The pursuit of knowledge

Dear Readers,

In pursuit of more knowledge I have started some advanced educational programme that is taking most of my time. I started lessons on Monday and have been busy ever
since such that I see myself not getting as much time to blog my mind away as I used to. Will still write on this blog of course, writing is my passion, but will not be writing everyday.

The good thing about this programme is that everyday we have lessons online via skype chat conference connections with the lecturer and my classmates with webcams connected, that enable us to actually see each other while we interact in the online classroom. It's really amazing, this leverage of technology and I being a technology lover am enjoying myself immensely. I want to convey my immense gratitude to my anonymous sponsor who is one of you readers out there. He/She read my articles on this blog and was so impressed, thought I had a lot of intellectual potential that he/she could invest in and paid tuition for me, for some online degree at some University in USA. I am not sure whether to call it a scholarship, or a bursary, or a benevolent fund but what I am sure of is that this person is the missing angel or some saint and I wish he/she would come out in the open and tell me who he/she but I was told that he/she said we will meet the day I will graduate. I live for that day which is in four years time. Life is turning out to be very interesting for me, I am so happy to be doing this degree, it is something I have always wanted to do but didn't have the money to pursue. Words are failing to express the gratitude I am feeling and how happy I am feeling, its so intense and therefore unexplainable.

It's only four days since we started the online lessons but already I have become so popular with my contributions in the class which my classmates always find unique, philosophical, humanity-filled and topped with some sly humour. Some of them didn't even know where Zimbabwe is and those who knew thought Zimbabweans were so backward and dull which is why they let Mugabe and his cronies step all over their rights. They were surprised to hear me talk so intelligently in each of the ten subjects and some of them had to ask me if I had been in Zimbabwe all my life or had actually done my education in some Western nation. The perception that most people have about Zimbabweans is very wrong and I am happy that I have been given the chance to correct that perception in this online classroom that I am a part of.

You might be wondering why I am not telling you exactly what programme I am doing and with what University. I don't want my boss and my workmates to know because the last time I embarked on some part time study and told my boss and workmates about it they heaped a lot of work on me so that I don't get free time to study and I had to shout to the boss my piece of mind for him to allow me to go on study leave when it was towards writing exams, he had refused to allow me to go on study leave. Such is the calibre of most managers here in Zimbabwe, instead of encouraging employees to reach their full potential they instead make sure they nip you in the bud so that you stay were you are and can never have a higher position than them or earn more money than them. No wonder Zimbabwe is taking so long to become a developed nation.
Anyway let me conclude this post by saying I am not doing this course so that I take anyone's position, am doing it for my own stisfaction. Had to say that just in case the boss or a workmate stumbles on this article.

I will be in touch with you dear readers, will update you about my progress.

Love, peace and happiness always
Eusebia

Zimbabwe: Profit & public trust

The economic crisis in Zimbabwe resulted in some businesses throwing good business ethics and corporate social responsibility out of the window, as they took advantage of the economic chaos to make profits at the expense of the consumers. I can give examples of such businesses who exploited consumers and lost the trust of the consumers or forced the consumers to change their buying habits as the consumers decided to make do without those business products or services. Now that there are signs that the economy is slowly going back to normal, no matter what good business ethics and corporate social responsibility those businesses try to practise now it will take a very long time for them to win the consumers' trust again. These businesses are going to suffer now as things get back to normal and they can no longer exploit consumers. This is a lesson for businesses to value public trust above making profits because public trust happens to affect profit-making in the long term.

Let me give you examples of the business practices I am talking about.
1. Zimbabweans have lost trust in banks who were abusing them with very low maximum bank withdrawal limits per person per day that was not even enough to buy a loaf of bread. Trust in banks was further killed when bankers in association with foreign currency dealers set up abnormally high bank transfer foreign currency rates to lure customers who wanted to change their hard currency to Zimbabwean dollars. Once the huge amounts of Zimbabwean dollars equivalent to the hard currency received had been transferred into the customer's bank accounts it was difficult for the customers to access the money from the banks such that those Zim dollars ended up loosing value whilst they were in the bank, before the customers had managed to withdraw them. So this was some sort of conning customers off their hard currency and it created a lot of mistrust in the country's banking system. Now Zimbabweans prefer to keep their hard currency at home, instead of taking them to the bank because they are afraid that if they take them to the bank they will be allowed to withdraw 50cents a day, yet a loaf of bread costs one dollar. It is going to take a very long time for Zimbabweans to have trust in the Zimbabwean banking system again.
2. Zimbabweans have also lost trust in Commuter Minibus operators who had gotten into the habit of increasing commuter fares every other day. This practice upset the pockets of those Zimbabweans who use commuter minibuses as the mode of transport to take them to and fro from work. Most employers ended up contracting buses to take their employees to and from work when the situation had become so bad that most employees could no longer afford to come to work. So commuter minibus operators lost a lot of customers because of exploiting the customers during the economic chaos. For them to get those customers they lost back will take a very long time because it will take a very long time for Zimbabweans to have trust in the commuter minibus operators' pricing system.
3. Zimbabwean shop owners got into the bad habit of charging exorbitant prices for their goods or services and this resulted in most Zimbabweans resorting to doing their shopping in neighboring countries namely SA, Mozambique, Botswana and Zambia where those goods are cheaper. It is going to take time for most Zimbabweans to have trust in the pricing system in local shops and stop going to do shopping in neighboring countries.
4. Zimbabwean manufacturers had stopped manufacturing a large quantity of goods for the local market citing lack of foreign currency to buy raw materials and machine parts yet they would secretly manufacture goods for export. The result was that most Zimbabwean wholesalers, retailers and consumers resorted to going to source the goods that they needed in neighbouring countries. It is going to be very difficult to change these buying habits of Zimbabweans considering that now they are aware of substitute products from other countries which might be better than the local products in terms of quality.
5. Getting the local sugar manufactured by the ZSR(Zimbabwe Sugar Refinery)from the shops had become so difficult, you could only get it from the black market at very high prices and so most Zimbabweans ended up not taking any sugar in their beverages. The same applies to bread, it is now there in the shops but there was a time when it had become so scarce and expensive that most Zimbabweans had replaced having bread for breakfast with having rice, samp, mealie-rice, home-made baked products and potatoes for breakfast. It is going to be very difficult if not impossible for most Zimbabweans to revert back to having bread for breakfast everyday like was the norm before it had become scarce.

The point I am trying to make here is that most Zimbabwean business people need to change the way they do business, which leave a lot to be desired. They need to know that there is such a thing called business ethics and comprehend what it implies for their actions. Business managers ought to behave ethically as they pursue the proper business goal of maximising profits. Some businessmen appear to believe that anything which is not outright illegal, however unethical, can be regarded as proper business conduct. But without ordinary decency, (which goes a long way beyond what the law requires of companies) business could not be carried on. Companies whose actions exploit the public should not expect to be in business for very long, even if there is no law that protects the public from such exploitation. Factoring in reasonable profit margins and honesty in all business dealings will induce the public to trust such companies and will result in a long-term good business relationship between those businesses and the public. Decency is not just good for business, it is essential. Profit maximising by exploiting consumers is indecent. When it comes to maximising long-term business value, decency or honesty is not just the best policy, it is the only feasible policy. Making money for the owners of a business is indeed the main aim of doing business but if companies make that the only aim and doesn't take note of the greater good of the public then it becomes too narrow a view of what a business is for. Business owners are just one group among many kinds of different stakeholders in a business. It is wrong to run a business in the interest of one kind of stakeholder and ignore the legitimate interest of all the others. Businesses certainly need to take account of other interested parties if they are to succeed as businesses in the long run. They must satisfy their customers, get on well with their suppliers, motivate their employees and so forth.
The bottom line is Zimbabwean businesses should put in place pricing systems that are normal and not the abnormally high prices that they were pegging their goods at. They were taking advantage of hyper-inflation to exploit consumers and then blame it all on hyper-inflation. Now that we are using the stable United States dollar and the South African Rand we expect prices not to be exorbitant and to remain stable.

