As part of their work in addressing corruption in Zimbabwe, Transparency International Zimbabwe is currently working to promote the ALAC initiative. ALAC (Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre) is an anti-corruption initiative that provides free legal aid services to victims and witnesses of corruption. The initiative seeks to empower citizens to demand accountability and transparency.

Presently ALAC has a mobile legal aid team to assist members of the public to make their reports in confidence. Their mobile unit will be at the corner of First Street and George Silundika Ave in Harare every Friday between 9am and 12pm.

Their offices are located at No. 99 Central Avenue Cnr 8th Street Harare.

They may also be contacted via phone on the toll free number 0800 4276 or email on alac [at] transparency [dot] org [dot] zw.

Transparency International Zimbabwe will also be conducting a march on anti-corruption day 11 December 2010, starting at 8am. The march will be from Julius Nyerere to Africa Unity Square. Please keep checking this blog, or Kubatana’s email newsletter for more information. To subscribe to the Kubatana email newsletter email join [at] kubatana [dot] net.

Kubatana recently received a donation of rubber shoes, plates and cups for a charity drive we were doing to give prisoners some of the basic necessities they were lacking.

It has been over a year since the SABC’s unauthorised documentary about Zimbabwe’s prison conditions aired. Of course when it did, we were all suitably outraged. In response to the public outcry, after numerous letters written to the media and a good salting of international pressure, the President issued an order of clemency in September 2009, which saw the release of 2500 prisoners from Zimbabwe’s congested jails. But a year later that outrage has been translated into very little change in those prisons. In fact, it seems as though enough time has passed for us not to really take notice of it anymore.

More recently, Associated Press reported on the case of a man who appeared in court with his intestines hanging out of his abdomen. The injury was caused when he was shot in the stomach as police tried to arrest him. This report not only reflected badly on the prison services but also the public healthcare services as well. The man had been take to hospital twice during his two month stay in prison, and had returned both times without having been treated.

This morning at a press conference about another outrageous dereliction of duty by government, Amnesty International’s Simeon Mawanza said “the people of Zimbabwe are free to hold their government accountable for its failures.” It is not only up to the government to do something; it is up to individuals, citizens to show and remind the government, even if it is a bad one, of where it is failing it’s people. Our situation will only become hopeless when we give up on ourselves.

As citizens it is our duty to ensure that the lives of prisoners, even those who commit heinous crimes are respected. In this instance our hands are not tied, there is no rigging and there are no threats that prevent ordinary people from doing something.

This list, which is by no means definitive and is in no particular order, is my way of celebrating the achievements of Zimbabweans. These are young people, living and working in Zimbabwe, and making a success of themselves.

Carl Joshua Ncube
Carl is a multi-talented animator, graphic designer, activist and storyteller. His skill lies in telling unusual stories in unusual ways. Carl wrote, directed and animated Zimbabwe’s first ever animated film series Nyami Nyami 1 and 2. He has directed Zimbabwe’s national awards shows including the National Arts and Merits Award and the Zimbabwe Music Awards. Lately, Carl has taken his story telling talent to the stage, in the comedy show ‘Carls Big announcement’.

Prudence Mabhena
She is a young singer, who along with the band Liyana has been featured in the Oscar winning documentary Music by Prudence. Despite having suffered abandonment and neglect in her childhood due to arthrogryphosis, Prudence Mabhena and her band have struggled, and triumphed. Prudence composes music in five languages, and even choreographs from her wheelchair. The film Music by Prudence has become the cornerstone of an advocacy campaign and has been embraced by the UN, Human Rights Watch and the disability community as an unprecedented portrayal advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities.

Fungai James Tichawangana
Founder and creator of Aripano Infinity Fungai James is a digital entrepreneur, journalist and photographer. His mission in founding Aripano Infinity is to tell African stories. In his own words: “I build skyscrapers on the Internet. I take words from my head and put them on paper. I capture life in pixelated moments”. Aripano Infinity’s projects include Online Artist Promotions, Law and Justice in Zimbabwe, Zimbablog and the Zimbojam. Zimbojam is the premier online resource for news and information about Zimbabwe’s burgeoning entertainment industry. Wherever it is, whatever is happening Fungai is usually there with his camera.

Rumbi Katedza
Rumbi has worked extensively in film for the past decade. Her feature films include Danai and the multi award-winning Asylum. She is a writer whose story ‘Snowflakes in Winter’ was part of Weaver Press’ Women writing Zimbabwe collection. She served as Festival Director for the Zimbabwe International Film Festival from 2004 until 2006. Rumbi currently produces documentary and feature films with her production company Mai Jai Films.

Max Soutter
Max is the Managing Director of the Business Set-up Group, an organisation dedicated to helping entrepreneurs start up and grow businesses the smart way. He specialises in assisting Zimbabwean start-ups to grow. Max has worked with more than 200 businesses in 35 different countries.  He is an author who has written several books some of which are available for free download from his site. He also runs several blogs and websites and is a very active Internet strategist.

Talent Jumo
Talent is a woman with a big dream to transform the world. She is one of the coordinators of the Young Women’s Leadership Initiative (YOWLI). Yowli was formed in 2007 when a group of young women decided to break the silence and talk overtly about issues if sex and sexuality. Talent is passionate about feminism, and as an activist is deeply committed to working with young women. Her work is informed by her experiences as a young black woman from Africa, who was born and bred in an independent Zimbabwe, but is herself not free.

This morning, Newsday reported on the infamous National Youth Service programme, in particular plans to incorporate its graduates into the civil service. The youth service, according to ZANU PF politburo member Jacob Mudenda was established . . .

