Sunday, 27th June 2010

Howzit

Once again, news coming out of Zimbabwe is a little thin on the ground. I think that a lot of it is to do with the World Cup as the last sixteen teams are set to begin the knock-out stage in a bid for a place in the last eight.

Here in the United Kingdom, you cannot move for tripping over someone in an English football shirt, whilst people have made arrangements to watch the German match this afternoon in various pubs and clubs around the country.

I do not like football so will probably watch F1.

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At the end of next month, my mother and I are running a stall at the July Braai organised by the Pioneer Club. Yesterday I went up yo my Mum's and took snapshots of all of the paintings that she has done, and thought I might share a few here in a bid to raise some interest for that weekend...

Okay, my photography is probably not the best, but just love my mother's work!

Last week, one day my wife and I were up very early as she was struggling with asthma. She did go out into her garden early, and brought in the most beautiful pink rose which I then photographed. Perhaps my photography skills aren't that bad after all...

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The row about whether the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's governor, Gideon Gono is dead or not continues, and this is an article published by one website that went ahead with the story, even though they had not verified the story...

"The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has for the first time responded to a rumour which claimed that its governor 'Dr Gideon Gono has died'.

Subsequently a Zimbabwe website frantically attempted to make mockery of us, falsely suggesting that our editors edited the public-open source website, Wikipedia.

We shall now promptly respond to all the myths and present the facts both in brief and also in detail.

We do hereby state that we are not the only publication which received the alleged news on Dr Gideon Gono and we tolerate all the criticism received. A number of journalists have however without revocation written in their view stating that the governor 'was indeed involved in a car accident', contrary to the verbal denial by the state media. These include the Zimbabwean newspaper (article deleted Saturday) and Mavambo information guru, Denford Magora who for instance, states categorically that the RBZ govenor was indeed involved in a car accident despite the denial by the Herald which claimed to have interviewed him 'while at home' via phone and in which Gono is quoted saying he was never involved in any car accident. The claim also said that Gono reported at work Friday and was 'alive and well'.

Writes Magora: "The bit about him being at work is rather doubtful because the Governor was indeed in a car accident and was not shown on TV speaking for himself, which is chance he would not have missed, knowing him."

An announcement published on the RBZ website stated Friday saying:

"Rumours of the governor’s death are malicious trash." The Spokesman began.

He added: "The governor notes with regret that any fool, and most do, can create a website and spread lies with no regard for the truth, the feelings of the people they write about or their families. This report appears to have been prepared by very sad individuals who want to project their sadness onto others. We will pray for them."

We do note however that a number of Zimbabwe high profile deaths have been kept under the carpet for years and the latest one being that of former Vice President Joseph Msika (Ref: http://www.zimeye.org/?p=7787) We note that our publication was the first to break the ice on the Hon Joseph Msika’s death (http://www.zimeye.org/?p=7763).

A most classical account is the death of former DRC president Laurent Kabila who was assassinated in January 2001 and which death the same Zimbabwe government through their mouthpiece media refused, reporting in Harare and all over Zimbabwe that Kabila was alive and was 'on his way to Harare'. Had it not been for the Belgian media who made an announcement of his death on Tuesday 16th Jan 2001, the Zimbabwean government may have successfully kept the news secret for more days, even weeks. Alas, the world became aware 3 days later when news-houses such as the BBC verified and published the truth.

A number of protesting comments have been received, one of them challenging us to present photos of the reported accident – of which we are not able to do and we have neither claimed to have been there at the scene.

As a publication we sincerely apologize for anxiety and confusion this might have caused to family, friends, and the rest of Zimbabweans. As a publication, we state that if there is an error of fact, this would be the first our two sources (government figures) who are most trusted and with a 2 year history of impeccable accurate information relaying, have made, this is sincerely regretted."

In the five-plus years that I have been writing on Zimbabwe, I have had a few run-ins with Zimbabwean publications - both here and in Zimbabwe. As a consequence there are some 'sources' that I now choose to ignore.

When a rather large 'story' breaks, I tend to look at the larger publications for some sort of verification. This, however, does not make me bulletproof.

Luckily, when it comes to this story, I had a 'heads up!' from a reliable Zimbabwean source that there was no accident and that Gono was alive in Harare.

This doesn't make me better than other bloggers, writers and publications - but, as with most things coming out of Zimbabwe, we need to be aware of deliberate disinformation and rampant rumours.

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"The ongoing FIFA World Cup, which roared into life a fortnight ago, has not provided any joy for Zimbabwe's listed companies, especially counters in the tourism sector, who were expecting a windfall from the soccer showcase.

In fact, such is the gloom besetting the industry that leading hotelier and CEO of Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG), Chipo Mutasa, says the potential benefits of the World Cup were exaggerated.

The RTG counter ended the week retreating, losing 20 cents to close the week at 1.40, from 1.60 at the beginning of last week.

Mutasa told shareholders at the 11th Annual General Meeting that business from the World Cup was far below that expected by the group and the tourism industry."

Of course, it doesn't help when there is the spectre of violence, abductions, arrests and killings going on in the country which make it unattractive to tourists.

In fact, just last week I happened upon a book in our local library, about Zimbabwe and what it has to offer the travelling public. I was amazed to read that the author deems the country 'safe' to travel within - the book was written just last year!

If it were in my powers I would email the author and tell him that such a conclusion potentially endangers the lives of those who travel on his opinion. We have all read the many reports and have received emails that detail the chaos on the country's highways with groups of robbers holding up travellers. I suppose we should be grateful that there has been no loss of life - as yet - but we have read of the beating issued to the travellers if they do not obey the instruction of a modern day Dick Turpin...

