Political parties take advantage of the challenges facing the youths, chiefly that of unemployment and use it against us. A perfect example is that of Chipangano in Mbare. Luring the youths with incentives such as a low allowance, most youths facing financial problems will do anything even for a tiny allowance. The ZANU PF sponsored Chipangano in Mbare has coerced and forced the youths to join them in their violent paths as they are left with no choice. They are promised cash allowances and most of them use it to buy drugs and toxic spirits such ZED as a way of boosting their confidence when terrorizing civilians in Mbare and surrounding areas in Harare.

The problem is that the youths are being forced to play the role of the pawn, play the dirty work whilst the politicians are in their offices. As pawns we are forced to protect the “king” by all means even if it means resorting to all the unorthodox methods. Zimbabwe is by far a peaceful country but some of these youth leaders become overzealous thinking that violence will bring forth with it success. The youths in Mbare have been playing the part of the pawn for a while yet their “king” keeps on finding better opponents. Cde Savandhu should know better having seen his fortunes dwindle because his pawns have not done a good job of protecting their king.

As leaders these politicians should know better and start from the front and condemn violence and should further set the example. When the Human Rights Bill was being deliberated in Parliament, the president was at the forefront of condemning violence yet outside the building overzealous Chipangano were busy terrorizing people outside parliament building. As if that was not enough ZANU PF youths attacked and clashed with MDC-T youths at a rally for the MDC-T in Chitungwiza with senior ZANU PF officials being fingered in the plans to cause chaos. What is surprising is that whilst the GPA leaders might go on TV denouncing violence, the problems that need to be addressed are there within their parties because as leaders they are largely expected to say certain things but the problems are there within their own parties through their youth leaders.

We can thus never really move forward for as long as these youth leaders and senior party officials continue to promote their cause through violence. It is not even helping when some in ZANU PF say that they will continue to support Chipangano yet perennial Mbare constituency candidate Cde Tendai Savanhu continues to deny the existence of this youth militant group. What this does is that it does not help the cause of preventing violence because the youths will continue to be used as scapegoats to play the role of the pawn, as the face of violence for them. With threats to their families as well as their well being, youths are left with no option but to go on with whatever they are told to do.

ZANU PF has thus taken the role of coercion and force to a whole new level. Youths are forced to go knock door to door into people’s houses forcing them to come to ZANU PF rallies and functions. ZANU PF wants to create an image to everyone that they are a well oiled machine giving back to the people yet this is to the contrary. In the recent ant-Sanctions petition, they knew they would not get the numbers they wanted for their project. Youths terrorized people in town forcing them to close their shops and stop whatever they were doing so as to attend the signing on ceremony at ZANU PF headquarters. People were driven in trucks from their villages to come and sign the petitions without even their consent all for the sake of maintaining a fake image. That is not what the people want and that is by far not the role the youths want to play when we say we need a political role.

Why take advantage of the youths? We are by far the most important group in the population, the most important group of the electorate. What politicians forget is that a youth movement may as well play a determinant role when it comes to elections. Our interests are hardly being addressed yet we are the pawns in the game. We are the ones that necessitate their political paths yet our political interests are not being addressed. We need leaders that understand that the views of the youths have to be attended to. The truth is that we cannot continue playing the role of the pawn forever. There would be a time when some of us will make the journey across the board from being a mere king to a “queen”, a “bishop” and even starting the game as the king. Politicians have to understand that as kings they cannot go anywhere without their pawns and they need a strategy. They need to understand that they cannot play chess with draft tactics, they will not win because their pawn will be crashed in no time. What they need is a strategy, a formula where they make everyone happy and not use us as tools for their dirty work. They are the ones who more or less got the country into the situation that it is in and thus there is need for them to pull it out and as youths we need to play our part for our country because the day of being nothing but a mere pawn has to end.

David T. Hwangwa writing in his own personal capacity. He can be contacted on dhwangwa@gmail.com

This has been a submission by David Hwangwa. If you have something to share, you too can become a Citizen Journalist by submitting your story here: Citizen Journalism by Living Zimbabwe.

