According to preliminary research findings carried out in 2011by the African Network of Constitutional Lawyers (ANCL) some Zimbabweans showed ignorance on the right of access to information.  This ignorance isn’t helped by the Access to Information and Protection of Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which has no clear request and appeals procedures. This legislation has been blamed for focusing on media regulation rather than the promotion of access to information. Access to information should not be a preserve of the ministry of information and publicity and the media, as what was noted in the survey. Also access to information is not only about democracy and the media but also about the survival of the people. For example, information on health issues such as the current typhoid outbreak, which the country is experiencing at the moment, has not been made available to the public making it difficulty to hold the government accountable.

Today ANCL presented its findings at a meeting held in Harare highlighting that some of the objectives of the survey were to identify the existing legal framework for access to information in Zimbabwe, also assessing government responsiveness to access to information and recommendations for advancing the agenda of access to information.
Though these findings may be subject to debate, with some people arguing that politicization of public institutions has resulted in many people failing to access information of public interest in nature, and this information has not been made available due to bureaucracy and the culture of secrecy in government departments. In neighboring South Africa the government has the South Africa Government Services, which makes information of public interest available as stipulated under its Promotion of Access to Information Act. The department was created so that citizens can exercise their constitutional right to access any information held by the state.

Under AIPPA access to information from government institutions by members of the public has not been easy due to the arbitrary classification of state held information which some people have recommended that government should come up with a manual on what kind of information can be accessed from each department. The current constitution reform process presents opportunities for promoting access to information through the enhancement of state-citizen engagement.

Members of civil society and journalists in Zimbabwe have not been spared by AIPPA as many have been arrested for participating in civic education, and publishing stories that contain public interest information. The continued infringement on the right to access to information has resulted in many Zimbabweans losing interest in information coming from state run newspapers and broadcasters due to politicization of the content, preferring foreign and independent newspapers, TV and radio stations.

The president of South Africa Jacob Zuma has been framed again in another painting on show in Cape Town at AVA gallery. In the painting Zuma is dressed in traditional wear with his privates exposed. The artist, Ayanda Mabulu, titled the painting Umshini Wam (Weapon of Mass Destruction). To him it’s dedicated to the miners who died. It intends to strip Zuma of his suit and tie and bring him to the level of ordinary people who suffer daily according to the report in The Star. The artist claims that the painting did not show a lack of respect for Zuma saying:

“He is not naked; I did not paint him with an uncircumcised penis. This is a metaphor that shows he is not a boy; he is a man, an elder, a father, a leader … Through this painting, I respectfully, as one of his children, ask my father why he is starving us. Why he is negating his duties to his children, the citizens of South Africa.”

I have watched over the years how the Zimbabwean government and the responsible authorities around the country watch certain illegal habits grow in cities and towns until they become the normal thing to citizens. And just from out of the blue they pounce on the unaware “law-breaking” citizen with an operation to punish them. Illegal settlements did not just wake up one day and appear. They were there for some time and the City Fathers would see these and leave the residents until the residents felt homely and legal. But in the end they experienced the harsh Operation Murambatsvina.

For years retailers with or without liquor licenses were selling alcohol. In supermarkets alcohol was being sold until the time they closed their doors overriding their liquor licenses which regulates them to sell liquor up until 8pm. But who stopped them? They sold beer until people thought buying beer from a supermarket after 8pm was legal. But again they got slapped with a reminder of the regulation just when business was good and everyone expected to buy beer whenever they wanted.

For years we have been witnessing car sales sprout in and around the city. Name any major road in Harare and you will find a number of car sales. If one needed to open a car sale they only needed some poles and fence and an open area along a major road, and boom they were in the car trading business. But now the Harare City Council is conducting a clean-up exercise to wipe out all illegal car sales. Where has the City Council been while some of these “businesses” have been trading for more than 5 years at specific locations?