Zimbabwe: The perfect fruit tree that was destroyed now has to be restored.

I had a prophetic vision about Zimbabwe at church sometime last year, on the 29th of June 2008 and wrote about it on this blog in the article entitled, "When all hope is gone in the earthly realm." I am pasting it here today because this time of rebuilding Zimbabwe was part of that prophetic vision.

In that prophetic vision I saw Zimbabwe being depicted as a fruit tree which has been completely destroyed. The Bible verse, Joel 1V4 immediately came to my mind to describe the Zimbabwean fruit tree that has been destroyed, "That which the palmerworm hath left, hath the locust eaten and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten." Zimbabwe used to be a healthy tree with perfect fruit. Every gift and fruit of the Holy Spirit was manifested in Zimbabwe, love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. The perfect tree that was Zimbabwe then was rooted and grounded in ethics, professionalism, efficiency, hard work and above all faith in God. Every limb, branch, leaf and fruit was in perfect state and strength. What glorious days of harmonious unity and love we enjoyed during that time as all institutions functioned efficiently and there was no inflation to talk about. Those were the days when the country flowed milk and honey and it was the bread basket of Africa. How we have often wished that we had stopped people from destroying the perfect tree of Zimbabwe.

The falling away and destruction of the perfect tree of Zimbabwe did not occur in one day. It was a gradual deterioration accomplished day by day and stage by stage. One day the palmerworm appeared in the form of greed and corruption by the government ministers and top officials, eating and destroying the tree as they designed and selected uneconomical projects that created opportunities for financial kickbacks and abused their office by fostering their own monopolistic access to markets and they misappropriated confidential information for their personal gain. So as the days went by the gifts and friuts of the Spirit on the Zimbabwean tree began to disappear from view as unselfish love, ethics, professionalism and peace were attacked by the palmerworms who then grew bolder and bolder day by day. The fruits of the Zimbabwean tree began to disappear from the staunch and upright tree. This state of less fruit was indeed a condition worthy of lamentation, but the pity of it all is that the devastation did not stop with the havoc started and wrought by the palmerworms. Other years and other worms joined in the work of destruction where the palmerworm had left off. Some Zimbabwean citizens saw the greed and corruption being inflicted on the Zimbabwean tree by the ministers and top officials who were supposed to be exemplary to the nation and lost all trust in them and this down-streamed lack of trust in the country's leadership infuenced some of them to also partake in corrupt illicit deals. Thus the locust started to destroy the leaves of the Zimbabwean tree as some Zimbabwean citizens started to make illicit payments of "speed money" to officials in the different institutions in the country to facilitate fast transactions or to prevent the application of rules and regulations especially with regard to law enforcement and revenue collection. It was a sad day when the locust had done its work and the leaves were stripped from the tree but that was not to be the last of the destruction, that which the locust had left the cankerworm ate. After the fruit and the leaves had been destroyed, the cankerworm immediately made his appearance and began his work upon the branches and tender shoots of the tree. This destructive insect is an allegory of all those who threw ethics, professionalism and efficiency out of the window because of the toll of hyperinflation which made them resort to unclean ways of making a quick buck. It also represents the businesses that resorted to charging exorbitant prices for their goods and services, prices that were unjustifiably high and gave them profits as high as 200% to 500% and overstretched the pockets of the ordinary Zimbabwean who then had to resort to illicit corrupt deals to make money so as to keep up with the high cost of living. The blackmarket flourished as business managers preferred to sell their goods outside the normal outlets so that they could make some individual gains from the sells. Most Zimbabweans were rubbed the wrong way by the toll of hyperinflation and no longer lived above the world and sin, they no longer walked the narrow path, so long enjoyed by the children of the Lord. As the sap, the life of the tree, was consumed and the branches rotted more and more, things that used to seem unethical or sinful appeared unethical or sinful no longer. The sinners that used to bar themselves outside the doors of the Church now leaned back in comfortable contentment in the cushioned pews and tithed handsomely with their unclean bucks. Christians lowered the high starndard of holiness unto the Lord which they had been holding aloft. Now it trailed bedraggled and unnoticed in the dust. The Holy Spirit as a gentle dove was squashed, grieved and stifled until he silently withdrew his wonder-working manifestations on the Zimbabwean tree. The result is in Joel 1V16 , food, joy and gladness were withheld from our nation. It was not long before the trunk and the roots of the Zimbabean tree began to decay and the caterpillar made his nest in the decayed and rotted hollows of the tree. That which the cankerworm had left became food for the caterpillars. The caterpillars were in the form of anyone who took advantage of the destroyed unhealthy Zimbabwean tree to meet his or her own selfish needs and in so doing further destroyed the nation. Corruption spread in the administrative domain which included among others, nepotism, cronyism, ghost workers on public payrolls, collection of unauthorised fees, falsification and destruction of records, arbitrary administrative action and circumventing established procedures and regulations. In the judiciary corruption appeared in the form of the Zanu PF executive branch pressurising judges to give verdicts not based on justice but on political expediency. We then saw the Zimbabwean tree at the most lamentable condition yet, its perfect fruits gone, eaten and stripped off by the palmerworm ministers and top government officials, leaves gone, denuded off its leaves by the locust corrupt officials in the country's institutions, its branches rotten and the bark peeled away by cankerworm blackmarketeers and business people who wanted to get rich quick with unrealistic profit margins as well as all those ordinary Zimbabweans who instead of coming up with ethical, professional, innovative ways of countering hyper-inflation resorted to corrupt ways of making money, a nest for the caterpillars who further destroyed the tree. In the spiritual realm, the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit gone, holiness gone, justification by faith gone. The angels looked down on Zimbabwe from Heaven and wept. The noble Zimbabwe, the perfect tree which had once stood clad with power and glory of the Holy Spirit, now had nothing left but a name, not even a remnamt of her former splendour. As if that was not enough, the Zimbabwean people's right to freedom of expression and voting for any candidate they wanted was suppressed with beatings, torture, maimings and killings. The graphic language in Isaih 1V6-8, accurately describes the Zimbabwean people with their fruit tree destroyed and themselves beaten up for political reasons. " From head to foot you are sick and weak and faint, covered with bruises and welts and infected wounds, unanointed and unbound. Your country lies in ruins, your cities are burned while you watch, they are destroying and plundering everything they see. You stand there helpless and abandoned like a watchman's shanty in the field when harvest-time is over or when the crop is stripped and robbed."

Oh yes that is where the Zimbabwean stood before the coalition government was formed but the prophetic message I conveyed to Zimbabweans during this time of complete humiliation was that the Lord gave us a marvelous promise of restoration. It's all mentioned in Joel 2V21-25, "Fear not, Oh land, be glad and rejoice, for the Lord will do great things. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm and the caterpillar and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you." All that the Zimbabwean perfect tree lost will be restored, not in one day but in the same way it was lost, line by line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, till a completion of this restoration is reached. This restoration is only possible if we have a deeper realisation of what it means to live a life wholly given up and consecrated to the Lord so that the tender shoots and branches of the Zimbabwean tree can be thrust forth on the tree again. As we pray and yield ourselves to the Spirit, God will allocate gifts to everyone of us as the Spirit chooses, he will cause the gifts and fruits of the Spirit to be visible in our midst, in our nation. Yes, Zimbabwe's perfect fruit tree can be restored, it's all in our hands, every Zimbabwean's hands, to restore it or to further destroy it. Our working hard and harmoniously towards the restoration of our country and our prayers will do it, they will encourage all Zimbabweans to act responsibly and change their unethical, unprofessional inefficient and corrupt ways, they will enable an effective coalition government that is accountable through citizen feedback, democratic institutions, a competitive free press and an independent judiciary to be put in place, they will cause businesses to stop pursuing unrealistic profits relentlessly at the expense of the customers and make them realise that when it comes to maximising long-term owner value, honesty is not just the best policy, it is the only feasible policy. Through prayer we can make the relevant people aware that political and business decisions blessed by God and based on honesty and merit if added to good governance, responsive policies and good capacity building sustainable business goals will ultimately lead to the economic turnaround of our nation. Through prayer we can make the mobilised minds of those who agree to be sent to subject their fellow Zimbabweans to inhuman atrocities to always remain loyal to the truth and God, as loyalty to a person, regardless of his or her wrong intentions is not a path to be followed and only encouraged by leaders with a weak moral fibre.

