LONDON – It has become a common tendency to describe those who criticise the government as unpatriotic. In response to my article last week blaming the government for the predicament of our immigrants in South Africa, one commentator somewhat interpreted such criticism as self-hate by Africans. Such people subscribe to a notion of patriotism that…
HARARE – The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec)’s announcement that it requires $50 million to acquire equipment to compile a fresh voters’ roll should be taken with a pinch of salt. This is so given the fact that Zec has been, for almost two years, rebuffing attempts by opposition parties to avail the voters’ roll which…
HARARE – Zimbabweans are yet to benefit from the so-called mega deals signed between the Zanu PF-led government and various countries that include China, Russia, Algeria and South Africa among others. Since Zanu PF won another mandate in the July 31, 2013 election — albeit under controversial circumstances — crisis-weary Zimbabweans have been bombarded with…
HARARE – Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place, with the unenviable burden of having to defend President Robert Mugabe’s political irrationality while dismissing the economic wisdom of his earlier decision to suspend civil servants’ bonuses. The 91-year-old publicly rebuked Chinamasa at Independence Day celebrations on Saturday, emphatically…
HARARE – Zimbabweans are learning more and more about Zanu PF’s ugly modus operandi — thanks to the party’s worsening internal wars and its purged senior officials who are singing like canaries. And at the rate at which things are going in the ruling party, it is surely a matter of time before some really…
HARARE – Recent reports in the media about the government’s intention to set up information communication centres in marginalised rural communities make interesting reading and it makes us who have been advocating for community broadcasting in Zimbabwe curious. One is forced to think this is a really genuine intention to develop these communities and ensuring…
HARARE – Who needs enemies, the so-called “lunatic fringe” or the non-existent “putschist cabal” of former Vice President Joice Mujuru when one’s boss is Robert Mugabe; the President of Zimbabwe, Head of State and Government, and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces — as lickspittle State media always remind all “naughty” Zimbabweans. Well, these…
LONDON – The barbarities by South Africans against immigrants from other African countries is appalling. Regional governments, including Zimbabwe, are now organising the repatriation of their people. The violence may not necessarily be explained as primordial atavism although some would insist South Africans are historically violent people. A far less contentious proposition would explain the…
HARARE – As Zimbabwe marked its 35th independence on Saturday, journalists and media activists feel the media landscape remains largely underdeveloped. Media activist Tabani Moyo says the best way to understand the landscape of the media in present day Zimbabwe vis-à-vis the colonial era, is to do so through zooming on its structure, content, ownership…
HARARE – We were greatly encouraged by the recent stance taken by Zimbabwean artists to campaign for the boycott of concerts featuring South African musicians in protest over xenophobic attacks raging across the Limpopo. The boycott call particularly targeted a concert featuring award-winning South African group Big Nuz which was scheduled to take place in…