Introduction

The Zimbabwean youth make up about 60% of the active electorate and they are by far the most important age group that play a very important role in the society. Despite being the most important part of the electorate, the youth of Zimbabwe still have no active part when it comes to playing a political part, our role being reduced to nothing but political pawns, we are only there to enhance and legitimize politicians’ ascendency to the top through our vote. We are their face, we do the dirty work for them , running their errands in the streets, at rallies but as is as much political role we are given because as soon as the results are announced the politicians will assume their positions as “kings” but as for us the youth, we will soon assume our permanent roles as pawns in the political arena.

The challenges the youth are facing

Zimbabwe has over the last decade been at the summit when it comes to literacy levels in Africa and still continues to churn out thousands of world class graduates every year. Every year each prospective graduate is full of optimism of graduating, being capped by the president, being called a graduate, getting a job and contributing to their country’s development but that optimism is soon replaced by heartache because our industry and economy cannot offer them anything. The biggest challenge that the youth are facing is that of unemployment. With more than 90% unemployment rate, it means that only a fraction of the estimated 12 million people is employed, roughly over a million if we are to go with the estimates. Every year, close to more than 5 000 people graduate in Zimbabwe, from state universities, poly techs, nursing school, teachers colleges, apprenticeships to name but a few and all these people are expecting to be part of that 10%.

The Zimbabwean economy continues to grow at a painfully slow rate. Things have gotten better in the country but people continue to struggle for a decent living. Wages and salaries continue to be stagnant and despite the cries from the people salary raises continue to be a pipedream. The President has on many occasions called for all our foreign graduates to come home and contribute to the building of our economy and resuscitating our country’s fortunes. Locally we have thousands graduating from high schools and universities and already the country cannot support all these graduates and apart from all those foreign graduates the president is calling on, we have thousands more from his Presidential scholarship from all the major universities in South Africa coming back as well to scavenge for the little resources that are already exhausted. I wonder where the learned President of the Republic of Zimbabwe wants all those professionals earning a decent living overseas, want to put them when the local professionals here have nothing. Does he want them to contribute to the unemployment rate. There is need for him to create job opportunities for us here in Zimbabwe before calling on all those foreign graduates. As a graduate myself who is unemployed I believe the president should work on making me and the rest of the other graduates happy by giving us jobs.

In developed countries, even in some African countries it is unheard of for graduates to go for prolonged periods of time unemployed but for our beloved country, you might as well bury them because they might not get used in a very long time because there is nowhere to use them for. Most youths will regard the four years they spent studying for a degree, for that diploma, for that profession as a waste because most people usually end up in trades that have nothing to do with what they studied for just to make ends meet. We have seen people with a professional qualification swallowing their pride to do menial jobs. We have seen most youths editing their CVs removing their degrees so as to get a job because most companies will not employ a graduate with a degree for a menial job. Thus, most youths in our country are certificate holders yet they are not doing what they went to school for all for the sake of making ends meet.

What the youths need is a government that gives them a guarantee that there will be jobs. Jacob Zuma promised to get 500 000 jobs for his people after a certain period. At least people can hope. The ZANU PF government engages in policies that are killing the economy where most people see the only alternative as going overseas. The ZANU PF government destroyed our economy with their guerrilla policies of how to run the economy, running it down and destroying the industry, effectively destroying the source of employment for the majority of the people. I want a government that provides a guarantee and an effective plan and policy of providing for jobs. The Ministry of Finance continues to freeze out jobs in the public sector effectively rendering all the graduates jobless because the government is the biggest employer in the country yet they are failing to provide us with employment, yet the president is calling on graduates to come home. To work where Mr. President if I may ask?

What we need is a treasury that is able to support the populace through the provision of releasing funds and unfreezing jobs in the civil service. The treasury has to release funds to bail out the industries so that the youths get employed. Zimbabwe is becoming centralized with everything being reduced to Harare. This is a sad reality particularly for the other youths based in other parts of the country. It is even sad for those in Bulawayo as most industries there are relocating to Harare. Prof. Welshman Ncube, what are you doing? Lobby the Finance Ministry to bail out Bulawayo because as youths we are seeing our dreams disappear in front of us because we cannot get jobs.