Honestly speaking this is not a time to sit on our laurels looking at Tsvangirai, Biti and all those other 70 ministers to do the rebuilding for us while we sit, this is the time to roll up our sleeves and get busy contributing in the rebuilding in the way we know how. This is the time to pray whole-heartedly for the restoration of our nation Zimbabwe and to thank God for making us survive the cholera, the hunger the stress and the economic chaos. All Zimbabweans out there I will leave you pondering about the words of this song, "Kana vakomborerwa usazokanganwa kutenda Mwari." Thank you God for blessing us with life against all odds and would you please continue to bless us as we rebuild our Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe: The road to recovery

The Zimbabwean coalition government is faced with a big challenge to reverse the economic failure which was a result of many years of bad governance full of mismanagement. The country is suffering from an awful cocktail of high unemployment, slow growth, high inflation, rampant corruption, very low agricultural, manufacturing and mining activities, a germ-infested water supply system, constant elecricity black-outs and brown-outs, telecommunication systems with a lot of downtime, a non-functioning health delivery system, an unreliable transport system with pot-holed roads, daily derailment of trains and sub-standard service in the country's airlines. The coalition government which is now in place in Zimbabwe should now focus on how to transform this chaotic economy into a vibrant economy. Economic changes that position Zimbabwe for positive future growth and poverty reduction with a macroeconomic policy that encourages foreign direct investment and economic diversification should be put in place as soon as possible.

The coalition government's plans for development in the country should put the rescucitation of the water supply system and the reopening of hospitals and schools on top priority. Most water pipes and sewage pipes in the country are broken and oozing water and sewage all over the city, towns and residential areas and so these need to be repaired or replaced as soon as possible. Chemicals to purify the germ-infested water supply system should be sourced and bought in bulk. This should be given top priority so that cholera can be eliminated completely and the deaths from cholera can stop. The country has an abudance of rivers and fresh water lakes so serious lack of water in Zimbabwe should be unheard of but it is heard of because the problem lies in the inefficient production and distribution systems of the water supply authority in the country. Substantial investment is needed to rehabilitate and expand the water supply systems in all of Zimbabwe's water supply systems , while water production and delivery capacity will have to be increased by more than 400% to meet a projected growth in demand when the economy booms. The development of new water production facilities which can also be used for electricity generation should be part of the water supply development plan. Rural water supply systems also need to be rehabilitated. A large proportion of the rural water supply system is not functioning at all or is not functioning properly but can be reconstructed and repaired. The impact of a major rehabilitation effort aimed at rural water supply systems would yield substantial economic benefits in terms of increased agricultural production and improved living conditions.
A complete revamp of the health delivery system needs to be done with emphasis being given to the supply of medicine and all resources needed to provide an efficient health delivery system as well as the competitive remuneration of all hospital staff so that they are motivated to offer excellent care to patients. This should be given top priority so that when the hospitals re-open they will be regarded as places where the sick can be healed and not as morgues to store the dead as had become the case prior to their closing.
The coalition government also needs to appreciate the value of teachers to the development of future generations who are going to carry on the country's legacy when the adults of this generation have all gone senile or died. It should give them salaries that show that appreciation. Contrary to what some blogger reported, the teachers are happy with the US$100 as a temporary measure for now and are in schools teaching earnestly but they are hoping that that is not the full amount of their salary considering that US$100 is the amount of money that most primary schools charged as school levy per child this term. If a teacher teaches a classs of 40 pupils where each pupil has paid a school levy of US$100 for a school term of three months and is then paid only US$300 for teaching 40 pupils for three months then don't you think it would be better for the teacher to make arrangements with three parents of pupils to teach only those three pupils at his/her home for three months and have their parents take turns to pay him/her US$100 each month. This would be less workload for the same amount of money and a big advantage to the three children, because they are few they will be given maximum attention in mitigating their educational weaknesses. My appeal to the coalition government is not to give the teachers a chance to think along those lines by giving them competitive salaries because failure to do so would further destroy the education system.

Next development priority should be given to the agricultural sector so that hunger in the country can be eliminated. Agriculture dominates the Zimbabwean economy although its share of GDP declined steadily ever since the farm invasions. Agricultural transformation for Zimbabwe is imperative and for this reason the coalition government needs to improve the agricultural sector so that it is competitive. Order in the agricultural sector should be restored and the new farmers should be provided with capital and agricultural inputs (on loan of course) so as to revive effective agriculture in the country. Effective agriculture can be realised and agriculture expanded on condition that real progress is made with regard to the following issues:
i) Seed and fertiliser production should be increased or should I say revived so that it is readily available to anyone who needs it and the price of the seeds and fertilisers should be made affordable not only to large scale farmers but also to small scale farmers. Inadequate seed and fertiliser availability as well as unsatisfactory seed quality combined with seed exhaustion are some of the problems that have been causing low agricultural production.
ii) The lack of modern agricultural practices results in wastage of both the agricultural inputs and outputs and poor quality of the outputs and so it is essential that the coalition government makes plans to ensure that technical knowledge in farming, harvesting, handling, transportation and storage practices is imparted to all the farmers. Dry storage facilities and cold storage facilities should be enforced to be properly maintained or installed on the farms.
iii) The water supply on most farms is in very poor condition and dams and irrigation systems have to be built at the farms so as to ensure agricultural outputs even during drought spells. Electricity should be installed on the farms as well, because lack of electricity and enough water on the farms is a major deterrent to prospective investors in agro-industrial enterprises.
iv) Transport of agricultural products from the farms to the different markets be it by road, rail or air should be made efficient. Particular attention should be given to upgrading roads from farms to markets because the poor conditions of some of the roads often results in product damage and the late arrival of produce at markets. When exporting the farm produce by road, the delays at customs and excise posts during the transport of export products provide a serious obstacle. Air cargo space needs to be improved in respect of the availability of air cargo flights, air cargo capacity and the cost thereof.
V) Marketing of the agricultural products in world markets should be done by an agricultural corporation like ARDA which should also be responsible for helping farmers to obtain the capital they need. The farmers definately need capital for investment in irrigation, agricultural machinery, storage facilities, start-up losses and transport for carrying stocks.
The type of investments that are needed in the agricultural sector are those that will make use of Zimbabwe's raw materials and natural resources and process them into higher value goods. I am talking about agro-processing like canning or the manufacture of value-added products. This moving up the value chain is essential and ensures prices that are not dependent on variable factors like is the case with raw farm produce.

Next development priority should be given to the country's transport, power and manufacturing sectors. The current state of Zimbabwe's road infrastructure with potholes all over the roads can be an impediment to attracting foreign direct investment. The country is in dire need of infrastructural investment to upgrade and develop roads, rails and airlines.
The power infrastructure run by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) is under-resourced and therefore inefficient and the distribution system is in need of rehabilitation. The long periods of power black-outs and brown-outs every single day is a serious obstacle to economic activity. The frequent power cuts not only disrupt business operations but also increase the cost of doing business. A recovery of the power sector especially with regards to distribution is urgently required. The demand for electricity in Zimbabwe is substantially higher than can be supplied domestically and the resultant shortfall has to be imported from neighboring countries. The electricity supply available from both domestic and imported sources is currently at its limits and this deficiency has severe macro-economic implications. The importation of electricity and fossil fuels consumes valuable foreign exchange and has a negative effect on the balance of payments. It is therefore advisable that the development of an electricity generation project be one of the many things the coalition government aims to do. The coalition government also needs to draft a new energy policy which aims to attract new private investment. Tax concessions and other incentives should be offered for investment in hydro-electricity and the utilisation of Zimbabwe's rich geo-thermal resources.
Zimbabwe's manufacturing sector used to be very high and vibrant but is now very low and the managers in the manufacturing industry have been citing shortage of foreign currency to buy raw materials and to service machinery as the reason for low production. So the coalition government needs to allocate manufacturing industries the foreign currency that they need for them to increase production to high levels. The coalition government should also come to an understanding with the manufacturing industries, the wholesalers and the retailers that they should price their goods with a reasonable profit margin that does not exploit consumers and their failure to do so would make the coalition government invite foreign companies to come and flood the market with cheaper priced goods that will make them go out of business. It's about time that Zimbabwean businesses are made aware that business is not only about making profits, it is about making profits with corporate social responsibility in mind and being the first to be considered among many other factors.

