskets, an unusual occurrence. All looked rosy until I reached the back of one supermarket where there were lots of empty or near empty shelves. This was the Zimbabwean dollar section and it hardly had any basic commodities one needs to purchase for a household. There was a lot of cleaning things, overpriced chocolates and kapenta, all locally manufactured. One of the conditions for operating a FOLIWAR is to sell all locally manufactured goods in Zimbabwean dollars. This in principle is meant to cushion ‘vulnerable’ members of society to enable them to access basic commodities.

Already one particular supermarket at this shopping center was flouting the regulations. Mazoe orange crush, famously manufactured in Zimbabwe and widely exported to neighboring countries, was being sold for US$2,50.

FOLIWARS have achieved the desired effect, i.e ostensibly to help improve availability of goods on the market. However, there are some flaws in this latest policy that have seen the central bank once again fail to protect the consumer.

It seems most retailers suffer from the overcharging syndrome. Used to working with billions and trillions, they are overcharging the goods being sold in US dollars. Most of them are too expensive even by American standards. You find something you’d expect to cost less than a dollar pegged at thrice the price simply because the price looks or sounds too little, even if it is not in exchange rate terms.

The NIPC Chairman, Mr Goodwills Masimirembwa attempted to excuse this problem saying that unlike other countries, Zimbabwe is not manufacturing the goods hence it is inevitable for them to be more expensive, especially when transport costs and other mark-ups have been factored in. True, but how does he explain the locally manufactured orange crush being sold in US dollars?

On the other hand, under Gono’s system, some goods will perpetually be in short supply as there will be no incentive for people to make them available for purchase in the increasingly depreciating Zimbabwean dollar. Artificial shortages will continue, while the locally manufactured goods will be widely available on the black-market for purchase in the Rand or USD. It will also mean FOLIWARS will shun local goods in favor of imports in order to get around the regulations of charging in Zimbabwean dollars. This probably explains why the Zimbabwean dollar sections of most supermarkets have next to nothing on the shelves. The few goods found on these shelves are obviously at the RTGS cost, despite the fact that Gono scrapped that system. Else, how is it possible to explain a piece of chocolate that costs half a million revalued Zimbabwean dollars?

The empty Zim dollar shelves will mean that the street corner vegetable vendor or the grandmother from Dotito who has never seen the US dollar in her entire life will continue to struggle to purchase basic goods available on the black-market at prohibitive costs in Zimbabwean dollars.

Then there is the issue of change. If there is anyone paying a higher price for this dollarization, it is the tellers operating the forex tills in the supermarkets. Somebody purchases a product for $4,75. They demand their 25 cents change, even if they themselves have never seen what 25US cents look like. As a result the teller embarks on the grueling task of haggling with the customer. Often, the customer settles for a compromise seeing them either leave their change behind or purchasing something else they didn’t even want. As a result the ‘forex’ queues, though short take longer to move as the tellers haggle over change with each customer for at least five minutes. Most rude customers do not spare a thought for the poor exhausted teller who is underpaid in Zim dollars anyway. At the end of the day one wonders, why don’t they just round of the prices? I mean, if customers are still going to leave their few precious cents, why not save everyone the hassle? Obviously retailers have ways of reaching a final price for a product, but the mere fact that they are now charging in USD reflects an abnormal situation, they may as well employ the Mickey Mouse economics we are used to and just round off prices of goods. Some FOLIWARS have resorted to putting up notices informing customers that they can only purchase goods for $50 and above. Unfair but it works.

Another thing is that the forex craze has silently sanctioned the use of foreign currency in many quarters of the economy. Landlords are now unashamedly and openly demanding rentals in forex, and those who initially did not charge their tenants as such have joined the bandwagon. Dollarization has set a bad precedent and everyone will soon be demanding payment in that form in whatever transaction.