Unemployment is a bigger challenge to us the youths and there is need for these politicians to walk their talk because the time has come where we will not tolerate their improbable plans for us because we need something to look forward to for tomorrow.

This has been a submission by Anonymous. If you have something to share, you too can become a Citizen Journalist by submitting your story here: Citizen Journalism by Living Zimbabwe.

The purpose of the workshop was to analyse how Transitional Justice can be applied in pre and post crisis Zimbabwe. Transitional Justices looks at the various avenues both judicial and quasi-judicial, which can used to address human rights abuses. In the case of Zimbabwe this entails strategies needed to bring closure and healing to victims of state sponsored violence and to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable for atrocities committed since 1980.

This Workshop proved quite interesting because ordinary Zimbabweans who attended the event were given the opportunity to contribute and present their own perspectives on how Transitional Justice can work in Zimbabwe. The workshop was basically divided into 2 components, comprised of contributions by the main speakers representing Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, National Constitutional Assembly and SAIMA. These speakers expressed their views on how Transitional Justice can be applied in Zimbabwe.

On the other hand, other participants were also given an opportunity to present their views on reforms needed to transform institutions like the police and justice system. Also discussions centred on how to promote truth, reconciliation, justice and gender equality in Zimbabwe.

There was an impressive turnout by ordinary Zimbabweans, based in and around Durban, from all walks of life. This could be a sign that exiled Zimbabweans, particularly in SA, are now more actively interested in participating in the shaping of a new Zimbabwe.

What came out from this workshop was a clear common understanding by everyone that Transitional Justice will work if applied in a holistic approach. This will ensure that national harmony, justice and sense of nationhood can return to our traumatised nation.

Article submission by: Chamunorwa Nhau

Some of you will know that Wikileaks recently released a number of confidential US embassy cables. As you can imagine, a number of them contained information or sentiments that the United States government may have rather not had the world know about. The US Embassy in Harare was not immune with a 2007 cable being released on what the then ambassador, Christopher Dell had to say about Zimbabwe.

The full text of the cable (courtesy of Wikileaks) is as follows:

Source Embassy Harare

Classification CONFIDENTIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 000638

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR P, AF, AND AF/S FOR MOZENA AND HILL,

NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B.

PITTMAN AND B. LEO; USAID FOR M. COPSON AND E. LOKEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2017

TAGS: PGOV, PREL, ZI

SUBJECT: The End is Nigh

Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell under Section 1.4b/d

1. (C) Having said my piece repeatedly over the last three years,

I won’t offer a lengthy prescription for our Zimbabwe

policy. My views can be stated very simply as stay the

course and prepare for change. Our policy is working and it’s

helping to drive change here. What is required is simply the grit,

determination and focus to see this through. Then, when the changes

finally come we must be ready to move quickly to help consolidate

the new dispensation.

THE SITUATION

2. (C) Robert Mugabe has survived for so long because he is more

clever and more ruthless than any other politician in

Zimbabwe. To give the devil his due, he is a brilliant

tactician and has long thrived on his ability to abruptly

change the rules of the game, radicalize the political

dynamic and force everyone else to react to his agenda.

However, he is fundamentally hampered by several factors:

his ego and belief in his own infallibility; his obsessive

focus on the past as a justification for everything in the

present and future; his deep ignorance on economic issues

(coupled with the belief that his 18 doctorates give him

the authority to suspend the laws of economics, including

supply and demand); and his essentially short-term,

tactical style.