When the above mentioned development issues have been dealt with the coalition government should then concentrate on developing a strategy to promote economic diversification and attract foreign direct investment. Economic reforms that encourage local investment and FDI into Zimbabwe needs to be implemented. An economic policy thet protects investment and is favourable towards the enforcement of property rights, the relaxation of capital controls and the provision of incentives has to be put in place. The macroeconomic policy that should be implemented should focus on developing a more efficient tax system, accelerating effective divestiture from public enterprises and increasing investment in human capital especially in the areas of education and health services. Zimbabwe also needs a strong financial system with more effective regulation and supervision of the banking system. The coalition government could also consider building up a bond market, offering low-risk investment opportunities for institutional investors worldwide. The coalition government should commit itself to making the private sector an engine of Zimbabwe's growth by pursuing investor friendly policy reforms . With that aim in mind an advisory body of national and international corporate leaders that advise the President and Prime Minister on issues that can enhance the business operating conditions in the country to attract new investors into potential growth sectors and transform Zimbabwe's economy should be set up.

That, dear readers is my own opinion aboout how Zimbabwe can travel the road to recovery. Let me conclude this article by appealing to all potential donors to put aside their mistrust of Mugabe and his Zanu PF party members and help the coalition government with funding that will make it possible for it to carry out all the projects needed for the complete recovery of this dying nation. With donor funding the road to recovery will not be bumpy and it will help the nation to set up sustainable development projects that will enable it to stop depending on donor funding most of the time. To Zimbabweans I would like to say that we have a long way to go but if we work together in harmony like bees we will achieve our goal in no time and the final results will be as sweet as honey.

Zimbabwe: Its time to quit the demolition crew and join the construction crew.

I remember writing an article entitled, "It's time to quit the demolition crew and join the construction crew," long back on this blog for the mere reason of inspiring some reader out there. I want to copy and paste it below right now as a message to some media, some bloggers and some people who are digging deeply and groping for issues to criticise the Zimbabwean coalition government with. Don't get me wrong, I am not against constructive criticism, I actually think it is good since it helps in building the nation. What I am against is destructive criticism that is done for the mere reason of destroying what is being built so as to discredit the builders and gain ground in one's own selfish interest, be they political interests, asylum cases interests or for the mere reason of being vindictive over the commercial farms taken from white farmers without compensation or to feed one's hatred for Mugabe. As much as we all know how Mugabe's one party dictatorship tendencies and the gross violence by his Zanu PF youth yesteryears ago are all very wrong, I am sure most Zimbabweans will agree with me that the rebuilding of the nation that the coalition government is trying to do is a worthy cause that is in the best interest of every Zimbabwean and the least we can do is support the coalition government and we don't support them with destructive criticism, we support them with constructive criticism.


I have seen people with noble visions having their visions crushed by critics. There are two modes of criticism. There is one which crushes to earth without mercy and another mode which believes that no vision is entirely in vain and so scrutinises circumstances, motive and objective before it criticises and then help with advice. The first kind of criticism demolishes and the other helps to construct. For most of us the first kind of criticism comes more easily. It takes little thought, less effort and even less wisdom to kill with criticism. The demolition critics are interested in making themselves look good by making others look bad, they talk much and do absolutely nothing to help. When we find ourselves encountering this demolition criticism from ourselves or others our best defense is to try to ignore it and take it as an article of faith that even though we make mistakes we are great because at least we dared to try. The second kind of criticism which is thoughtful and careful coming from ourselves and others is invaluable because it actually recognises and encourages the worth of the efforts we are making, even as it points out how we might grow differently.

Years ago Theodore Roosevelt said this about critics, "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with dust and sweat and blood, and who if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory no defeat."

Visionaries and all coalition government leaders, when you get pelted by unfair criticisms as you stand for your vision just remember what Theodore Roosevelt said back then. To all critics, I say it's time to quit the demolition team and join the construction crew.

Zimbabwe: My objective opinion concerning the current affairs in the country.

I have been asked by some international respectable person whom I promised not to name to give my objective opinion concerning the current happennings in Zimbabwe and I did so. He was interested in knowing why I wasn't giving the Ray Bennet case as much space on my blog as other Zimbabwean online media and bloggers are doing. Here is a summary of what I said.

While every other journalist and blogger was reporting about the arrest of Roy Bennet
on the day that he was supposed to be sworn as the deputy minister of agriculture I chose to be different and instead dwell on Zimbabwean development issues. It's not that I am not concerned about the plight of Roy Bennet, Jestina Mukoko and all those other MDC activists who are in jail but I refuse to be part to calls to free these people just because everyone is saying so when I have no proof that the charges being laid against them do not hold water in a court of law. I am not well-versed in matters of the law and so I prefer to leave such issues to policemen, lawyers and judges who are trained to deal with such issues. It's not for me to act the judge and the jury and come up with my own verdict and then splash it all over my blog as the truth of the matter. I prefer to write about the real truth not what I think is the truth or what I want to be the truth and I am no prophet so I will not write about any predictions I make up in my head. I am also against the obstruction of justice and if Mugabe or Tsvangirai or any politician intervene by giving a command that these activists be released without being tried for whatever charges laid against them I will interpret that as obstruction of justice which is the worst form of corruption which I condemn and besides it would set a bad precedent in the coalition government. I long to see a Zimbabwe where justice is applied to everyone irrespective of whether he/she is a member of MDC or ZANU PF echelons of power. I am however against the inhuman treatment these MDC activists are being subjected to whilst they are in jail, especially the fact that they are being denied the medical treatment that they crucially need and would want to see Tsvangirai, MDC supporters and all human rights activisits making a lot of noise about that issue. I hope Tsvangirai is going to speed up ensuring judicial independence in the country's justice system so that MDC activists can be tried fairly without any hidden political agendas swaying the course of justice.

I personally think it will be wrong for the MDC to pull out of the coalition government because of the cases of the MDC activists who are in jail because they are such a very small percentage of the population compared to the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans who are languishing in poverty caused by the political and economic instability in the country and are depending on this coalition government to save them from drowning in the poverty and dying. There are some who are of the opinion that the MDC should have totally refused to form a marriage with Zanu PF and waited out patiently for Zanu PF to concede to democracy. I love democracy and actually think it is a heaven sent political ideology whose goodness knows no bounds and I long to see it properly applied in Zimbabwe but the suffering in Zimbabwe had reached a critical point and it would have been inhuman for the MDC to continue running after democracy endlessly without coming up with an immediate solution to eliminate the suffering in the country. I applaud them for putting the pursuit of democracy on hold for now as they form a coalition government which gives them room to provide a solution for the suffering masses in Zimbabwe who were in danger of dying either from cholera, hunger or lack of hospital treatment. How can you tell a sick person who has death knocking on his door that he has to wait for an unspecified time period for democracy to come and heal him? How can you tell a child crying because of hunger that she has to wait for democracy to come and end her hunger? She will obviously ask you if democracy is something she can eat. This goes to explain why I think it was a good idea to put democracy aside for now and concentrate on solving the problems of the suffering Zimbabweans through the coalition government. I am sure you will all agree with me that humanity is more important than any political ideology.

