I read a report carried in this week’s edition of the Sunday News on “civil societies” being part of the MDC’s 13th anniversary celebrations in Bulawayo.

It was in essence a reporter’s opinion veiled as a news item (but then that’s not new for Zimpaper scribes) and was very disapproving of these “civil societies” being part of the day’s proceedings. It is obvious these reporters don’t bat an eyelid about being Janus faced. We have hoards of fly-by-night jingoist CSOs who have openly come out breathing anti-MDC, anti-America rhetoric claiming Zanu PF allegiance. And indeed these have been reported by the same paper!

You even have a university students representative body that has come out blazing in support of Zanu PF at a time when every other student blames Zanu PF for murdering the UZ!

And this Sunday News story was written by a beneficiary of a US embassy journalism training programme!

Go figure.

Walk through the footpaths of Bulawayo townships where a little shrubbery still survives and you are met by a chorus of flies having what must be an unending Christmas. Crap all over as open latrines flourish, and you see, indeed smell, how the water crisis has turned shitting into a very public affair.

When you see a well-dressed  dandy disappearing into the bush, be warned: he is taking a nature walk of a turd kind!

So the news is abuzz with research and survey findings of critical political issues in Zimbabwe. Political parties have commented on the results of these surveys to support or castigate the reports based on how favourable the findings are for their political interest. Politicians, civic society and the media have met to discuss these surveys. Hot and out of the oven, is a survey commissioned by Afrobarometer and conducted by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) of their Round 5 Survey in Zimbabwe.

The survey which was conducted by MPOI from the 16th to the 30th of July 2012 randomly selected adult Zimbabwean citizens aged 18+ in the ten provinces of the country. The randomly selected study population was both rural and urban however, it excluded people residing at institutions, police camps and barracks. A total of 2 400 adult Zimbabweans were interviewed in a face-to-face interview using Shona, Ndebele or English as preferred by the respondent. The findings to the first three questions as concluded by MPOI were:

Presidential Term Limits
-A majority of Zimbabweans (74%) want term limits for the president.
-Support for maximum term limits is high in both urban areas (83% in favor) and rural areas, where 69% support this.
-Majorities in all provinces support devolution with Bulawayo Province recording the highest number of this support.
-A huge majority of MDC-T supporters (93%) favor presidential term limits
-Opinion on presidential term limits among Zanu-PF supporters is almost equally split; 48% support the idea while half are opposed.

Citizenship
-A majority of survey respondents are in support of other forms of citizenship except dual citizenship. 72% reject dual citizenship.
-Manicaland province had the highest number of respondents (84%) against dual citizenship while Mat South boasts the highest number of respondents in support of this kind of citizenship in Zimbabwe.
-More Zanu-PF loyalists (76%) reject dual citizenship than the MDC-T supporters (67%).

Devolution of Power
-A majority of Zimbabweans (61%) are in support of devolution
-A significant proportion of survey respondents (21%) could neither agree nor disagree with the concept of devolution
-7 out of 10 provinces want to see a devolved state in Zimbabwe
-The strongest sentiment for devolution was expressed in Bulawayo

In conclusion MPOI says they wait to see if the people’s views found in the survey will be incorporated in the constitution, which is still in the making process.

Shoko Festival 2012 is live and kicking and Radio Active is audio blogging direct from the festival.

Get there now through 23 September.

And check out what Freedom of Expression means to ordinary Zimbabweans at the Festival here: http://soundcloud.com/tswarelo-mothobe

Tsvangirai’s appeal has faded fast.

This is Zimbabwe’s tragedy: the mantle of leadership has rested too long on the shoulders of the man who currently leads Zimbabwe, and it will sit uneasily on the man who wants to unseat him. But voters are likely to conclude that Tsvangirai is the lesser of two evils. Flawed as he is, he may just make it.

More from Petinah Gappah here

Only in Zimbabwe … how much shit from this incompetent government will we continue to tolerate?

Bulawayo City Council has come up with a system that will see all residents flushing their toilets simultaneously to prevent sewer blockages caused by the water-shedding programme.

“The public is advised that there is a need to schedule a flush exercise of the reticulation system in all areas that do not use septic tanks,” council spokesperson Nesisa Mpofu said yesterday.

“This is due to the recent water shedding programme by council, which has seen a reduced amount of water entering the sewerage system.

“All residents of Bulawayo are invited and expected to participate in this exercise.

“Every household is requested to flush their toilets systematically at 7.30pm the very day after the 72hours of water shedding.

“This is done to prevent any sewer blockages as we anticipate longer periods without water in the reticulation system.

“Please note that this is in addition to the normal flushing that will occur during the day.”

She appealed to residents to conserve water in order to minimise the impact of the shedding exercise.

Industrial and the central business district are exempt from the water-shedding programme.

Bulawayo is facing severe water shortages after two main supply dams were decommissioned.