3. (C) While his tactical skills have kept him in power for 27

years, over the last seven this has only been achieved by a

series of populist, but destructive and ultimately

self-defeating moves. In reaction to losing the 2000

referendum on the constitution, a vengeful Mugabe unleashed

his “Green Bombers” to commit land reform and in the

process he destroyed Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector, once the

bedrock of the economy. While thousands of white farmers

saw their properties seized, hundreds of thousands of black

Zimbabweans lost their livelihoods and were reduced to utter

poverty. In 2005, having been forced to steal victory by

manipulating the results of an election he lost, Mugabe

lashed out again, punishing the urban populace by launching

Operation Murambatsvina. The result was wholesale

destruction of the informal sector, on which as much as

70-80 percent of urban dwellers had depended, and the

uprooting of 700,000 Zimbabweans. The current inflationary

cycle really began with Murambatsvina, as rents and prices

grew in response to a decrease in supply.

4. (C) And now, faced with the hyperinflationary consequences

of his ruinous fiscal policies and growing reliance on the

printing press to keep his government running, Mugabe has

launched Operation Slash Prices. This has once again given

him a very temporary boost in popularity (especially among

the police, who have led the looting of retail outlets and

now seem well positioned to take a leading role in the

black market economy) at the cost of terrible damage to the

country and people. Many small grocery and shop owners,

traders, etc., will be wiped out; the shelves are

increasingly bare; hunger, fear, and tension are growing;

fuel has disappeared. When the shelves are still empty

this time next week, the popular appeal of the price roll

back will evaporate and the government simply doesn’t have

the resources to replace the entire private commercial

sector and keep Zimbabweans fed. It may attempt to do so

by printing more money, adding even more inflationary

pressure on a system already reeling from the GOZ’s

quasi-fiscal lunacy combined with the price impact of

pervasive shortages. The increasingly worthless Zim dollar

is likely to collapse as a unit of trade in the near

future, depriving the GOZ of its last economic tool other

than sheer thuggery and theft of others’ assets.

5. (C) With all this in view, I’m convinced the end is not

HARARE 00000638 002 OF 004

far off for the Mugabe regime. Of course, my predecessors

and many other observers have all said the same thing, and

yet Mugabe is still with us. I think this time could prove

different, however, because for the first time the

president is under intensifying pressure simultaneously on

the economic, political and international fronts. In the

past, he could always play one of these off against the

other, using economic moves to counter political pressure

or playing the old colonial/race/imperialist themes to buy

himself breathing room regionally and internationally. But

he is running out of options and in the swirling gases of

the new Zimbabwean constellation that is starting to form,

the economic, political and international pressures are

concentrating on Mugabe himself. Our ZANU-PF contacts are

virtually unanimous in saying reform is desperately needed,

but won’t happen while the Old Man is there, and therefore

he must go (finding the courage to make that happen is

another matter, however, but even that may be coming closer).

This is not some sudden awakening on the road to

Damascus, but a reflection of the pain even party insiders

increasingly feel over the economic meltdown. We also get

regular, albeit anecdotal, reports of angry and

increasingly open mutterings against Mugabe even in ZANU-PF’s

traditional rural bastions. Beginning in March, the

other SADC leaders finally recognized (in the wake of the

terrible beatings of March 11 and the international outcry

that followed–another self-inflicted wound for Mugabe)

that Zimbabwe is a problem they need to address. Thabo

Mbeki appears committed to a successful mediation and is

reportedly increasingly irritated with Mugabe’s efforts to

manipulate him or blow him off altogether. If Mugabe

judges that he still commands all he surveys by virtue of

being the elder statesman on the scene, he may be

committing yet another serious blunder. Finally, one does

well to recall that the only serious civil disturbances

here in a decade came in 1998 over bread shortages, showing

that even the famously passive Shona people have their

limits. The terror and oppression of the

intervening years have cowed people, but it’s anyone’s guess

whether their fear or their anger will win out in the end.

WHAT WILL THE END LOOK LIKE?

6. (C) This is the big, unanswerable question. One thing

at least is certain, Mugabe will not wake up one morning a

changed man, resolved to set right all he has wrought. He

will not go quietly nor without a fight. He will cling to

power at all costs and the costs be damned, he deserves to

rule by virtue of the liberation struggle and land reform and

the people of Zimbabwe have let him down by failing to

appreciate this, thus he needn’t worry about their

well-being. The only scenario in which he might agree to

go with a modicum of good grace is one in which he

concludes that the only way to end his days a free man is

by leaving State House. I judge that he is still a long

way from this conclusion and will fight on for now.