There are many different groups of people who who are not happy with this coalition government and would want to see it fail not because it is bad as such but because its success will completely mess up their comfort zones. Yes, you read right, I wrote comfort zone there because there are many who were taking advantage of the chaos in Zimbabwe and using it for their own personal gain. Allow me to talk about these different groups of people.
1.) Some Zimbabweans who had applied for political or economic asylum in foreign lands and had become established in those lands and now run the risk of being send back home if the governments of those foreign lands get convinced that the coaltion government has brought political and economic stability into Zimbabwe.
2.) The corrupt, unethical and unprofessional people who were making money through the loopholes that the chaos in the country had created. Let me give examples.
i) Business people who had gone into the habit of exploting customers with unjustified and abnormally high prices of their goods and services.
ii) Bankers and foregn currency dealers who had gotten into the habit of conning people off their hard currency by luring them with abnormally high bank transfer foreign currency exchange rates of money that the conned would fail to access from their bank accounts once it's deposited there because of the very low bank maximum withdrawal per person per day.
iii) Fuel sellers who had gotten into the habit of raising the cost of fuel willy-nilly without regard of whether the price of petrol had fallen the world over or not.
3.) All those people the world over who hate Mugabe with a passion. The man created so many enemies through his dictatorship tendencies and his human rights abuses, his land grabbing exercise that saw farms being taken away from white farmers and being given to blacks. True the way the land was grabbed without any compensation was bad but Tony Blair is as much to blame for that as Mugabe is. The media the world over chose to ignore Tony Blair's part in the whole mess and set out on an intensive campaign to demonise Mugabe. So now there is a large group of people who don't understand how a democratic leader like Tsvangirai can decide to form a coalition government with such a demon.
4.)Members of Zimbabwean parties that are not part of the coalition government. MDC's agreement to form a coalition government with Zanu PF has increased his popularity among Zimbabweans because they interpret it as putting their needs above his own need for unshared power. It is this popularity that opposition parties are trying to counter by talking and wrting bad things about the coalition government.
I am not a supporter of any of the three parties in the coalition government but I choose to be objective and write about true facts as they happen and not what I think or wish would happen to the coalition government so that the party I support can then come into the lime light.
5.) The security service chiefs who head the army, airforce, police and the intelligence organisation have been reported to be against the coalition government. It has been reported that instead of doing their duty to the country without aligning themselves to any leader like what every civil servant should do they had long back come out in the open that they would not salute Tsvangirai and so now with Tsvangirai as the Prime Minister they are feeling very uncomfortable.

This is my objective opinion of what is happenning in Zimbabwe at the moment. I am irritated with the way Ray Bennet's arrest is hindering the start of working torwards the rebuilding of our country. By now the sworn ministers should have covered ground in analysing the situations in their different minstries, brainstorming and galvanising ideas so that they come up with strategies to cause paradigm shifts that result in sustainable development in this country.

Zimbabwe: What will ensure success of the coalition government?

As Zimbabweans stand at the threshold of a new era in political governance I want to bring to your attention that the success of the coalition government in putting Zimbabwe back on the international map as a country whose environment is inducive to business depends on the elimination of corruption in the country. The starting point in eliminating this corruption would be building trust between the people and the coalition government ministers especially the Zanu PF ministers who were in the previous government that let the country decay to pathetic magnitudes. This is no easy task considering the extend of the mistrust and so it needs drastic actions that can convince the people that a new chapter devoid of corruption has been opened.
1.)One such drastic action would be for all the coalition government ministers to publicly declare their assets now as they start the new government.
2.)The other drastic measure would be to reverse the capital flight done by the previous Zimbabwean government ministers as they moved their unclean money from Zimbabwe to secret bank accounts in Europe and elsewhere because this money should be used to develop the country and to reduce poverty.
3.)Thirdly the obstruction of justice by the judiciary who will be under direction from prominent political figures should stop with special reference being given to the cases of Jestina Mukoko, Ray Bennet, Gandi Mudzingwa and many other MDC activists who as we speak are in police custody or should I say who are in military intelligence custody. Mugabe and all politicians should stop pressuring judges to give verdicts not based on justice but on political expediency.
These three actions will go a long way in building trust in the country and when that trust is there corruption will be greatly reduced and sustainable development can be achieved.

As long as corruption in Zimbabwe remains as it is the chances of the coalition government making progress in the economic development of the country are minimum. The corruption of major concern which hinders the development of a whole nation is the abuse of entrusted public office power for private gain. Zimbabweans have reason to be fed up with government corruption because they have witnessed its effects in the last Zanu PF only government and so days when Zimbabweans shrugged off corruption as a harmless irritant are over. They witnessed first hand how corruption resulted in the loss of image, respect and prestige of the whole nation, how it resulted in the weakening of the moral fibre of the people and how it lowered the ethical standards in governance. It also resulted in insecurity due to widening rifts between the "haves" and "have nots," and put a particularly heavy economic burden on the poor and the weak. It was all in Zimbaweans' eyes as government ministers and government officials misappropriated confidential government information for personal gain and designed and selected uneconomical projects that created opportunities for financial kickbacks. Zimbabweans are also aware of how officials at governing bodies like POTRAZ would receive illicit payments to foster monopolistic access to markets and how officials in the various institutions would demand the illicit payment of "speed money" to facilitate transactions. Government officials were seen embezzling donor funds meant for some projects as well as public property and monies with Nyasha Chikwinya being rumoured to be the worst corrupt official among them all. Corruption in the administrative domain included nepotism, ghost workers on public payrolls, collection of unauthorised fees, falsification and destruction of records, arbitrary administrative action, cronyism and circumventing established procedures and regulations. Corrupt activities in the legislative branch included issues of campaign financing and conflict of interest. All these corrupt activities should be eliminated if there is to be any progress in the economic development of this country.

One of the effects of this corruption in the public sector is to generate economic distortions in the public sector by diverting public investment away from essential sectors such as education and public health into capital-intensive projects where bribes and kickbacks are more plentiful. It is not uncommon for officials to increase the technical complexity of public sector projects to conceal such dealings or to over-invoice for resources needed in projects, thereby further distorting investment. Nor is it unusual for corruption in the public sector to lower compliance with construction and environmental standards or other regulations. The private sector was also affected by this corruption. It increased the cost of business because of the price of illicit payments, the management cost of negotiating with officials, the risk of breached agreements or detection and transaction cost in time wasted. Far from reducing costs by cutting red tape, the emerging consensus is that bribery induces officials to contrive new rules and short cuts or by-pass mechanisms. Corruption in the private sector distorted the business playing field by shielding companies with political connections from competition, one outcome being sustaining inefficient firms. The intrusion of corruption in the proper running of business in Zimbabwe and its effect on Zimbabwean companies' bottom lines raised comment and resentment as never before and so Zimbabweans want the coalition government to implement a lot of anti-corruption initiatives and projects in direct or indirect support to the country's emerging economy.

To curb corruption in Zimbabwe it is imperative that the coalition government practice good governance with emphasis being given to effective policies, efficient bureaucracy and efficient public service delivery made possible by regulatory procedures that are not too strict as to be restrictive of efficiency. The coalition government should be prepared to be externally accountable through citizen feedback and democratic institutions as well as a competitive press. The rule of law should be upheld with an independent judiciary. All this will be possible only when there is political stability and absence of violence and crime as well as co-operation from every Zimbabwean. The coalition government has to implement policies and enforcement mechanisms to stamp out corruption in Zimbabwe. Some of the anti-corruption mechanisms they should put in place are the following:
1.)Judicial independence will instil trust in the country's justice system and once people know that justice is being administered in the country without fear or favour they will stop all their corrupt activities.
2.) Financial accountability of all institutions through an independent audit system that checks if financial books are in order as frequently as every three months. This will reduce corruption drastically as the fear of being found out increases.
3.) Raising employees' wages so that they are sufficient to satisfy the basic needs of their families will definately reduce corruption because most employees had become corrupt merely because they were failing to meet the basic needs of their families with their salaries.
4.) Media independence which promotes freedom of the press will decrease the level of corruption if the calibre of journalists is such that they unearth all corrupt, underhand and illegal deals and make public all skeletons in the cupboards irrespective of whose cupboard the skeleton is coming from.
5.) Bureaucracy that introduces a lot of red tape that hinders the fast and efficient progress of business should be eliminated.
6.) Citizen participation by reporting any corrupt activities they see happenning should be greatly encouraged and rewarded.
7.) Public opinion surveys should be carried out frequently so that they act as a useful tool in articulating more precisely citizen concerns that need to be addressed. This will help curb corruption in the sense that a citizen whose concerns are being addressed usually doesn't think of being corrupt.
8.) Effective anti-corruption agencies should be set up, the anti-corruption ministry that was there in the previous government was so useless that it seemed as if the ministry was non-existant.

