HARARE – Four young men sit on a rock with their eyes fixed on the dry plains of Chingwizi transit camp. Their hopes of a bright day quickly fade as reality hits them. Each day they rise to hopelessness. “We feel like we are in jail at this settlement,” said Tinashe Chinema, 30. “We cannot…
HARARE – In years gone by, the chant of the tobacco auctioneer was music to farmers’ ears. That chant, however, had increasingly become discordant following the drop in tobacco quantity, quality and prices after the land grab in 2000. New farmers struggled to find their feet. From a peak of 237 million kg when the…
HARARE – It is six o’clock in the evening and Majubheki Lines, a slum location in Harare’s first high density area — Mbare — is a hive of activity as people are coming in and going out from different directions. Shamiso Mara (not her real name) clad in a grey mini skirt, black top which…
HARARE – Junior ranks among Zimbabwe’s 230 000-strong civil servants have always been on the receiving end of raw deals. Although they earn little, collectively, they are a powerhouse when their earnings are added up. They are the least paid in the region, earning an average $300. Their bosses, the permanent secretaries, who keep government machinery…
BULAWAYO – Clad in full Zanu PF party regalia, Thembani Nkomo makes his way to the party’s headquarters for a programme he believes might assist him in getting a job. Arriving, he meets up with hoards of other youths from different working class suburbs. A clutch of the expectant group comes from as far away…
HARARE – Courage, faith and enthusiasm for life are what they have in common. They had the courage to get tested and had faith in herbal medicines. And their boundless enthusiasm for life has paid dividends. Lucia Dzuda-Kuleya, 39, Edna Shava, 40, Maria Augusto, 47, and Aletta Muteura, 56, have been using herbal medicines since…
MASVINGO – With their parents’ belongings scattered by the roadside, children of school going-age play cheerfully in the mud as if everything is normal. Barefooted and dry-lipped, they hop in a pool of stagnant water and plaster their faces with mud, oblivious of the dangers of water-borne diseases. These are children of villagers who were…
HARARE – The potholes on Melbourne Road in Southerton, an industrial district of Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, are bone-jarring. A van outside the J. Lyons factory, a surviving outpost of a once-grand British company, is being loaded with jars of processed food. Otherwise the street is quiet. The offices next door have whitewashed windows; the gates…
HARARE – From as early as she can remember, Mariah Myambo (not her real name), 16, had dreams to pursue her education, attain a degree, get a decent job and be happily married to someone she loved. But the death of her parents in 2011 threw her life off balance. She was emotionally adrift in…
HARARE – Former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, Gideon Gono has said his ex-adviser Munyaradzi Kereke is basing corruption charges against him on false allegations driven by malice and a desire to settle personal grudges. Kereke filed a Constitutional Court application, seeking to push the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) to investigate Gono on graft…