7. (C) The optimal outcome, of course, and the only one that

doesn’t bring with it a huge risk of violence and conflict, is

a genuinely free and fair election, under international

supervision. The Mbeki mediation offers the best, albeit

very slim, hope of getting there. However, as Pretoria

grows more and more worried about the chaos to its north

and President Mbeki’s patience with Mugabe’s antics wears

thin, the prospects for serious South African engagement

may be growing. Thus, this effort deserves all the support

and backing we can muster. Less attractive is the idea of

a South African-brokered transitional arrangement or

government of national unity. Mbeki has always favored

stability and in his mind this means a ZANU-PF-led GNU, with

perhaps a few MDC additions. This solution is more likely

to prolong than resolve the crisis and we must guard

against letting Pretoria dictate an outcome which

HARARE 00000638 003 OF 004

perpetuates the status quo at the expense of real change

and reform.

8. (C) The other scenarios are all less attractive: a popular

uprising would inevitably entail a bloodbath, even if it

were ultimately successful; Mugabe’s sudden, unexpected

death would set off a stampede for power among ZANU-PF

heavy weights; a palace coup, whether initiated within

ZANU-PF or from the military – in which Mugabe is removed,

killed, exiled or otherwise disposed of, could well devolve

into open conflict between the contending successors. Similarly,

some form of “constitutional coup” i.e., a change at the top

engineered within the framework of ZANU-PF’s “legitimate”

structures could well prove to be merely the opening bell

in a prolonged power struggle. None of the players is

likely to go quietly into the night without giving everything

they have, including calling on

their supporters in the security services. Moreover, experience

elsewhere would suggest that whoever comes out on top

initially will struggle, and more than likely fail, to halt

the economic collapse. Thus, there is a good prospect of

not one but a series of rapid-fire “transitions,” until

some new, stable dispensation is reached.

9. (C) The final, and probably worst, possibility is that Mugabe

concludes he can settle for ruling over a rump Zimbabwe,

maintaining control over Harare and the Mashona heartland,

the critical forces of the National Reserve Force and CIO

and a few key assets–gold, diamonds, platinum and Air

Zimbabwe to fund the good times. Under this scenario the

rest of the country, in one of the comrade’s favorite

phrases, could “go hang,” leaving it to the international

community to stave off the worst humanitarian consequences.

WHAT OF THE OPPOSITION?

10. (C) Zimbabwe’s opposition is far from ideal and I leave

convinced that had we had different partners we could have

achieved more already. But you have to play the hand you’re dealt.

With that in mind, the current leadership has little executive

experience and will require massive hand holding and assistance

should they ever come to power.

11. (C) Morgan Tsvangarai is a brave, committed man and, by and

large, a democrat. He is also the only player on the scene

right now with real star quality and the ability to rally

the masses. But Tsvangarai is also a flawed figure, not

readily open to advice, indecisive and with questionable

judgment in selecting those around him. He is the indispensable

element for opposition success, but possibly an albatross around

t heir necks once in power. In short, he is a kind of Lech Walesa

character: Zimbabwe needs him, but should not rely on his executive

abilities to lead the country’s recovery. Arthur Mutambara is young

and ambitious, attracted to radical, anti-western rhetoric and

smart as a whip. But, in many respects he’s a light-weight

who has spent too much time reading U.S. campaign messaging

manuals and too little thinking about the real issues. Welshman

Ncube has proven to be a deeply divisive

and destructive player in the opposition ranks and the

sooner he is pushed off the stage, the better. But he is

useful to many, including the regime and South Africa, so

is probably a cross to be borne for some time yet. The

prospects for healing the rift within the MDC seem dim,

which is a totally unnecessary self-inflicted wound on

their part this time. With few exceptions–Tendayi Biti,

Nelson Chamisa–the talent is thin below the top ranks.