Let me conclude this article by pointing out that political and business decisions based on honesty and merit will ultimately lead to the most efficient and effective progress in sustainble development in this nation. So in our endeavours to generate economic growth and end poverty in Zimbabwe, we must always remain loyal to the truth as loyalty to a person, regardless of his or her dishonest actions, is a path not to be followed and encouraged only by leaders with a weak moral fibre. Ten years ago Rwanda lay in ruins after the terrible genocide in that nation but because of the clean-cut image and moral backbone of President Paul Kagame that encouraged every Rwandan to act responsibly Rwanda was rebuilt in a very short time and is now well known for its orderliness, efficiency and negligible corruption. This rapid progress achieved in Rwanda soon after it became peaceful is proof of the critical role of good leadership that is ethical and professional and would never be tempted by power to do corrupt deals. The progress in Rwanda should be an inspiration to all of us in Zimbabwe to ensure integrity and competence are things we value in all political and business dealings. If we don't we are enemies of the progress towards ending extreme poverty in Zimbabwe and eliminating the suffering and hunger in the country for good through corrupt-free sustainable development.

Valentine's day: Cupid is being overworked today

Valentine's day painted the world red today and Cupid, is being overworked as he points his love arrow from one heart to another. My love arrow shot was a long range one but thanks to technology it reached its target. In case you don't know who Cupid is, let me introduce her to you. She is the love fairy whom we were told as we grew up is responsible for love match-making in the whole wide world. Everybody's love life is dependent on her bow and arrow which she uses to aim at our hearts so that we open our hearts to the love of someone she would have chosen for us. This is one fairy tale that I never did question as much as I questioned Cinderella or any of the others that were part of our childhood, and maybe that is why I turned out to be such a romantic. Anyway today Valentine's day I put thoughts of politics and philosophising about life aside and filled my mind with only thoughts of Cupid and his works.



For Cupid surely took his arrow recently and landed it with aim right at the centre of my heart. It pierced the hardened armour of this heart of mine and penetrated the thick wall I had built around myself for fear of being hurt again. Cupid then landed on my shoulder, and told me about this authentic man in a land afar, and how his love for me would be true and honest and he would never let me down. All I needed was to open my heart, and get ready to receive the love. With his great aim, Cupid will join our hearts as one, and tell us of a lasting love that will sprout between us. Then he(Cupid) whispered in my ear, instructions for its care, and made sure I understood that in all of life, we should give love the greatest value it deserves. Said I needed to water it daily, with the essence of my love, to shelter it from anything that might rain down from above. Then Cupid told me to feed it from my very heart, to hold it close within me and never let it drift apart, and that if I cared daily, for this new love that he bestowed, I would be happier than ever, for it would be the greatest love known. And as Cupid flew away, I stopped and looked around, and there before my wondering eyes stood the most perfect love ever found. For a noble man stood there patiently waiting, for my heart to lift its shroud. He held out his hands to me, and together we lifted up into the clouds and as we drifted off in love, Cupid smiled unto himself, for he knew within his own heart that love would be our greatest wealth.


That was me daydreaming today about Cupid the love fairy bringing me a real valentine, the man of my dreams for us to spent the day together. I decided to spent the day with my little daughter Emma at a once beautiful but now neglected picnic spot at Willis Dam in Greendale, near my parents' home. It is a quiet, secluded place and it was an appropriate place for me today because I din't want to come across couples and lovers celebrating their love while I wallow in loneliness and then end up dropping a tear or two.
My Valentine's day in pictures taken by my daughter Emma.

Zimbabwe: Chinamasa how could you, Tsvangirai how could you?

Was it only yesterday that I was rejoicing together with my fellow Zimbabweans over the swearing in ceremony that made Tsvangirai the official Prime Minister of Zimbabwe with the hope that at long last our country was going to be rebuilt and the suffering was going to end. Well today I am livid with anger and I am not the only one, my workmates and my neighbors are just as pissed off as I am if not more, gone is the celebratory mood and the reason for my anger is because of this piece of news that we read from, "The Bearded Man" online blog whom I want to believe would not write a lie, surprisingly enough the press is not having a field day with this particular juicy piece of news.

The team of negotiators, including Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche from ZANU PF, Tendai Biti, Elton Mangoma from the MDC, Welshman Ncube and Priscilla Mishihairabwi-Mushonga from the MDC Mutambara faction, unanimously agreed to adopt the draft Bill written by the MDC. But the Bill gazetted by Chinamasa on Monday is significantly different from what they agreed."

The illegal and underhanded changes include:
1) "...the massive expansion of the size of the National Security Council from 11 members to 21 members" "...National Security Council comprising only the President, the Prime Minister, the two Vice-Presidents, the two Deputy Prime Ministers, the chairperson of the Public Service Commission, the Ministers of Defence and Home
Affairs, and three other Ministers nominated by the parties to the agreement. The Bill that was gazetted by Chinamasa proposes a massively expanded structure that comprises the President as chairperson, the two Vice-Presidents, the Prime Minister, the two Deputy Prime Ministers, the Ministers responsible for Finance, the
Defence Forces and the Police Force, one Minister nominated by each of the three parties."
"...From the Chief Secretary to Cabinet downwards, they are ex-officio members but there are clear attempts to incorporate them into the Council," Biti said. Biti said: "We are not replicating the JOC (Joint Operations Command). JOC was a shadowy junta body. We are not institutionalising juntacracy. It’s supposed
to be a new start."

2) "...The draft bill stated that in the absence of the President, the Prime Minister would call and chair the meetings. But the bill gazetted on Monday states that in the absence of Mugabe, one of the two Vice Presidents will be acting President, revealing a well-knitted plan to preclude Tsvangirai from chairing the Council."

3) "Chinamasa has also made changes to the frequency of Council meetings, changing the fortnightly meetings suggested by the MDC to once a month."

4) "...The MDC draft stated that decisions of the Council be made with the concurrence of at least five of its members, including the President and the Prime Minister. If any disagreements arise, they should be referred to the Cabinet. This has been rejected. Clause 6 of the MDC draft has been deleted completely from the Bill, which proposes that the generals would be subservient to the Council."

Chinamasa has done it again, change the contents of an important agreement between the three GNU parties and Zimbabweans are not amused at all. It is not the first time he has done this, he did it on the September 15, 2008, GNU agreement document. This act is a reflection of the lack of ethics and professionalism that is found in Mugabe's henchmen and cohorts most of whom were ministers in the previous government which is the main reason why the country collapsed the way it did. Mugabe has today named most of these same corrupt and unethical men cabinet ministers including this conniving son of Mrs Chinamasa who thinks he is very clever. Most Zimbabweans who were talking about this issue were so angry with him that he has been declared public enemy number one. His dishonesty is being interpreted by ordinary people as tantamount to trying to cancel the lease of a life devoid of suffering, hunger and cholera that the formation of this coalition government is promising the people. He knows very well that the success of this coalition government depends on building trust between the different parties as well as builing trust in the people and he has shattered that trust. Chinamasa, how could you? Surprisingly enough Tsvangirai and the MDC have decided not to make noise about this issue because it reflects badly on them as well. How could Tsvangirai be duped into signing an agreement before re-reading it again, not once but twice and by the very same person, he should have been more cautious the second time round. Tsvangirai how could you? We hope that this anomaly is going to be corected quietly and it will not destroy the GNU marriage. This is the kind of blunder that a man of intelligence like Dr Simba Makoni would never have done had he been in Mr Tsvangirai's shoes.

