Police corruption is the base definition of corruption in our country because it has a direct impact on the day-to-day lives and freedoms of our folks. Failure of the GNU and current parliament to recognise this is a sign to me that our politics has lost touch with its citizens and in the larger context they’re in conscious denial of the things that impact on our daily livelihoods. The Harare City Council is now advocating to add salt to our already nerve twitching wounds by advocating for street spot fines under the guise of keeping abreast with the international trends. The town clerk Tendai Mahachi is even making lame efforts to try and convince us that the South African standard is the International standard and that this is not about theft of our monies, as fast money for their men on the street and his starved coffers, but to bring sanity in the city. They have been promising for more than 5 years now that they are going to build commuter ranks outside the CBD but surprisingly the fault is never theirs but rather the commuters and the people.

In a rampant police corrupted country where even the commissioner of police is always on the defence that his forces are the cleanest and incorruptible, I think there has to be specific ways in which the people take things into their own hands and restore their own dignity. If we fail to defend our hard earned monies, these good for nothing lazies will continue with their malicious looting.
Commuters and all motorists have got to start investing in voice recorders and dashboard cameras to bring to book and shame this disease that is eating us everyday. This sounds ambitious and potentially expensive but for a minimum of R400, one can make sure that every road block is as it is supposed to be and when making complaints about illicit police dealing, the evidence through recording the incident will be enough. Shaming these corruptors by exposing them via social media is also a very effective way to curb this scourge.

In a case where all arms the state has failed to protect us, we should step in as our own protectors. There was a time when we could trust the state to secure our dignity through the police and the judiciary; the era is fast petering away from us and the only way left is to take a stand as a people and claim our dignity.

there are many disparaging words used to describe us  women
bitch, witch, slut, hussy, harlot, whore…

crone is one of these
it conjures up a picture of bent old women with stringy grey hair and warts on their noses
screeching voices and fearful curses

would you want to be that?
PLEASE NO!

it is time to reclaim our authority as elders,
as grandmothers,
as crones
to remember and honour the gifts we bring
as the wise ones
to stop fearing our power as healers and ritual makers and web-weavers and visionaries
stop worrying about our size and shape and number of wrinkles
for it is now when we truly have the freedom to claim our authenticity
without needing approval

how do we connect ourselves into the spirals of life
and live each part true to inner knowing of ourselves
and call the wisdom of women back into our world?

For now is the time for us
to be truly who we are

Human rights activist, Betty Makoni last week brought out a hidden practice that has been going on in some sections our society which some would consider a normal way of life. The myth behind this secret culture is that women who had their labia pulled out are well prepared to please men in bed. Betty says she was forced into this practice when she was as young as 8 years old. To equate labia elongation to genital mutilation some may say is a bit too far since the process or practice doesn’t involve the physical cutting and stuff but on the other it raises questions of child abuse since the process involves touching of a child’s private parts. Just like the circumcision debate as a parent would you voluntarily allow your daughter to go through the process so that she can increase her chances in bed?

Artist: Chaz Maviyane-Davies

The Shoko Festival came to life in a session dubbed “Hub Unconference” which ignited some positive debate on the challenges and opportunities brought by new media and citizen journalism. The online space has brought an alternative space for people to freely express themselves through engaging in positive debate and also to do business. An industry, which needs to adapt fast and digitalise, is the media industry in Zimbabwe. The online space creates huge opportunities for the Zimbabwe media in terms of market and cost reduction. For example international media houses have reported a drop in sales of physical or hard copies of newspapers and magazines in recent years as people now prefer to read news on online.

A record increase in mobile penetration in Zimbabwe with a considerable uptake of mobile applications presents huge business and networking opportunities. Social media platforms like Twitter have also helped start discussions on issues which people would sometimes sweep under the carpet. Nowadays almost everyone armed with a smartphone and Internet connectivity is a storyteller and a newsmaker. Every day people are getting more involved in citizen journalism and this is changing the manner in which news is now being consumed.

People are looking for alternative sources and space online through setting up blogs, chat groups and facebook pages.

There is always is the challenge of separation of roles in the technology industry and the biggest challenge is that of coming up with solutions for everything. App developers and business people should engage a collaboration of the minds and put themselves in the shoes of the customer in order to come up with a simplified product which suits the needs of the user.

Living in a society where government is failing to provide basic essentials like water and electricity to its people, the digital space comes with its own challenges as not everyone will be able to go online. The digital divide in Zimbabwe is increasing due to market segment as most technology companies target markets perceived to be for the elite, leaving out those with little disposable income.