Demagogues get elected because their jingoism and populism is magnified by a media beholden to them, and when they assume office they proceed to dismantle the very institutions that got them elected so as to perpetuate their rule. Kunda Dixit, Jury Member of the Unesco/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize from 2000-2005. – Extracted from Pressing for Freedom – 20 Years of World Press Freedom Day*

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Mahathir (Mahomad) says we will bury you, I said, “you are 87 years old. You shouldn’t be talking about burying people. You should be thinking about your own grave.” Anwa Ibrahim, Malaysia opposition leader. – From the Financial Times, May 4, 2013*

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To expect the country (Italy) to pay its debts as it did decades ago is to expect an 85 year old man to drink the way he did at university. – Christopher Caldwell, Financial Times, May, 4, 2013*

I attended university during a period where going to school seemed like wasting one’s precious time and adding more strain on family’s financial budgets. This was the period of 2006-2010 where Zimbabwe went through a major economic downfall, the 2008 elections and the dollarisation of the currency – a very difficult period. It did appear much better for one to quit school and cross the border to a neighbouring country as they would be guaranteed of access to their needs and wants. It is during this period that corruption within the various systems in the university grew like it was growing in any other sector in the country. You could see how people would manipulate the system because of a certain commodity they held, which was in demand. You would be shocked to hear what a lecturer would do when promised a bag of maize. As the economy got better with goods and commodities available, corruption, like cancer, still existed.

Students in Kenya and Uganda have established an anonymous website, Not In My Country which seeks to expose acts of corruption within universities in these two countries. By acting as whistle blowers, students rate their lecturers’ performances and have an optional field to explain their ratings. These are crowd sourced to provide ratings. In South Africa, university students at Wits are using the university newspaper, Vuvuzela, to expose lecturers who engage in misconduct in their work through sexual harassment. Students all over have been using various media to expose corruption within their universities but these are only effective if the university’s authorities take up their responsibility by investigating matters reported. Systems run by students often fall short as university staff protect each other as investigations or follow ups on reported cases are not made.

After an inspiring meeting yesterday afternoon in which activism in its many flavours was discussed, I had the mojo to stop my car, get out and do some investigating into an issue that’s been burning my arse lately. Of course you will also have realised that countless trees are being cut down all over Harare. I’ve been wondering who is behind cutting them down. Vigilante woodcutters? The City of Harare goes income generating? Over reaching home owners?

At the corner of Enterprise and Ridgeway South some big trees that afford remarkable shade and at times, rain cover to pedestrians, walkers, runners and vendors are being felled. When I stopped and hauled my outrage out of my car and onto the street this morning I was told that the City of Harare had been requested by the occupants of number 2 Ridgeway South to remove the trees because they’re dangerous and pose a threat.

All well and good but a few questions come up:

a) When the trees are felled, they may be felled responsibly but the area that they are taken from is not restored and our streets are slowly becoming lined with ugly tree stumps. So who is responsibly for ‘making good’ the area, ie removing the stumps?

b) Which of course begs the question – why doesn’t the City of Harare in partnership with either local residents or organisations like E Africa, replant new indigenous trees so that Harare doesn’t become a treeless city?

My next step:
- Write to City of Harare and raise this issue with them (I’m crossing fingers I get a response – safer than holding my breath because I’m likely to Die waiting)
- Write to the occupant who asked for the trees to be removed to see if they are willing and able to become tree champions; replant whatever you take out or ask to be taken out.
-Write to E Africa and ask them if they have any replanting schemes to mitigate the current cutting down of trees.

It’s shocking the kind of danger journalists continue facing across the world in their daily “routines”, and I put routines in quotes because these are people going about their normal work like any other, but which has turned out to be a perilous undertaking.

At the World Press Freedom Day celebrations this year being held in Costa Rica, one panelist literally grieved over how even countries that have promoted themselves as paragons of democracy have shown shocking impunity in their treatment of journalists.

This of course is the argument that has always been advanced by regimes that have not disguised their intolerance to press freedom that the these developed nations cannot preach to them about human rights, press freedom when they are themselves the worst violators.

It is a debate that is sure to go on for years to come, yet what has generally been agreed on during this year’s press freedom celebrations is that little is being done to ensure journalists are safe, not just embedded war correspondents as one would imagine, but the everyday journalist seeking to report anything from government corruption to organized crime.

I was jolted by one panelist who said that Pakistan remains one of the worst countries in the world to work as a journalist as journalist killings have become a daily thing despite “Pakistan being a democracy.”

Pretty instructive stuff as this resonates with many countries, some which we will not mention by name!

While other governments take journalist killings in their strides, what has emerged as worse practices is that some countries that violate these freedoms say, look, no journalist is in jail here, no journalist has been killed by state security forces, so why accuse us of being enemies of a free press, see we even have a plurality of newspapers!

As journalists celebrate this important occasion, even an African Union director of information conceded that African governments still have a lot to do to ensure journalists work in safe conditions, an acknowledgement that indeed many African countries remain hostile to a vibrate and inquisitive press.

The US Embassy Public Affairs Section held a discussion on the problem of waste and the challenges of disposing of it, particularly in urban areas. The discussion, lead by Environment Africa, explored various ways of preventing littering and cleaning up the environment, using the expression “the carrot or the stick” to described how people can either be encouraged to not litter through incentives or through punishment.

An incentive could be offered as is done in Botswana, where people are paid to clean the streets around their area. Or a punishment could be enforced, as is enacted in the Environmental Management Act – Any person found littering should be fined no more than a level 3 fine (about $20). Another suggestion was creating a situation like in Rwanda, where once a month everyone is required to spend a few hours on a designated day, cleaning the area around where they live. While it has encouraged a cleaner environment, it has also helped bring people together after the atrocities of the Genocide 19 years ago through collective acts of community service.

However, all suggestions have their disadvantages, as incentives would be expensive, the fine of no more than $20 could have little impact on people and finding one day where everyone can drop everything and spend a few hours doing community service would be difficult. An ideal situation would be a combination of different approaches, as is suggested by Environment Africa. They bring awareness to the importance of a clean environment and the dangers of pollution, leading campaigns and outreaches to educate communities on the issues.

Environment Africa also has a focus on “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”, looking towards innovative ways in which waste can be put to use. Several examples were shown; from recycled paper, which was turned into playing cards, and art made out of old cans. There was a strong emphasis on the need for innovation, looking towards young people to find new and creative ways to deal with the increasing build up of waste in both rural and urban areas.

However, the main message was this is our environment, which is everyone’s responsibility. To protect Zimbabwe and all the beauty, we all need to take responsibility and make an effort.

Photo: Environment Africa