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From Freedom Fone’s latest newsletter:

Reproductive Health Hotline runs on Freedom Fone in Kenya

June 2012 found our technical team in Nairobi, hosted by Women on Waves and partners, to train reproductive health activists on how to use Freedom Fone to complement their information services. The Aunty Jane Hotline was officially launched on 19 June to provide Kenyan women with reproductive health information in English and Swahili. The Aunty Jane Hotline will make use of Freedom Fone’s IVR, voicemail and SMS functionalities to share life saving reproductive health information, and to receive feedback and questions.

We still have copies of our very popular Be.Inspired newsletter available for members of the Kubatana community. Be.Inspired shares humorous and interesting examples of civic, social and political engagement from around the world.

If you’d like a copy please send us your name and postal address and we’ll get one to you.

Email us at: products [at] kubatana [dot] net

As a gay man living in Tanzania, Cassim Mustapha could have faced imprisonment, but prosecutions under the country’s Sexual Offences Act are rare, and the bigger threat came from his own community. After one of his neighbours attacked him with an axe leaving a deep wound in his head, Mustapha fled and applied for asylum in Malawi, the first country he reached. More from IRIN here

Zimbabweans speak out about harassment at police road blocks. Here is some citizen reporting:

Many times had to do so, coz they would hev taken yo licence disc, and the inconvinience, u just hev to hev something in yo pocket, Gvt must just do whats legal, write the registration of è car & follow up on offenders later. – Andrew

I had a very similar encounter with the police at the corner Kirkman Road and Sherwood Drive near the national sports stadium some two weeks ago on a Saturday. In my case I was stopped by a police officer who immediately asked to see my driver’s licence. I gave him but before he returned it he told me that they were checking on the following items; reflective vests, my licence disc, jack, fire extinguisher, two red triangles and spare wheel. I did not have a spare wheel that day so he said I should pay a spot fine of US$10.00. I asked him to write me a ticket since I did not have money on me. He just laughed it off. I tried to plead with him to get the ticket but my pleas fell on deaf ears. He even threatened to bring more charges against me if I continued bothering him. When I asked him if the police no longer issued tickets he indicated that whoever was responsible for procuring and/or supplying stationery to the police stations was supplying all the other books except ticket books leaving them with no choice but to charge spot fines. When I insisted that I had no money he told me that they were gonna have to take me to Mabelreign police station from where the vehicle would be taken to the VID for further inspection. He then issued me a veiled threat that should it be taken to the VID it would cost me an arm and a leg to get it back. I told him I had no choice and sat in the car waiting for them to take me to the police station as he had said. After about two hours sitting patiently in the car he came and asked what it was that he had confiscated from me. He gave me back my driver’s licence and ordered me to get out of his sight. He even scolded me saying I was a boorangoma rinofamba risina kana cent. So guys sometimes just do not appear to be in such a big hurry when these traffic cops stop you. These guys can capitalise on that. On that particular occasion I later overhead the police officer who stopped me telling his colleague that so far that day he had raised US$530.00.There were four of them at that road block all of them receipting spot fines. – Silas

I have had many similar situations with spot fines and I have simply refused to pay.  The most recent was after the revocation of the licensing deadline and the revoking of the revocation.  It was before 1 July when we were stopped and ordered to pay a fine on the spot – I was with my sisters and we all had under $10 on us and none of us were prepared to part with that money – it was just after Snake Park.  Anyway we simply parked and let the guy talk and talk and demand the money simply telling him we didn’t have it until he got tired and eventually let us go after about 20 minutes. I think that the police, should fundraise in a more proactive manner, by producing a booklet of information on road traffic police procedures and motorist’s right and just put it right up there on the long list of things one must have in their car such as fire extinguisher etc, and they can charge a small fee for this booklet which I wouldn’t mind paying so that I know my rights. – Blessing

I was driving along the same road from Corporate 24 and the police stopped me claiming I did not obey the stop sign. I stopped and looked and seeing that there were no cars, I proceeded.  My question to the police is … how many minutes am I supposed to stop at the sign? They seemed to ignore me and the more I protested the more the police were aggravated and threatened to impound my car. I had no money on me so I had to negotiate to go home and get money. The nerve of the officer to insist on coming home with me. The gross abuse of power by some members of the police force is sickening.  nxaaah!!! – Ellen

