In Harare police have taken to setting up informal road blocks in places that cause congestion. I say informal because there is seldom any warning that one is approaching such a road block – unless backed up traffic counts as notification. There are no police signs anywhere to be seen.

Armed (and it’s no accident I use this word) with a lime green reflective vest and a receipt book, police in Harare camp out at comfortable locations and fund raise for themselves. Official fines are seldom raised, tickets seldom issued, but money certainly changes hands.

If the police force has any commitment to public safety or public good they should institute a system whereby reflective vests emblazoned with ‘POLICE’ and receipt books used to record fines should be strictly controlled – as one would weapons.

Ask anyone and they will confirm that crime in the capital is on the up. Gone is the quiet thief who strikes whilst you’re out or asleep. Common is the brazen thief who wants to catch you unawares at your home or carjack you on the road. They can be brazen because the police force has little interest in Real Policing.

Two current favourite policing activities are:

a) Stopping kombis (privately run transport operators) on any pretense and delaying them long enough to secure a bribe. Usually the driver will get out of his car, walk back to the police officer, shake his/her hand and start to negotiate.

b) Stopping cars on behalf of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s licensing inspectors.

In both of these scenarios, the police have no interest in using this opportunity to check that a driver is licensed to be at the wheel, or that the vehicle is roadworthy. As long as you have a Radio Licence or will pay a bribe, you can drive a vehicle!

I think the collective term for police has traditionally been a ‘posse’ or something similar. These days it would be more apt to pick from one of the following:

An obstruction of police
A huddle of police
A den of police
A swagger of police

Here’s an important contribution to the discussion on democracy in Zimbabwe. Vince Musewe is an economist and author based in Harare – his contact email address is at the end of his article.

Never, has so much been owed by so few to so many.

My name its Vincent Tichafa Musewe, I am an African who by God’s design, was born here in Zimbabwe so that after I am gone, this place will be a better place because I have lived. After all that is true leadership.

I therefore must share with you my idea of Zimbabwe. It is not what I see today.

We must revive our economy as a matter of urgency but more important, we must tell a new story about our beautiful country. We must invest a new narrative, a new paradigm so that out of our bosom, may be born a new beginning where all Zimbabweans regardless of race can live up to their full potential.

We must hurry and be gripped by the creation of those circumstances we desire most without being cowered or being afraid. After all, fear is a mental construct.

We must create a country where all are free to pursue their dreams without limit; a country whose unimaginable wealth can be utilized to eradicate poverty and lack; a country whose resources are applied to the benefit of all and not to the benefit a few men and women simply because they have access to arms of war.

My ideas and inspirations in creating a new Zimbabwe are based on one undeniable truth; that any nation that does not create freedom and liberty for its citizens to live up to their full potential will in turn, never attain its own full potential. The people must come first and their happiness and development must therefore be nourished, protected and preserved so that our country can truly become what we imagine it to be.

The dignity, security and prosperity of every Zimbabwean enshrined in our constitution were not fashioned to be applied at the whim of our leaders, but these are non negotiable rights for everyone born Zimbabwean. It is a non negotiable instrument that cannot be returned to sender. We must demand that this government meets its obligations.

In my opinion, no economic blue print no matter how clever and intelligent it may sound can ever create the conditions necessary for progress until the values of those that lead us change. Economic blue prints hardly excite me simply because we have had so many of them. Let us therefore be careful and not be complacent because the days are dangerous.

To our politicians:

I do not care how many degrees you may have; how many doctorates and academic accolades you may lay claim on, if I see young Zimbabwean girls in South Africa or in Harare becoming prostitutes to make a living so that they may feed their children back home.

When I see small burnt children at a hospital that cannot treat them because there are no medicines, I don’t care what car you drive.

When I hear that Zimbabweans are fighting off animals for fruit so that they may have something to eat, I do not care where you live or what designer suit you are wearing.

I care less for the sophisticated English words you may use in justifying your entitlement to power when I know that my brothers and sisters in the Diaspora must take three jobs so that they may survive and also look after their siblings at home.

When pensioners who worked for half of their lifetime cannot buy food, I am not impressed by the way you walk or talk.