The key players should not forget that the success of this coalition government depends on donor funds the international community is willing to give us, to help rebuild our nation. Most of the world is taking a cautious if sceptical approach to the new government. Most Western countries have vowed to help only if Mugabe does not override Tsvangirai's powers and allows him room to manouvre and provide a positive change in the country. This is what most of them have said.
Britain Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, Britain and the international community will be looking for the whole government to demonstrate, through its actions, a clear commitment to the reforms that the Zimbabwean people so deserve. "We will continue to provide substantial humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe," he said. "We also stand ready to provide broader long-term help. This will depend on the coalition government's actions. "A commitment to macroeconomic stabilisation, restoration of the rule of law, respect for human rights, the immediate release of political detainees, the repeal of repressive legislation, and a commitment to timely elections - are the foundations of international support."

AUSTRALIA will maintain sanctions against Zimbabwe despite the formation of a new government under Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith says Australia cautiously welcomes the news. This is in line with other western nations.The US and EU have said they will wait and see to see how much power does the new Prime Minister get. "But we have grave reservations. Our preference, of course, would be for Mr Mugabe to walk off the stage," he told ABC Radio. Australia would continue to provide Zimbabwe with humanitarian assistance, but no consideration was being given to lifting sanctions. "They will remain for the present,'' Mr Smith said.

A spokesman for New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said no decision had been taken on whether to list sanctions and there was "a degree of concern" over how the Harare government would function."We will not be racing ahead to lift sanctions," he said.

USA said they will only give aid if the coalition government proves to be working out positively for Zimbabwe.

So my plea to Mugabe is to get rid of his dictatorship tendencies and give Tsvangirai enough power for him to rebuild the dying nation. My plea to Mugabe's ministers whose corrupt and incompetent ways maimed the country in the last government is for them to totally change their ways. To the new comers in government, namely Tsvangirai and his team my plea is for them to be a leading example of competence and professionalism in whatever they do. I wish the coalition government God's blessings.

Zimbabwe: A new day has come

New Zimbabwe has just arrived, albeit not in the democratic way we all would have loved it to happen but it has indeed come all the same. It was yesterday that Morgan Tsvangirai the leader of the MDC was sworn in as Prime Minister and Zimbabweans are ecstatic and applauding him for putting the needs of the people above the relentless pursuit of democracy in the true meaning of the word. Democracy the way we understand it has been shrugged of by this coalition government which is not a result of free and fair democratic elections but most Zimbabweans are not worried about that. Democracy has been made to wait awhile until the near death nation has been rescucitated, until the suffering of the people due to the economic collapse in the country has been eliminated, until the sick have been saved from dying because of lack of hospital treatment and until the education system has been revived. I personally think Tsvangirai and the MDC made a good decision and am going to support the coalition government by doing my part in rebuilding the nation, I believe that the change I want to see in this nation has to begin with me.

Is it just me or do you also think of music every time something good happens in your life. Today as I rejoiced over the swearing in of Tsvangirai as Prime Minister the song, " A new day has come," by Celine Dion invaded my mind because I had been waiting for so long for a miracle to happen in Zimbabwe and reverse the plight of the suffering people. Everyone told me to be strong, to hold on and not shed a tear.
Through the darkness and good times, I knew I'd make it through, was determined to survive it all and not be counted as one of the dead victims of cholera or hunger.
The suffering in Zimbabwe, everywhere I looked felt like I was in a tunnel where I could not see the light but, hush now I see a light in the sky. Oh it's almost blinding me, feels like the country has been touched by an angel with love.
Let the rain come down and wash away my tears, let it fill my soul and drown my fears, let it shatter the walls for a new sun. A new day has come.
Where it was dark now there's light, where there was pain now's there's joy, where there was weakness I found my strength, all in the eyes of a new day that has come in Zimbabwe. Hush now, a new day has come.

Below is a widget with the lyrics of this song that I am celebrating this wonderful day in the history of Zimbabwe with.

Lyrics | Celine Dion lyrics

The media indirectly rules the world

The media grip on opinion and perception all over the world is one of the wonders of the modern world. That power if placed in the wrong hands becomes a lethal weapon when the media manages to eliminate entirely from its media all objectivity and dissent, when the media makes sure that voices of dissent are either blacked out or marginalised, while known apostates of the national consensus are either demonised or trivialised. In theory different viewpoints should be allowed to be heard , those of the learned, unlearned, those for or against and even those of the disinterested, all should be aired or written down by the media but theory is not practice in most media homes. Of course it is possible for any citizen with time to spare and a canny eye to work out what is actually going on but for the many there is no time, and the network news is the only news even though it may not be news at all but only a series of flashing fictions intended, like the avowed commercials, to manipulate viewers opinions and perceptions. The media is in strict charge of what the people should and should not know. They ask the questions during election time, in other words they determine what the politicians may talk about at election time, that famed agenda that never includes enough detail that can help viewers make a 100% informed decision about the right candidate to vote for. If we are not careful the media will impose a President on us as they manipulate our opinion and perception. Rarely are voices other than those of the media heard so some viewers will never know if there are any other viewpoints besides the ones the media chooses to air or write about. If that is not the media ruling the world indirectly I don't know what is.

Nothing appears more surprising to those who consider human affairs with a philosophical eye than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few and the implicit submission with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers. When we inquire by what means this wonder is effected, we shall find that the governors have nothing to support them but opinion and perception of the people which they manipulate through the media. Therefore can we safely conclude that media plays a great role in ruling a nation and this fact applies to both the most despotic military governments as well as to the most free and popular governments. If that is not the media ruling the world indirectly I don't know what is.

An example of a country where the media practically shapes the minds of its viewers is none other than the powerful USA. What has never ceased to amaze me about the USA media is the fact that at any one time it always has some nation or foreign leader to demonise. In almost every case, their overwhelming commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights is to be applauded but I have always wondered what they would do without an enemy to demonise. I bet they would probably cut down their veiwing time by half or the content in their newspaper publications would decrease by half. First the USA media was obsessed with demonising Russia and communism and rightfully so but when Mikhail Gorbachev spoke at the UN on December 7, 1988 that Russia was unilaterally disarming and going to be pro-democracy the media had to quickly install a new demon to replace Russia. The Arabs began to be thoroughly demonised by the Israel lobby while the Chinese where somewhat nervously demonised by elements of the corporate state. But neither could do as a long-term devil because the Arabs have too much oil that the USA needs while the Chinese give a lot of money to USA as loans to enable the USA to sustain the luxurious high lifestyle that is beyond its means that it is used to. Then September 11 happened and the media was given a good reason to switch to demonising Afghanistan and soon after Iraq also became a target with allegations that it owns weapons of mass destruction being used to justify its attack.
The big question I want to ask is this, does this demonising by the media ever cause the demonised nations or leaders to change their ways or it simply makes them go on the defensive and actually become the demons that they are potrayed to be by the media. It's about time the media starts ruling the world with love and not by demonising undesirable elements. Love showered to the undesirable elements after reasoning with them will have the psychological effect of making them want to act in loving ways. If only the media would adopt this love strategy, they would heal the world and make it a haven of peace, love and happiness.

Let me digress a bit and talk about Zimbabwe. This media issue somehow reminds me of some Zimbabwean bloggers on Afrigator who concentrated on blogging about the disharmony and limbo situation in Zimbabwe only and who therefore found themselves bankrupt of ideas to blog about when Tsvangirai decided to form a unity government with Mugabe. Some of them then decided to hold on to the unresolved issue about Jestina Mukoko the peace activist who is still in jail for an MDC cause, a reason that they think should have stopped the unity government from being formed. Economic and political progress of a whole nation full of cholera, hunger and economic collapse victims stopped because of a few activists, that would be rather unreasonable don't you think so. I am sure if these activists are really true activists in the sense of the word activist and we were to ask them if the formation of the coalition government should continue with them in jail they would say yes go ahead because being an activist is all about sacrificing your life for the greater good. Most Zimbabweas have chosen to live the matter in the hands of the law for the sake of progress in the nation and we are hoping that with the coalition government in place the courts will practise true justice. In the meantime as the coalition government is formed let us press for the jailed activists' rights to medical attention.