The great saving grace of the opposition is likely to be

found in the diaspora. Most of Zimbabwe’s best

professionals, entrepreneurs, businessmen and women, etc.,

have fled the country. They are the opposition’s natural

allies and it is encouraging to see signs, particularly in

South Africa and the UK, that these people are talking,

HARARE 00000638 004 OF 004

sharing ideas, developing plans and thinking together about

future recovery.

12. (C) Unfortunately, among the MDC’s flaws is its inability to

work more effectively with the rest of civil society. The

blame for this can be shared on both sides (many civil

society groups, like the NCA, are single-issue focused and

take the overall dynamic in unhelpful directions; others,

like WOZA, insist on going it alone as a matter of

principle), but ultimately it falls to the MDC as the

largest and the only true political party, to show the

way. Once again, however, these are natural allies and

they have more reason to work together than fight against each

other.

STAYING THE COURSE, PREPARING FOR CHANGE

13. (C) If I am right and change is in the offing, we need to

step up our preparations. The work done over the last year on

transition planning has been extremely useful, both for

stimulating a fresh look at our own assumptions and plans

and for forging a common approach among the traditional

donor community. But the process has lagged since the

meetings in March in London and should be re-energized. It is

encouraging in this respect that USAID Washington has

engaged the Mission here in discussing how we would use

additional resources in response to a genuinely

reform-minded government . I hope this will continue and

the good work done so far will survive the usual

bloodletting of the budget process.

1. (C) The official media has had a field day recently whooping

that “Dell leaves Zimbabwe a failed man”. That’s not quite

how it looks from here. I believe that the firm

U.S. stance, the willingness to speak out and stand up,

have contributed to the accelerating pace of change.

Mugabe and his henchman are like bullies everywhere: if

they can intimidate you they will. But they’re not used to

someone standing up to them and fighting back. It catches them

off guard and that’s when they make mistakes. The howls of protest

over critical statements from Washington or negative coverage

on CNN are the clearest proof of how this hurts them. Ditto

the squeals over “illegal sanctions.” In addition, the regime

has become so used to calling the shots and dictating the

pace that the merest stumble panics them. Many local

observers have noted that Mugabe is panicked and

desperate about hyperinflation at the moment, and hence he’s

making mistakes. Possibly fatal mistakes. We need to

keep the pressure on in order to keep Mugabe off his game

and on his back foot, relying on his own shortcomings to do

him in. Equally important is an active U.S. leadership

role in the international community. The UK is ham-strung

by its colonial past and domestic politics, thus, letting them

set the pace alone merely limits our effectiveness. The EU is

divided between the hard north and its soft southern

underbelly. The Africans are only now beginning to find

their voice. Rock solid partners like Australia don’t

pack enough punch to step out front and the UN is a

non-player. Thus it falls to the U.S., once again, to take

the lead, to say and do the hard things and to set the agenda.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of ordinary Zimbabweans of all

kinds have told me that our clear, forthright stance has

given them hope and the courage to hang on. By this regime’s

standards, acting in the interests of the people may indeed be

considered a failure. But I believe that the opposite is true,

and that we can be justifiably proud that in Zimbabwe we have

helped advance the President’s freedom Agenda. The people of

this country know it and recognize it and that is the true

touchstone of our success here.

The UK Border Agency recently released a statement stating that they were going to resume enforced returns of failed asylum seekers. The deportation of Zimbabwean nationals was suspended in 2006 but for some reason the UKBA now feels that it is safe for failed asylum seekers to return home. Understandably so, there are thousands of Zimbabweans in the UK who are not happy with the decision and are in a state of worry.

One force that may have aided in the UKBA making such a decision may have been Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai’s 2009 plea to Zimbabweans in the UK to return home. That statement put people in a precarious position and they did not take too kindly to that and he was heckled and booed with the response being Mugabe should go before that happens. Another reason may be the formation of Unity Government which the Brits must see as working well for them to come up with such a decision. Of late, it has become more apparent that the GPA is not working as hoped and that Mugabe and Zanu PF are still running the show.