At the advent of the FOLIWARS, the RBZ governor was widely criticized and in several places, calls were made that civil servants must therefore be remunerated in foreign currency. Most were sure the policy would not be sustainable, given that most people do not earn their salaries in forex. However, despite earlier skepticism, ‘forex shops’ like Shoppa Stoppa are suddenly attracting so many customers that by 6pm, long queues are still outside their walls. It is surprising how a lot of ordinary folk actually possess US dollars. As much as one US dollar is not little money in exchange rate terms, many shoppers are hoarding whatever goods they can lay their hands on. The panic buyer mentality has not dissipated a bit even with the reassurance that products are bound to be widely available now that a more stable currency is in use.

It will be a long time yet before Zimbabweans have faith in this economy and its ability to meet the entire consumer’s needs.

The Olympics this year opened to a salubrious and illustrious Beijing on the 8th of August. No one would have guessed that under all that glitz China had earlier cordoned off all slum areas and dwellings of the poor by erecting great colorful walls to hide the eyesores. Undesirables in the form of migrant workers were given forced leave and Beijing’s Olympic chief ordered a “social cleansing” operation to clear the city of beggars, hawkers and prostitutes before the arrival of Olympic tourists. If this was the best way of dealing with the ‘undesirables’ for China, then it is no wonder that President Hu is one of Mugabe’s best friends. They have a lot in common.

This time four years ago in 2005, over 700 thousand people lost what they called home to bulldozers under Mugabe’s directive to ‘drive out filth’ and pull down all illegal structures. Among them were mostly women and children who had to bear the brunt of the cold at the onset of winter. Four years later, despite the government’s cursory attempt to provide new accommodation for them, a majority still do not have a decent roof over their heads in comparison to what they had before the government waged a war on them. The concept behind Murambatsvina was to stop disorderly urbanization in the form of shacks and other structures that were being constructed illegally all over the country.  Madam Tibaijuka’s controversial report revealed that most of the unsightly ‘shacks’ were actually brick and cement extensions that were quite neat and actually habitable. If deemed illegal they should have just attracted some sort of fine rather than being pulled them down rendering poor citizens homeless.

The late Hon Chen Chimutengwende, then Minister of State and Interactive Affairs in the Office of the President and Cabinet said in an August 2005 press statement: “Indeed some people were pained by Operation Murambatsvina.  It must also be noted that change and development is usually a painful process.  But happily for them, Murambatsvina is turning to be a blessing in disguise.  It is linked to Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle which will provide houses, vendor marts and factory shells.”

Indeed some funny little houses were built in segregated areas around Hatcliff and towards the airport in Harare, as well as Killarney and Cowdray Park in Bulawayo. It is no secret that these small houses are not enough to cater for all the victims of the ‘tsunami’ of 2005. Needless to say, there haven’t been any new vendor marts constructed, and the streets of Harare are littered with hawkers peddling their wares across the ankles of pedestrians on the pavements. The truth is they are an even worse off now compared to when they used to operate from places like the charge office and other centralized venues.

Early this year, following the March harmonized election, militias terrorized citizens especially in the rural areas in order to cow them into voting for Zanu PF in the run-off. Homes of perceived and genuine ‘opposition’ supporters were razed as a form of punishment for ‘voting wrongly’ in the previous election. Most of the victims were forcibly displaced or killed.

The theme of World Habitat Day this year is Harmonious Cities. The theme seeks to remind people that a world that urbanizes cannot claim to be harmonious while others remain impoverished and marginalized. In Zimbabwe this day will be commemorated while we remember the plight of internally displaced people who lost their homes in the wakes of both Murambatsvina and the post election violence after the March and June elections this year.

Is there any hope of living in a harmonized city when one’s house risks being torched for one’s divergent political inclination or for simply not fitting into the image that government seeks?

One of the many challenges for the interim government to address is an audit of the allocation of land as well as the compensation for those affected by Murambatsvina and post 2008 election violence. They must also ensure efficient water reticulation in the face of the cholera outbreak as well as improved general local service delivery before we can begin to talk of harmonized cities in Zimbabwe.