Nelson Mandela said, “And later when we felt that we now have quite a solid support among the masses, we then decided to select 6 laws which we felt were most oppressive. We would define these laws and deliberately go to jail and not pay fines in order to focus attention on the repressive policies of the (apartheid) government”.

Mandela and his colleagues intelligently and consciously engaged in strategic non-violent civil disobedience.

Here is a man, at the height of political repression of the blacks by the apartheid regime when everyone was pondering whether to weigh a fully-fledged war against the government; he stood strong and wise and opted for a non-violent civil disobedience strategy. This is the profound level of wisdom and temperance, which unfortunately has been misconstrued by some of our impatient political ‘pundits’ in Zimbabwe as being too lenient. This is a clear attempt to brainwash and keep everyone in check and under the authorities feet. These politicians know that if Zimbabwe becomes very politically conscious of what Mandela did, the same things that he did may be applied against their corruption and evil and torturous politicking. These are men who have seen how Mubarak was deserted by his own security people, doing what Henry David Thoreau suggested, “If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law”.

Mandela has brought this lesson to Africa that it is the duty of the people to give a moral check, in the most non-violent ways possible, to the actions of a government.

“One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

I see there is a lot of excitement ahead of elections about worthy and unworthy candidates. This is normal in any contestation of worldviews, especially within our political space here in Zimbabwe where divergent views for some mean kung fu kicks to the head of the interlocutor with whom you don’t agree.

What I find curious is that 33 years after independence, enters into public debate the issue of “qualifications” for those aspiring for public office. It tells a more profound story that meets the eye. When did Zimbabweans realise that this is what will solve their problems?

Critics have, not surprisingly, trashed such calls as breeding some misplaced elitism in the arena of public service as they the critics imagine it.

That this country has one of the highest PhDs per capita across the African continent and has still been steered down an abyss is a no brainer.

What is curious is that while people “obsess” about qualifications, they are the same people who will tell you that the real world only responds to intelligent behavior that is not gleaned from devouring tomes whose value to human development and understanding the universe is questionable.

But that’s a criticism we hear all the time, and it reads like that old aphorism that people who say money isn’t everything are usually people who don’t have the money themselves!

Money is everything, some have retorted, and if we are to conflate the two, money and education, another logical fallacy quoted elsewhere becomes relevant: that a rich man can never be wrong, and therefore you have no reason taking a poor fellow’s opinions seriously!

That is how Zimbabweans have tended to develop their own knowledge systems in the cruel world of the 21st century, but it remains to be seen if the real world has been successfully manipulated by the literati so to speak to make it a better place.

And of course this being Zimbabwe where there is always emphasis to push one’s chest out and claim one academic degree or another, some have said anyone who speaks ill of “educated leaders” wants the country to be led by dunces.

And that tells you the level of “education” the people in this debate have! Isn’t it ironic?

Ever since the day I watched a documentary called Wasteland on how a photographer changed the lives of rubbish pickers in Brazil by empowering them to make art with the recyclable materials they pick from the dump site my mind now forever boggles on how best people can make of the circumstances and scenarios they are in. The Friendship Bench at Harare Hospital is one of the many ideas across the country of how communities are being empowered.

I recently visited the Friendship Bench at Harare Hospital. An organisation created by Dr Chibanda to assist low-income people suffering from depression and anxiety. Patients come to the wooden bench for counselling from trained health workers. After realising that most of the people receiving counselling at the Friendship Bench had no source of income, the idea of Zee Bags was born. These women crotchet old plastic bags into colourful shopping baskets and fun handbags.

Now the women have been so empowered to make their own living. If you attended HIFA this year, you probably saw their stand, which was big and eye-catching. Being at HIFA and exhibiting was a great achievement for them and now they look forward to doing the same at the Harare Agricultural Show.

Being around this group of women you can see how this community development project has helped them to deal with their challenges with common mental disorders, depression and anxiety. During the interviews I gathered most of the women eluded that before joining this project all they could think of were their worries leading to stress, but now making these bags keeps their minds busy. And it’s also giving them some income to take care of their families.

Benjamin Franklin once said;  “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”.

Early in the morning before I got to work I wake up for a daily fix of world news from various channels, from ZBC ‘s political machinations to Press TV’s anti-West propaganda from Iran. Yesterday I almost got lost on time as I got to drawn into an Edward Snowden interview on CNN. This is one guy who turned from being a spy to a whistleblower and in the end he exposed the ridiculous.

From the George Bush era to Obama’s second term in office, the US government has been on a mission to do data mining and eavesdropping on people’s conversations and online activities through a programme called PRISM. The scam involved some of the social media companies we have been trusting with our valuable private information. From big telecomms companies to social media and search engine companies like Facebook and Google, the US government has  been able to access private information on citizens and all this was done in the name of national security. Holed up in Hong Kong the former spy revealed that a total of nine mobile and technology companies knew about PRISM and collaborated in turning over citizens’ private information to the government.

To me Snowden is a hero because he took an oath to defend the Constitution but when he realized that the Constitution was being violated he decided to go public. Of course there are those calling for his head for treason and some may argue and say if you have nothing to hide then why worry but the bottom line is citizens’ liberties are being given away for temporary safety. If a government can have access to people’s private telephone records even without any wrongdoing is not a violation of human rights then what would stop Swaziland or Sudan’s government from investing in such technology that can used infringe on citizen’s rights under the same banner of national security. Like any previous laws passed in US which infringe on online freedoms PRISM has set a bad precedence to countries with repressive regimes as this will be a justification to wiretap and monitor online activities of citizens.

I am currently developing a Ward 7 (Harare City Council – Strathaven, Avondale, Alex Park, Gun Hill) directory, so people who live here can also buy and play here. It’s about building community, getting to know your neighbours. I walk from shop to church to police station to school to sports club to next shop, and get the contact details for public consumption.

I am amazed at how many places, mainly shops, but even a hospital; do not want to give out information.

“What do you want to know for?”
“Why should we tell you?”
“We can’t give that information out”
“What will you do with it?”

Is this the legacy of thirty years of democracy? That Zimbabweans are so mistrustful that they will not tell the public what the phone number of their shop is? Do they believe ‘Big Brother’ is watching them with CCTVs, Internet devices, etc? Is there some conspiracy I am unknowingly a part of by gathering their (not even private) information?

Or do Zimbabweans simply mistrust their government (unity or otherwise), and have such fear of the ‘authorities’. Most public establishments have a posted on the sign board outside on the street – which is why I have gone in to talk to them – but they are afraid to let anyone take any details. Has the government grown so far away from the people … a favourite phrase from so many liberation speeches of the 50s and 60s, (from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address)? We want a “government, of the people, by the people, and for the people”. And what have we got? A government of elites, by elites, for elites; we have ‘Representatives’ that do not drive or walk the same streets, do not buy in the same shops, do not have children in the same schools, do not see the same doctors, as us.

Or do I look like a Nigerian spammer? Is it just me they don’t trust? Why is there such fear, belligerence, refusal, denial, and hostility, towards giving the community information that will make them find you, come into your shop, and buy something?