Love is in the air.

The atmosphere is pregnant with love, I can see it, hear it and sense it everywhere I go. I see people shopping for Valentine's gifts, I hear people making plans about Valentine's day surprises, I sense it in that secret smile on someone's face, that bounce in someone's step and that dreamy, sexy look in someone's eyes. But what exactly is this powerful emotion called love? Over the years many people have tried to express it in words and I want to share with you how they described it.

"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love." -Sophocles

To be in love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia." - H.L. Mencken

"Loves makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place." - Zora Neale Hurston

"Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." - Mark Twain

"To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven." - Karen Sunde

"Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence." - Erich Fromm

"In the final analysis, love is the only reflection of man's worth." - Bill Wundram, Iowa Quad Cities Times

"The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart."
- Helen Keller

"You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly." - Sam Keen

"When the one man loves the one woman and the one woman loves the one man, the very angels desert heaven and come and sit in the house and sing for joy." - Brahma Sutra

"The most desired gift of love is not diamonds or roses or chocolate. It is focused attention." - Richard Warren

"We never know we are beings till we love. And then it is we know the powers and potentialities of human existence.
- Jean Toomer

"The mind determines what is possible. The heart through love surpasses it.'' - Pilar Colinta

"Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

The tiny seeds of goodness in Zimbabwe's economic rubble.

That dear readers is a picture of me taken as I blogged my mind and heart away recently.
Somewhere beneath the rubble of every endeavour gone awry are the tiny seeds of goodness and if you dig for and plant these seeds you will grow a forest of mighty trees to shade you from the scorching heat of your life's midday, and to shield you from the howling winds of the world's confusion so that you experience peace, love & happiness even amid the rubble of life. That is what I did with the pathetic economic situation in Zimbabwe, beneath the economic rubble of this nation I delved deep for one tiny seed of goodness that came out of it and found it in my now trim and sexy looking body that used to be fat and unattractive. That, dear readers is a great consolation to me because I had tried so many diets but alas I remained fat. Had even tried going to the gym but after the workouts I would feel so hungry that my normal food intake would double so going to the gym actually had the opposite effect to the one I intended. I am sure I am not the only one in Zimbabwe whose body shed off all the extra weight because of the bad economic situation in the country, so you will agree with me that something good did come out of it.
Below are pictures of me when I was still fat.






That is me on a bad day, crying in bed as I drink my coffee, the economic strain had become too bad for me to take in without tears.
When we started experiencing food shortages in Zimbabwe , when the economy became so bad that some of us could only afford to have one meal a day and when business people started selling food in US dollars and South African Rands yet we were getting paid in worthless Zimbabwean dollars, I started losing weight and ended up having this gorgeous body structure that makes men stare at me with admiration and makes fat women stare at me with envy. My being overweight had resulted in me suffering from a high blood pressure and sometimes I would have some abnormal heart palpitations but that is all history now, my blood pressure level is now very normal and I no longer have any heart palpitations. That is the other seed of goodness that came out of the world record hyper-inflation in Zimbabwe, all health problems caused by over-eating were eliminated in most people.
Below are pictures of happier and slimmer me.







That is me eating healthy, had to adapt to a vegetable diet because I no longer can afford to buy meat.

Even when things get normal in Zimbabwe and I can afford to buy all the food I want, I will make sure that I will maintain a healthy diet so that I maintain this attractive slim body that makes clothes fit perfectly and that has boosted my confidence to high levels. But most important of all I will maintain a healthy diet so that blood pressure and heart problems remain buried in my health history and never come back into my life again. That dear readers is how I am going to plant these two tiny seeds of goodness (an attractive slim body and a healthy body devoid of blood pressure and heart problems)that I dug out from the Zimbawean economic rubble, so that they grow a forest of mighty trees (a healthy & attractive body) to shade me from the scorching heat of my life's midday, and to shield me from the howling winds of the world's confusion so that I experience peace, love & happiness even amid the economic rubble in Zimbabwe.
I love the slim body that I have now, it makes me feel beautiful.

Reminder: Valentine's day, 14 February.

February 14 is a day of strategic romantic importance to millions of people around the world. The emotion laden annual celebration of love is perfect for people in love because it dedicates a whole day for them to show each other love not only with words but also with actions that are unlike the normal everyday shows of love. It is the best day in the whole year for the incurable and hopeless romantics because it is the day that romanticism is celebrated, the day when love is beautifully wrapped up and boxed and then handed over to a loved one. Yes, it is a day that love becomes tangible in the form of love presents bought and sold. Cherished memories are created on this day and for those romantics like me who have an eye that can see love where others can't, it is so entertaining to take a walk around town or your neighbourhood because you will actually see red hearts and kisses flying all over the place. Some fly right into a place they properly fit and are accepted but some fly where they don't properly fit and as a result are shattered into pieces. Oh, yes on this day not all people are showered with love although everyone wishes to be showered with love.
Love is indeed the best thing that ever happened to humans, it is the one thing that is universal and not selective, it happens to each and everyone of us, rich or poor, young or old, black or white, educated or uneducated, wise or foolish, we all experience love at one time or other. And when we do, we move house to a world of our own situated at the top of the universe where we fly to without wings. Artists have tried explaining how love feels but words somehow fall short, they are inadequate to explain such an intense emotion as love. It can only be felt and shown by actions and Valentine's day gives you the chance to do that in special ways that you can't do everyday. Grab the chance to show your love in a romantic way this Valentine's day.



I happen to be a hopeless romantic and would have loved to make this day romantically memorable but unfortunately I am alone in this world full of people and all I can do is build castles in the air. Will have to make do with imagining how I would have wanted it to be, had we been together. Let me share with you how I would have wanted my Valentine's day to be like, knowing me and how I abhor mediocrity it would be something out of this world.
The day would start with a Valentine breakfast in bed. Breakfast in bed is the kind of pampering that I appreciate and I think it is a classically romantic thing to do for your love. I would make it an extra-special event by adding some unique Valentine sweetness to it. On the beautifully decorated breakfast tray I would place a lovely heart-shaped box wrapped up with Valentine's paper and fill it with 5 heart-shaped balloons, so when he opens the box the balloons would rise and give him his first clue, the clue would read, "This is a Pleasure Hunt. Follow the hearts, and if you play your cards right you’ll end the day feeling nothing but pleasure." The first card would lead him to a local spa where I would treat him to an hour-long massage and an early lunch. When his lunch at the spa is served, he would be given his next clue and a gift card. The clue would lead him to a local CD & DVD store where a romantic CD & DVD will be handed to him by the shopkeeper together with his next clue, which he would be told to look for in his glove compartment. There he would find a love poem and a love letter from me declaring my love for him as well as his next clue, which would be telling him to call me (so I would know when he would be on his way) and to bring the CD and DVD to the front desk of a quiet & secluded, state of the art hotel like Pandari Lodge. When he gets to the front desk, he would be given a package from me with another clue. In the package would be a key to a room in the hotel with a little tag on it that simply says "I’m waiting". When he walks into the room, he will find candles, rose petals, whipped cream, grapes, strawberries, champagne, cream cheese dip, a heart shaped tub, and me in sexy lingerie, all waiting for him. I would then give him his attire for the evening - silk boxers and a matching blindfold. The night would definately be amazing for both of us and will nurture and grow our love. This is an unfinished romantic story that can only be finished when the co-starring jets in. When?

That is just romantic me wishing that I could spent Valentine's day with the man who loves me and whom I love, the reality of how that day will be like as I spent it alone and feeling as lonely as ever would be too dull for me to write about but being the honest blogger that I am I will write about it anyway. In the mean time I wish you readers happy successful shopping as you look for Valentine's gifts for your loved ones. I hope you will come up with memorable romantic ideas to pamper your loved ones with on this day and on the Valentine's day you will be made to feel special and genuinely loved and will also make the one who loves you feel special and genuinely loved. Make it a very special day to remember.