I care less for the balance in your bank account when I hear that a large number of young mothers are dying from cervical cancer or that two million Zimbabweans will go hungry this season. When I see desperate youth wonder how each day will turn out because they are unemployed.

What use are your degrees in history, philosophy, rocket science, medicine, politics if those degrees lead to wide spread poverty, depression and hopelessness? What use are they when we know we in Zimbabwe have some of the largest mineral resources on earth including vast fertile soils yet we are facing an economic calamity? They are useless.

Never, in my opinion, has so much been owed by so few to so many.

The Zimbabwe I seek to create will have none of this.

Unfortunately I do not see this Zimbabwe I dream of coming tomorrow. I know, however, that it is buried deep down within my soul and it was born the day I was born in Highfield. God willing, it will surely come to pass in my life time.

All we need is now is hope and a strong belief in our potential but this hope must be underpinned by action; action to do what we can from where we are with what we have to create the circumstances we deserve.

We must accelerate the creation of a new Zimbabwe that is not limited by the imagination of those that only seek personal benefit but a Zimbabwe of unlimited potential underpinned and fashioned by the free spirit of the people of Zimbabwe.

It will take a while but I am convinced that one fine day, in the steal of the night it will come.

Don’t give up!

Vince Musewe is an economist and author based in Harare. You may contact him on vtmusewe [at] gmail [dot] com

A report, from the Research and Advocacy Unit, interrogates whether or not Parliament is “a meeting of more or less idle people.” It costs $1,115 per sitting to maintain an MP, and the average House sitting is 2 ½ hours long. Read it here

The Vintage and Classic Car Club of Zimbabwe invite all motor club members and friends to attend an evening talk and slide show presentation by Herman and Candelaria Zapp on their epic 13 year journey around the world in their vintage 1928 Graham Paige saloon car.

To date they have covered almost 200,000 miles and visited 40 countries.

This presentation is open and free to all motoring enthusiasts, and will take place in the Sable Motors Sports Club Hall (behind old Haddon Motors, access from Midlothian Avenue, Eastlea) at 6pm for 6,30pm this Friday the 8th of November.  Their Graham Paige motor car will be on display on the clubhouse veranda.

Child alternative care assessment study: SOS Children’s Villages Zimbabwe
Deadline: 14 November 2013

SOS Children’s Villages Zimbabwe is a non-governmental child development organisation established in Zimbabwe in 1985. Its mission is to build families for children that have lost parental care or at risk of losing parental care, help them shape their own futures and share in the development of their communities. It is a member of SOS Children’s Villages International, which is currently working in 133 countries. In Zimbabwe SOS Children’s Villages is implementing various child and youth development interventions focusing on the provision of direct essential services; capacity building of child care-givers and community partners; as well as advocacy in the areas of care, health, education and gender.

On 18th October 2010, SOS Children’s Villages International unanimously adopted the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children as a key framework for its work. SOS Children’s Villages has therefore dedicated itself to implement the UN Guidelines in its work as well as to advocate for their application around the world. The organization believes that the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children has the potential to promote children’s rights and improve the lives of millions of children, their families and communities around the world.

It is against this background that SOS Children’s Villages Zimbabwe intends to conduct a care assessment exercise to ascertain the extent to which children under various care systems are benefiting through implementation of current policy and legal framework.

Purpose of the assessment

The care assessment will focus on assessing:
-The measures in country to prevent family separation
-The various living arrangements for children in alternative care with a focus on: Extended family (kinship care),Community care, Formal foster care, Residential child care, and
-The administrative arrangements managing the above mentioned services.

It will also explore how the current national legal and policy framework governs the delivery of services in these various forms of care.

Please use this link to access full Tors

Cancer kills more people globally than HIV/Aids, TB and Malaria, and in Africa it is becoming a growing health burden. There are likely to be 16 million new cases of cancer every year, 70% of which will be in developing countries.  But in the face of lack of knowledge, scarce resources, and so many competing priorities, many have been powerless to do much.

Tanyaradzwa Cancer Trust in collaboration with Pamberi Trust invite you to a free public discussion on Cancer Treatment, to provide information and awareness about the various forms and dangers in some Cancer treatment methods, natural medicines, and more.