Today my nerves raged a bit as I read a story by Chipo Masara, an environment journalist with The Standard newspaper who reported how human waste is among Harare’s “litter” in the CBD. The areas most affected are kombi ranks where the City has failed to provide toilets. For the rank marshals, the hwindis and all vendors in the surrounding areas, using the city center as a ‘bush’ is now seen as normal. To them urinating in containers and throwing them on the street is considered to be ok. So the next thing is we will have the City as dirty as you can imagine and our City Fathers will pounce on us with an Operation Wawetera Papi to fine anyone relieving themselves in the wrong places. I wonder what they are waiting for?

Those in authority should make sure from the onset that people know what is wrong and right.  Is it that our police force that should be helping with the enforcement of laws in the country is diverting most of their energy to political related stuff? To me they seem to be doing a really good job implementing POSA, AIPPA, the Criminal and Codification Act and all the other draconian laws that exist, at the expense of our country’s upkeep and well being as a whole. Such issues need to be addressed as the glory of the Sunshine City will continue getting lost to an extent where trying to get back to how we once were will mean building a new city altogether.

Yesterday the Herald headline read ‘ZANU PF popularity surges: Poll’.

I was shocked to see how the Herald, which is a state controlled paper, was quick to praise this survey titled “Change and ‘New’ Politics in Zimbabwe” done by a US based NGO Freedom House. The survey like any survey poses challenges to its findings due to its delimitations and as noted in the report it mostly concentrated in the rural areas. Honestly in Zimbabwe where freedom of speech is non-existent who would answer saying that they support or belong to opposition parties? According to the survey 47% of the respondents refused to indicate who they would vote for. Of the 53% who declared their preference 31% chose ZANU PF and 20 the MDC. My point of fear of disclosure is brought to light as shown that many people feared disclosing their political affiliation.

It’s so easy to say I support ZANU PF because you know you are not stepping on anyone’s toes. But when one publicly says they are for the MDC you are mostly likely to irk a few people and place your life at great risk in your community especially in rural communities. I was enlightened in the other findings of the survey, which somehow newspapers reporting on this story ignored.
-85% are ‘sure’ or ‘very sure’ that they will be casting their ballots in the next elections
-47% of those who said they would vote in the next elections stated ‘this is the election that will make the difference’.
-A total of 35% respondents in this survey (compared with 16% in 2010) now believe that the next round of elections will be free and fair.

These are among other findings summarised on the Freedom House website.

The last time such a report was published saying MDC was the most popular ZANU PF quickly rubbished this report and Herald did not even report on it. And because this year’s report shows ZANU PF as the most popular party, the Herald took the story to their front page and the MDC was quick to rubbish this report. I believe the ballot in a free and fair election will show who the most popular party is. May the best party win in the next elections!

Zimbabwe Youth Festival artistic director, Tenford Chitanana, has launched his documentary titled, “Toindepi: Reflections of a Discarded Generation”. The documentary which details the lives of youths in Zimbabwe’s Hatcliffe area which was greatly affected by Operation Murambatsvina. Speaking at the launch at a Food For Thought session at the US Embassy Public Affairs Section Chitanana said, “The future is not inherited but I feel it is borrowed. Its unfortunate young people have no space to walk into the future”. These words conceded with the various views shared by youths present who felt they were being marginalized and abused in some instances.

The film goes through the lives of three youths who face various challenges. From being an unemployed breadwinner, a young mother, and dropping out of school but despite the challenges they face in their community these youths have dreams they wish to achieve one day. Moreblessing, who chronicles his life mostly in the film, dreams of being a politician and wishes to run as a Councilor for his ward in the next elections.

They work hard and they dream big but the system has failed to provide at least just one of their major needs which is education. There is only one formal high school in the community, which cannot meet the needs of all the youths in the area. Thus the youths are forced to attend ‘make shift schools’ which at the end of the day mean nothing since they are not recognized by the education ministry and prospective employers. The young mother sees her future brighter if only she can be afforded decent education in her community through the building of a formal school for all. Not only for herself but also for the generations to come.

Chitanana hopes that his film will inspire the youths of Zimbabwe to envision their tomorrow despite today’s challenges and struggles. Thus he poses the question Toindepi (Where do we go) and hopes from this documentary and other works that the youths will be enabled to come together and map a way forward to work together for the future.