The resumption of deportations was bound to reach this point because the UK does not want foreigners in their land. New Immigration laws are constantly being put in place and some see these actions as a way of reducing migrant numbers and getting more Brits to work. Other see them as hidden racist tendencies aimed at reducing the number of migrants. You may disagree with that statement and say racism is restricted to a small portion of the population but that is not the case.  A lot of people would rather not have foreign nationals in their country but are not vocal about it. What more for foreigners who come from a nation whose president openly criticises the West and doesn’t bow to their pressure?

If the UK can find the slightest excuse to get people out of their country without breaking any human rights acts they will take them. This seems to be what is happening and now many Zimbabweans may be faced with the decision of either returning home voluntarily or taking their chances and maybe be deported at one point or another.

It has been reported that the Home Affairs co-minister Theresa Makone is set to investigate alleged corruption at the Registrar General’s Passport Office. This includes paying for passports at inflated prices and/or having to pay in order to be served.

The minister went on to say that she was not aware of such practises which is absolute rubbish! It is a known fact that in order to get served in a timely manner or even get served at all in government departments you have to be prepared to part with money to get service.

Even though corruption in itself is bad enough, it is the least of people’s worries when it comes to dealing with the passport office. After spending all of that hard earned money of yours to get a travel document you could end up with a fraudulent travel document. Being in possession of a fake Zimbabwean passport or emergency travel document could get you into more trouble and stress than you bargained for (The consequences of being stopped with a fake travel document in or out of Zimbabwe can be left to your imagination).

This is a Zimbabwe passport applicant BEWARE warning. Having to pay corrupt officials is the least of your worries. You need to be sure that you are getting a genuine document.

Below is an image of the details page of a fraudulent Zimbabwean passport [sensitive information has been removed]. Can you spot any differences?

(click on image for large view)

Post idea and image of fraudulent document supplied by an anonymous contributor. Contribute to Living Zimbabwe.

A Zimbabwean superstar in the making Gamu Nhengu has been causing quite a stir in the UK with her X factor performances. Unfortunately it all came to an end at the weekend and this left a number of fans very unhappy. Now news is going around that her and her family are facing deportation due to a failed visa application.

Her being in that situation got me thinking about the hundreds if not thousands of Zimbabweans who are waiting on asylum applications (even though her and her family are not asylum seekers). Some have been lucky enough to get their application approved quickly. There are others who years down the line are still waiting on the Home Office to make a decision on their claims. Whist they wait they are in a situation where they are neither here nor there.

Being a migrant in itself is enough to take a significant emotional toll on a person. Can you image what it would be like with the added stress of waiting on an asylum claim? For months and months applicants are in a situation where all they can do is sit and wait for someone to make their mind up. Whilst all of that is in progress, they cannot work which means they have to live off whatever assistance they are receiving from the government. For others that also means less or no monetary assistance for family they may be supporting back home. They also obviously cannot travel to Zimbabwe or anywhere else for that matter which can make it tough if a situation arises where their presence would have been expected.

Some people have simply put in claims so that they can legally stay on in the UK and work. They may not have necessarily been persecuted in Zimbabwe and have become illegal with asylum being the option they can think of to become legal.

If all else fails for asylum seekers, The International Organisation for Migration runs a Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programme (VARRP) to assist asylum seekers who want to return to their country. Who knows how well this programme works? It may just be a way of enticing migrants to leave the country so that the Brits don’t have to worry about them; in other word’s, “here, have some money now get out of our country!”

This is just a bit of what some asylum seekers have to go through. If an application is successful, refugees are allowed to travel wherever they like except to their country of origin. But, that restriction doesn’t stop some brave souls from making their way home. It makes you wonder if it is really worth it going through all of that just so that you can stay in the United Kingdom?

Air Zimbabwe like many other parastatals has been in a downward spiral for the last few years. It has been plagued with all sorts of issues with the majority being of a financial nature. Its pilots are striking at the moment over unpaid wages and this is causing a lot of turmoil. In response to the strike action, the airline fired its pilots after they refused to return to work by a given date.