"The reality on the ground, however, is that very few corporates stand to benefit from the extravaganza.

Zimbabwe boasts the mighty Victoria Falls and its national parks, but it seems that despite these huge attractions, the industry is going to attract very few visitors during this event taking place for the first time in Africa.

Zimbabwean firms have been compounded by liquidity challenges and high interest rates.

Mutasa, however, said the business environment has significantly improved but her group's performance in the resorts remains worrisome."

Should the likes of Mutasa and his fellow hoteliers have a very close look, it is more than apparent that the political tensions within the country do not help their turnover, whilst the extremely high cost of living limits the traveller from really having a good look around the country.

"The World Cup is in South Africa, 99.9% of arrivals will be in South Africa. The benefit for Zimbabwe will be for future marketing. However we received significant business this week when a group of 225 Mexicans checked in at Victoria Falls."

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I fully realise that many people will either watching the England versus Germany football match in a couple of hours and many will be making their way to various pubs and clubs and so blogs like mine will be left to their own devices, whilst others will be enjoying the hot weather here in the UK.

Then, of course, like me, other would prefer to watch the F1 race.

So, this posting will finish with this article.

It is said in educated circles that if you want a true look at the humanity of a government you only need to look at their prisoners.

In Zimbabwe, life in the prisons is hell and inmates have to contend with little or no food, filth, violence and squalid cells. But this article brings up the question of the street urchins in Zimbabwe.

"Child scavengers in Harare bear tragic witness to how little has changed in a society brutalised by Robert Mugabe’s cynical rule.

Rotting food scraps picked out of the dirt and the bins of the backstreets of Harare are piled together in a slimy heap on the ground with torn cardboard as a serving plate.

Elias, 15, squats and pushes both hands into the pile, scooping out a chunk of something pink. He gnaws on it, then shouts: "Dinner! Come and eat."

The other boys shush him. "The police will come," says Lloyd, "and we will have to run." There are more than 20 of them, gathered on a small piece of waste ground around a thin fire. The youngest is 8, the eldest 18. Lloyd used to have a blanket, but the police took it last time he was rounded up. He is among the older children who have been living on the streets since President Robert Mugabe’s infamous Operation Murambatsvina, the slum clearances that began in 2005 and left hundreds homeless. But now they are seeing new, younger kids drifting in day after day from the countryside, looking for protection and a share of whatever has been scavenged or stolen or begged.

"Zimbabwean society is splintering, breaking, the family is not working the way it used to," said an official at the ministry of health. "The gap is increasing between the rich and the poor, the middle classes are moving out into the high-density suburbs where the poor used to live, and the poor are ending up on the streets."

At the Makumbi children’s home, half an hour’s drive from the city, Sister Alois is upset to report she has had to turn away three abandoned babies brought in by social workers in the last week.

"More and more children abandoned, it’s not the African way. There are so many now. They are being left in the bush, some are eaten by the ants," said the nun, who has always been strict on taking in a manageable number of orphans to give each child the best possible chance: 10 children to each of her "house mothers". She says "poverty, and poverty leading to girls being abused", is the cause."

As the article says, this is a situation exacerbated by Murambatsvina in 2005 - not, as Mugabe would have the world believe, since the inception of the coalition government. Y'see Mugabe will blame anything on the MDC...

"But after years of financial mismanagement at the hands of an ageing dictator and his corrupt cronies that saw this country decline into chaos amid food and energy shortages, sky-high inflation and political violence, Zimbabwe is entering a new era. In the two years since the election that nearly tore the country apart before resulting in a national unity government between Mugabe and opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, there have been dramatic changes.

There is food on the shelves now, and the trillion-dollar banknotes are gone. Since 2009 citizens have been free to use the South African rand or the US dollar, and all do. A human rights commission has been sworn in. A media commission has licensed newspapers independent of government control and one, Newsday, began publishing this month. There are more cars on the road, some traffic lights work and the big four-wheeled drives no longer mainly have white faces behind the wheel. Vast diamond fields discovered at Marange have the potential to bring prosperity, and work on a new constitution is under way.

But what has really changed? Zimbabweans still top the world list of asylum-seekers. On Monday, Mugabe was ranked the world’s second-worst dictator behind Kim Jong-il of North Korea, and Zimbabwe rated in the top 10 failed states.

The report by the US-based Fund for Peace stated: "Mugabe has arrested and tortured the opposition, squeezed his economy into astounding negative growth and billion-percent inflation, and funnelled off a juicy cut for himself using currency manipulation and offshore accounts."

On Thursday, the international watchdog, the Kimberley Process, failed to reach agreement on Zimbabwe’s diamonds, concerned at human rights abuses and corruption. So the ban on the country exporting diamonds remains in place. And Mugabe’s government remains disdainful of international opinion. The mines minister, Obert Mpofu, responded by saying Zimbabwe would sell them anyway. "Those of you who dream of regime change," he told his critics, "there will never be regime change in Zimbabwe. We fought for our liberation and we are ready to fight again."

Typical Mugabe-esque words. But people like Mpofu are aware that the continuing tenure of Mugabe is essential to their own survival, so we fully expect these utterances.

Will regime change ever happen in Zimbabwe? I don't know - but the truth of the situation in Zimbabwe is a simple requirement - even though Mugabe and his cohorts prefer that it doesn't...

"Tsvangirai has been accused of ineffectual leadership, of doing the "Mugabe shuffle" - making small changes that mean nothing for the people. As one businessman told the Observer: "There is a saying in Shona, 'It’s best to take an enemy inside your hut and there kill him'. That is what Mugabe has done to Tsvangirai. We are betrayed."

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Take care.

'debvhu