After a long Christmas and New Year break most schools in Zimbabwe opened on the 11th of January 2011. A hike in school fees was reported in most schools especially private and some government schools. It is that time of the year when you hear stories of school children being turned away for non payment of fees.

When I was in school my former school head used to say this on the first day of classes: “If you did not pay your school fees go back home and tell your parents that we need that money now!!”

It sounded harsh to the ears of the parents, especially mine. But since it’s now an offense to turn away children for not paying school fees most school and college heads have come up with some enhanced community relations skills in order to keep their image clean. This has helped the school heads in terms of public relations. They have toned down the language so that when you hear it you won’t fume like how my parents used to do.

They now tell students to go back home and collect receipts as proof of payment.  It sounds diplomatic and very kind but after you’ve let it sink into your head for a while it’s still the same as hearing that your child has been turned away for not paying fees. When I heard my little cousin telling me that she was told to go back and collect receipts that’s when I realized that it’s now simply a matter of manipulating words to get the message across.

Just imagine if you had not paid school fees for your child where on earth are you going to get the receipts from?

Maybe sell some of Chombo’s houses or farms acquired by Zanu PF chefs? Or swing a bit of cash from diamonds towards salaries? Turn in the Mercs and Prados and buy more modest vehicles? Quit the trips and stay home for awhile?

Zimbabwe’s fiscal cupboard remains bare and the unity government will struggle to meet its wage bill for public sector workers in January 2011, finance minister Tendai Biti told the inaugural Global Poverty Summit in Johannesburg on 19 January.

“For the month of January we have only collected US$64 million and we are supposed to pay $101 million [public sector wage bill]. Where we are going to get the money to close the gap? I don’t know. I have made it very clear that we can only eat what we have killed and no more or no less.”

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Below is an excerpt from a recently published Pastoral Letter from the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference:

We urge our political leaders to:

i) Prioritize poverty eradication by using proceeds from natural resources like diamonds, land, etc., for the development of the whole nation and all its citizens. In its final message, the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops noted that Africa is rich in human and natural resources but ‘many of our people are still left to wallow in poverty and misery, wars and conflicts, crisis and chaos. These are very rarely caused by natural disasters. They are largely due to human decisions and activities by people who have no regard for the common good … .’
(No. 5).

ii) Stop the active and tacit collusion of those undermining the fight against corruption. Corruption is a cancer destroying our nation.

iii) Prosecute wrong doers and widely publicize any disciplinary action so that no one is seen to commit crime with impunity.

iv) Desist from intimidating and mistreating members of the public, the media, civic communities, etc. Uphold human rights.

v) Uniformed forces should maintain peace and security for all citizens at all times and especially before, during and after elections, and do so impartially.

vi) We implore our political leadership in the coalition government to reflect deeply on the timing of elections bearing in mind the unhealed state of the nation and the fragile state of the economy. They shoulder a heavy responsibility to serve and save Zimbabwe. They must think and act in pursuit of the Common Good. In the event of elections, implement the SADC guidelines in full.

vii) We expect our members of Parliament to make an effort to spearhead the mitigation of the pressing needs of the people they represent and desist from being preoccupied with enriching themselves.

From Bulawayo Agenda . . .

Traffic police in Bulawayo and commuter omnibus crews are in an undeclared war. The police are reportedly harassing commuter omnibus crews because one of the Imot’ etshontshimali (BMW) was stoned in Makokoba yesterday. Police went on to blockade the Egodini terminus under the impression that they are searching for the culprits. This led to commuters facing transport woes with workers and school children reporting late for duties. Traffic police have been fleecing commuter omnibus operators since acquiring BMWs in early December 2010. The cheapest ticket is reportedly in the range of US$80.

Yesterday I attended a presentation on Human Security by Farai Maguwu, a Zimbabwean human rights activist.

Over the years, many states have focused their security strategies on defending and protecting their nation through the use of the military. In Zimbabwe the defense Ministry has done exceedingly well in this regard, considering we have never been attacked by any state since independence. However, the blueprint surrounding the word security has since embraced a new aspect, which is human security. Human security expresses the basic needs of an individual in terms of secure systems of education, health, shelter and job structures.

Thus the ‘security’ that nations should provide for their citizens should go a long way beyond having safe borders to protect the nation at large to having individuals needs met within that secure environment. Human security in Zimbabwe is dilapidated. This is evident in the number of Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora who have failed to get a job in their own country, who have failed to get medical health care, who seek better education systems and whose freedom of expression has been violated. It is also evident from the number of street kids we having living in the streets, who have failed to secure a shelter over their head, a basic birth certificate (which is a right), education, and food to mention a few examples.

I personally fear that one day I might fall ill and fail to pay for my medical bills. Student at universities fear not getting a job after completing their studies. Pupils in schools,, both primary and secondary, fear that one day their parents will wake up to tell them there is no money in the house to pay for their fees or examination fees. The internally displaced communities and a majority of citizens have failed to put a roof over their heads. This, like the presenter put it, will lead to structural violence which he defined as the slow death of an individual through being deprived access to basic material needs.

What measures should we undertake as a nation to make Zimbabwe secure?

Riots which have swept through Tunisia started when a young man set himself on fire after police had confiscated merchandise he was selling on the streets. The young man had a degree from university and he was jobless. He resorted to selling fruits and vegetables on the streets and had his stuff confiscated by police. Through frustration and anger the young man set himself on fire. That same week in December another jobless man electrocuted himself to death. Before he torched himself he shouted “no to misery, no to unemployment.” Unemployment in Tunisia has an official unemployment rate of around 14%, but it is believed to be much higher in some areas.

With Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate reportedly standing at over 90% at present, one wonders what would be the fate of young people in this country. Every year thousands of graduates are churned out from Zimbabwe’s tertiary institutes. Most of them are jobless and some have trekked down to South Africa hoping for the better. Right now we have university graduates who are on the streets selling airtime cards, and some have resorted to becoming commuter omnibus conductors.

After having a chat with one of my friends, who is a college graduate, he said he really missed “the high rate era.” Though he hated the high inflation era, at least the days he spent on Harare’s street corners as a money changer provided some food on the table. But now after dollarisation, he said, “life has become tough.”  Most youths have resorted to drug abuse so that they can forget that they are not working. I know some can deny this but it’s a fact. These youths may look calm but soon their patience will be stretched to the limits and we shouldn’t be surprised when Harare becomes another Tunisia.

Like a virus spreading this wave of youth uprisings will reach our country and door steps. Time will tell.