By doing a bit of analysis it seems as if a major problem is that the airline is a government entity. Because of being a parastatal it succumbs to a lot of political interference. That being said, some of the decisions being made may not be in the best interests of the business as a whole. Without naming names, some decisions seems to be made to suite the personal interests of a select few.

Air Zimbabwe is managed by individuals who don’t seem to have what it takes to review the airline and turn it into a profitable business. The reasons for that may be that they were put in those positions not because they were the right people for the job but because of their affiliations. Another thing that they may be more concerned about is filling their pockets with as much money as they can before they move on. Some of the statements that their executives make just don’t make sense. In the last few hours news has come out that Air Zimbabwe has reportedly purchased 2 Airbus A340 aircraft for $400 million. This is what the chairman Jonathan Kadzura had to say about the supposed purchase, “I have also heard about it (new planes), but to be frank, I am not aware of it.” This and other confused statements leave you in a position where you can’t trust of have much faith in its management.

One of the best things that could be done for the airline would be to privatise it. Making such a move could bring in much needed investment which would not only carry the airline forward but also help it get out of debt. Such a move could also bring about a complete change of management and much needed corporate restructuring.

The major stumbling block in a move towards privatisation seems to be the government itself who just don’t want to let go of it and other failing parastatals. The reasons for this could range from wanting to keep a grip on anything and everything to greed to monopolisation and the list goes on. If they haven’t already done so they need to realise that there are some things that they are not good at and continue to fail it and in the interest of economic recovery should let go of.

If the downward spiral is not brought under control soon Air Zimbabwe is going to crash and burn and leave Zimbabwe with no national airline.

Freshlyground released a music video, “Chicken to Change” a few days ago which will probably attract a bit of attention. At the beginning of the video you see the latex Mugabe saying, “I Robert Gabriel Mugabe do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Zimbabwe and observe the laws of Zimbabwe so help me God” and goes on to cross his fingers close to the end of the speech.

With lyrics like, “An iridescent example of honour for the coming generation… You promised always to open the doors for us… Indeed it is you and only you who sleeps with the key… You are chicken to change!” it is plain to see that the video is a message or challenge to Mugabe to let go of the power he has held on to for decades. But, he is too chicken to do so.

The latex Mugabe character is the creation of the well-known cartoonist and co-creator of ZA NEWS, Zapiro. This may mean we will be seeing more of Mugabe on ZA News.

Given Zimbabwe’s political history is taking such a stand against Mugabe really worth the while or is it a waste of time?

Watch the video and draw your own conclusions.

Last month a plane that crashed in Congo and on board were Australian mining executives from Sundance Resources. The purpose of their visit was to take a look at the expansion of their operations in West Africa. An entire board taking the time to travel to West Africa is sign that there is something there worth Billions. One very big question is how much of that money stays in Africa?

All over Africa, you will find foreign based companies with a strong presence in whatever sector they do business in. Yes, they may be providing jobs for people in the regions in which they operating. But, how does that compare to the amount of money that they are making that does not stay in Africa?

In some cases, the governments of African nations are to blame. They may for example get a few millions dollars of investment from Africa’s new colonial powers China. What the Chinese get in return may be mining concessions which could make them Billions. In some cases the government officials try and do whatever they can to make it look like they are trying to gain control of sectors that are in chaos (such as the hotly debated diamonds from Chiadzwa). They will say they want to be able regulate it for everyone’s benefit when in actual fact it is for the benefit of a select few. This kind of greed is a completely different story all together.

When it comes to multinational corporations that are owned and operated by entities outside of Africa, is there a need for them? Can’t we do it ourselves? Out of Africa’s population of an estimated 850 million there has to be groups of people who can do what the multinationals are doing. Why can’t we be the ones to have control of our resources which after extraction we sell on at a price we set? Could the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act in Zimbabwe really be a way of getting what is really ours back in our hands? Some say it is just a way of Zanu PF keeping a grip on things and something that will sink the economy.

Why can’t we do it ourselves and be the ones to benefit from our riches?

Is Africa in such a bad state that those who are able to get their foot into the door are just exploiting the chaos?