“to teach the youth political direction. The youths have always played an important role in campaigning for the party. They should also be given jobs.”

With the collapse of the education system and the flight of anyone who is able to the diaspora, Zimbabwe seems to be left with mindless thoughtless zombies. These same zombies, who’s unemployment level is over 90%, are primed for exploitation, whether they themselves recognise it or not.

With the revival, or at least debate about revival, of National Youth Service Centres (no mention has been made about reform) it appears that ZANU PF is readying itself to campaign for the undeclared, yet to be funded 2011 elections. The issue of the ‘people-driven’ constitution, all the rage a few months ago, has been forgotten and given a back seat, even by civil society and MDC-T, who were the biggest proponents of that pointless exercise.

The negotiated settlements, were thrown out the window giving ZANU PF, with it’s militarised institutions the upper hand.

The people of Zimbabwe should be afraid. The GPA doesn’t matter, the Government of National Unity is anything but, and politically naïve opposition parties have learnt nothing from the past twelve years.

In an effort to help Zimbabwean activists become more inspired and creative in their work Kubatana.net organised a morning of screenings and discussions of 10 Tactics for Turning Information into Action and Favela Rising.

We published an invitation to apply to attend the workshop in our email newsletter and asked respondents to write a short letter of motivation detailing what they hoped to get out of the session.

We picked a small group of activists (ten people) from the letters we received, as we felt this would give everyone involved an opportunity to participate.

The morning began with a screening of 10 Tactics. We encouraged the activists to take notes during the film for discussion at the end. Many of the activists related that they were using some of the tactics already, as in the case of the Research and Advocacy Unit which produced a documentary, Hear Us/Tinzweiwo, telling the stories of women who experienced violence and rape during the 2008 elections

Major issues that were raised in using the 10 Tactics included verifying information, self-censorship in reporting information and how to mobilise people.

Many of the 10 Tactics require information from communities to organisations, and there was concern about how the information being used could be verified, and how this could be done in a timely manner. The group concluded that if there was coherence regarding a certain piece of information then it would most likely be true.

With regard to self-censorship, the group discussed how this had taken root within Zimbabwe and was affecting civil society, with some organisations refusing to publish what they considered sensitive or inflammatory information.

The first tactic, which is to mobilise people around a certain issue, was felt by the group to be at the heart of the difficulties civil organisations in Zimbabwe are facing. Several solutions such as involving community members in programming and supporting community based initiatives were suggested.

The second film we screened was Favela Rising. Following on from the earlier discussion we decided to focus the group conversation around a quotation from Anderson Sa: “I am a warrior of the people.”

This was effective in getting the group to consider their, and their organisations role in effecting change in the communities in which they work. The group considered how the strategies utilised by Afro Reggae could be used in the Zimbabwean context. There was also some debate regarding the efficacy of social movements versus non-governmental organisations. The group noted that NGOs in Zimbabwe have become highly professionalised, leaving little room for real activism.

Our goal in hosting this screening to was inspire the activists to approach their work in different and perhaps more effective ways. During the workshop we stressed the importance of giving solutions rather than listing the problems, which are already well documented.

At the end of the morning we asked the activists to fill a feedback form. In answer to the question Briefly describe how you will use what you have learned to improve the activities of your organisation the following are some of the responses:

• To stand as an activist wherever I go.

• I will help other activists on how best they can turn information into activism.

• The people in my community are suspicious of elections. I want their viewpoint to be heard.

• Facilitate members of my organisation to be able to carry out locally based and formulated programmes.

I recently attended a Gender symposium organised by the Gender Forum as part of the their programme for 16-365 Days of activism against gender Based Violence. Various presenters and discussants were invited to share academic papers concerning gender-based violence in Zimbabwe.

The presentation by Ms. Edith Maziofa got me thinking. She began by pointing out the alarming number of headlines that report sexual assault, murder and violence against women, girls and most distressingly infants.

I remember vividly reading about the case of the man who raped his friend’s four-year-old daughter in a collapsed grave. The man was found by his friend’s wife, who reported the matter to the police. At the time of reporting the man had escaped apprehension and was on the run. Discussing the article with some friends, we concluded that it had to have been some sort of ritual, burial sites being sacred in our culture. But what disturbed me the most was that the four year olds father was not to be found anywhere in the story. He was not reported to be outraged, or disowning his friend. It was the mother who reported the rape to the police, the mother who stood outraged at the gravesite with a crowd, the mother who was going to court to seek justice for her child. But where was her husband?

In her presentation, Ms Maziofa noted that the high incidence of these articles, spoke to an even higher prevalence of abuse against women and children.

She discussed the decline of the women’s movement, which reached its peak in the 1990s when it influenced the drafting of a new constitution, the drafting of a national gender policy, and the promulgation of the Domestic violence act.

Despite the remarkable laws protecting women and children, the high media reportage of GBV shows that gender inequality is still deeply entrenched in Zimbabwe. Ms Maziofa queried how well these laws actually worked in protecting vulnerable women and children.

She went further to point out that the gender imbalances in our society impact negatively on income distribution, and noted that despite the widely publicised women’s empowerment movement, economic control and ownership is still male dominated.

Politically this imbalance has serious ramifications. Take for example the unquestioning endorsement by the ZANU PF Women’s League of Robert Mugabe. I have yet to be made aware of any debate regarding the suitability of Amai Mujuru for Chairperson of ZANU PF or indeed, any woman for any government or party position that is responsible for making any real political or national decisions. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, and in particular from this quarter, women are still underrepresented in politics, yet they have the loudest voices when it come to endorsing decisions already made by men.

Are women in politics not capable of making decisions on their own?