It was on Tuesday morning of 19 June when I was driving my wife to hospital around 6:45am when I come across 4 police officers (GMBturnoff) riding bikes on their way to base station (kilobase) from their main station. One of them move to the centre of the road and I just avoid him by keep more to the left and proceed with my journey. After 3 hours they come to where my car was parked at karina filling station demanding $80 for not stopping when one of them ride his bike on the middle of the road saying it was a sign of a roadblock. Many people are losing a lot of money in Norton to the police in their everyday endless operation. They impound your car if you don’t pay bribe. Unlicensed young police officers they demand your car keys and drive your car to the kilobase in katanga if you still don’t pay their money they will drive car again to the main station along Zvimba road that is where you will run out of time and end up paying bribe without seeking justice your car can stay for weeks there whilst used to trap other cars. Targeted cars ipsum,Gaia,323 class4 range. I ended up paying $7 bribe for my freedom. Freedom wasn’t fought for because we are still paying for our daily freedom without cash you can’t even dream of freedom in Zimbabwe, especially Norton. – G

People should be allowed to pay their fines at any nearest police station. Chihuri had promoted police officer to be corrupt. – Ellson

I fell into the same predicament – “accused” of not observing a “Stop Sign” when I was driving from UZ, and turning into Upper East Road.  I had to part with $20 on the spot in order to avoid being taken to Avondale Police Station. Had no idea what would be in store for me at the station, hence the decision to just pay. Was pissed off though! – Isabel

The police at Rhodesville Police station have a constant road block there and now apparently everyone is getting fined $20 if the fire extinguisher is not local and with the Zimbabwe Standards Association seal on, the original law said a fire extinguisher, it did not stipulate what kind, not that I can see, now for one to find one of these fire extinguishers is another story, and we cannot help wondering which minister in government is making these and now a sudden law is passed forcing people to buy them so he/she can make money. Are you aware of this law? Is it new? Or is it another excuse to pocket money, why did no one hear of this I wonder, and people do not have cash to drive around with either, we all battle and get fleeced enough without adding to it. There are also bogus police who are out at night fleecing people, pretending they are police and searching people, pinching stuff from the cars they search, like cell phones, fleecing money off people with trumped up things, wonder where they got the idea from? Police stopped a man in Chipinga and they tried to fine him for having a dirty car, when he had just come off a dirt road anyway, this is pure theft and abuse of power. Since when do people get fined for dirty cars anyway, never mind the buses etc that belt black smoke out and all the other mechanical problems they have, and besides which so many of us in Harare never see water, but of course get charged for water we never get, more theft, so how do we wash our cars anyway! If I got water I would wash myself and my clothes first, the car would be low down on that queue! The police are more crooked than the crooks. – M

Here’s a press release from ZINASU.

I’d suggest that the GNU isn’t barking up the wrong tree. It is the Wrong tree and it’s Barking mad.

GNU Barking Up the Wrong Tree

The Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) is alarmed that political parties in the GNU have made an ill-advised decision to increase seats in parliament. Whilst there is need for gender equality in all government bodies, parties in the GNU are going about ensuring this in the wrong way.

Currently, the legislature is monolithic in comparison to the size of our country. To add sixty more seats will result in heavy drainage of financial resources that can be channeled towards education, health and other vital sectors.

According to plans for enlarging parliament, 60 female MPs will be seconded by political parties on a proportional representation basis in line with the number of seats the parties would have garnered in elections. This means that these sixty legislators will be MPs with no constituencies. Already the country has over thirty non-constituent MPs in Parliament appointed by the president and heads of political parties in the GNU; to then add sixty more to this number will result in a perversion of the purpose of parliament which is to represent citizens from various constituencies.

If political parties are serious about gender equality they should implement quotas for contesting parliamentary elections in their parties that promote the afore-mentioned notion.

If parties in the GNU persist on including this ill-thought and ill-fated arrangement in the draft constitution it is guaranteed that the latter is seriously going to be mobilized against during the referendum stage.

Noting the absurd and avaricious demands that are made by parliamentarians from time to time and being aware of the huge drain that the financial needs of the current Legislature effects on national coffers, there is no way that ZINASU, can in good conscience allow this plan to proceed.
If the afore-mentioned plan somehow contained provisions for introducing parliamentarians that have a definite capacity to better the quality of legislation and debate in parliament it would have been better.

For if truth be told our parliamentarians are known for propelling some of the most ridiculous arguments, which include among others, advocating for legalization of marijuana, attempting to legislate laws that ensure that women dress shabbily to lessen the preponderance of HIV/AIDS and arguing that men should take drugs that cause them to want less sex as a means of combating the afore-mentioned disease. Given this background, to then superfluously add more parliamentarians into the legislature without ensuring ways in which the quality of their contributions can be enhanced is highly retrogressive.

ZINASU