Living Zimbabwe

Tag: Corruption

Zimbabwe Dangerous Transport Networks

The recent horror accident that has been reported to have claimed 45 lives of our brothers and sisters happened about 30km before Makuti along Harare and Chirundu highway is another sad chapter in our history. Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said onThursday said that the bus crashed on Wednesday night about 96 miles north of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. Charamba says the bus driver failed to negotiate a curve, though a formal investigation of the crash is underway.

The accident is reported to have happened when the driver of King- Lion bus is alleged to have lost control and rammed into a tree resulting in this horrific accident. It is also reported that 24 passenger have been injured and they have been taken to Chinhoyi Hospital and arrangements to ferry the deceased to the same hospital were ongoing. I’m a saddened by this horror in our roads again, my heart goes to all the families affected by the accident.

I duly challenge the government of Zimbabwe to put a lot more effort in making our roads safer and they should work on policies that change how we test Vehicles and Drivers of cross border vehicles and or passenger carrier. Many lives are being lost each year on the Zimbabweans roads and if this is not an alarm to the government I don’t know what is.

Furthermore police officers are setting up too many roadblocks some are illegal money making scheme and this action is also another reason why drivers speed up to beat their roadblocks, putting lives at risk. The other issue is employee targets which results in high speed driving to beat targets to and from the route.

21st Century we should be moving to digital world and retrain police officer. We must install traffic cameras and build many Service Areas and regulate breaking times. Installing speed cameras and good lighting will work as a deterrent to those who drive recklessly and ignore the rules. On the other hand any bus or coach should not be allowed to exceed a certain speed for example in the UK buses and coaches cannot exceed 70mph / 113kmh. Heavy fines should be issued to those who are found in breach of the Traffic Act.

Traffic cops should be able to be equipped with cameras ( body cam) and dash cams, this action will help curb corruption in our roads. Bribes are becoming cancerous and it’s affecting the way both the police and drivers should be behaving, police officers should serve and protect the society and in turn as drivers we must refrain from paying our way out of trouble, let us change our ways and observe the Road Traffic Act.

ZRP must reduce the number of police officers loitering around in our roads doing nothing more-so those receiving bribes and underperforming or endangering road users must be prosecuted or should face dismissal. Home Affairs Deputy Minister Cde Mguni said 357 police officers were suspended last year on allegations of corruption.“The disciplining mechanism which is there in the police has actually seen the suspension of more than 357 police officers last year who had been doing other things that are outside their working scope,” he said.

Worryingly I’m reading that many drivers are not qualified to be behind the wheel, many drive under the influence or on a regular basis drive for longer hours with no rest, which also is in breach of the Road Traffic Act. Surely more needs to be done by companies that employ these drivers but most importantly the police force should restore faith in the road users. It is also our duty as individuals to observe the law and make sure that we save lives by allowing ample time to rest and travel it is also important for driver to refrain from engaging in activities that endangers passengers and others.

Our transport network needs to be at the CORE of our discussion in a bid to save lives. We cannot just carry out investigations on this particular accident as pointed out by Mrs Charamba, but also go back to the root causes as to why we are witnessing many accidents on our roads.

One thing for sure someone is at fault here. It’s either the buses are not roadworthy and if that’s true, how did the traffic cops miss this? Is someone paying their way out of proper checks and investigations. If the bus/coach was not fit, it should not be ferrying people about, or are the drivers doing something wrong which is endangering lives.

I am however wondering what made the bus driver to misjudge the curve; was it because he was speeding ? If true, this will be classified as a human error, reckless and dangerous driving which carries an indictment charge or was it just the poor unsafe dangerous nature of our Zimbabwean roads.

Some comments on social media are calling for a number of actions to be taken, this includes 1. Coaches must have mandatory speed limits. 2. 24hr tracking system by the company which must be compulsory and law 3. Mandatory insurance for passengers 4. Time travel limits “tiredness can kill.”

I hope proper investigations will be carried out properly and a full report will be made public as to the real causes of the accident and the measures which are going to be put in place to avoid such a huge loss again on our roads. Someone is to blame here , the company, the driver or our government.

This is a national tragedy I expect families of those affected to at least have compensation after a full enquiry or investigation but knowing Zimbabwe someone would want to cover it up and brush it under the carpet because we lack Institutions that advocate for such.

Our roads are becoming dangerous to us the road users everyday, the funny part is many of us are paying road taxes but we see no real improvements on our roads, but utter decay.

I believe our government should also have made huge strides with other means and mode of transport such as rail network but our only national rail NRZ is suffering and a recent report suggested that some of the carriages are now being used as brothels.

This is why I disagree with many people who boast about Zimbabwe being full of educated people, educated how? What improvement has the government done to our rail network? Why can’t we have rail links between inner cities and town? Oh wait this cannot be possible because we lack visionaries. Just look at what other countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia did recently with their rail network, it just goes to show that these things are possible if you have the right people in right places.

No one can convince me in 2017 that no one wants to travel safely and quicker. If our rail network is in full swing guess what we create “JOBS” yes jobs because for the running of the service the rail network will need Human Resources to make sure the free flowing of the transport system, and maybe we could have been thinking that at least the 2.2million jobs creation is no myth but as it stands only two jobs have been created. Of course I have said it, Bona and Simba Chikore the first family royalty are now the only 2 to get the jobs under the “Command No Jobs”.

I do not want to dwell on Simba Chikore and his Air Zimbabwe dubbed Air Simbabwe because today I wanted to focus on rail and road, but we all know that Air Simbabwe is now suffering failing to pay its employees, to being banned flying into Europe.

We have to revive our rail network because we are putting a huge burden on these poor constructed roads, if we had good railway links many of these accidents would have been avoided and passengers would have more choice as to which mode of transport they needed to use. Moreover trains are greener than many of the automobiles we use in our country. We deserve better in Zimbabwe.

I am convinced that the statistics on the road causalities are appalling, if we have such a database that record road casualties yearly. If we do then what is the government doing to fix the problem? I am not saying that on beautiful roads vehicles don’t have accidents but my concern is around the lack of progress since 1980 to build sustainable transport networks. What is the government doing about the death toll on the roads?

As someone from the Opposition our goals are set in making sure that we change the way people move from place to place without fear of death or serious harm to self and others. We need to show this “Ruining Party” Zanu PF and it’s cronies that we can build a better Zimbabwe. I also pray that I want Mr Mugabe to live longer to see these changes, I would be happy for him to board a train from Harare going to his rural KwaZvimba in a new Zimbabwe, safely and efficiently.

How is this all possible? It can be achieved by making sure that we build safer roads and revive our rail network. We can achieve this by proper research and investing in good quality service from experts in the two areas in question. We also have to make sure that not only are the roads user friendly and safe but the vehicles on our roads are roadworthy too. In urban built up areas or CBD we must put up congestion and emission charges and promote the use of bicycles within the CBD itself, this will generate a lot of revenue that can be channelled to good use.

Revenue received from vehicle taxes and charges from congestion and emissions will be ploughed back into road maintenance, this include, road markings, lighting , refugee areas, dualisation, camera installation ( speed and or traffic control). These are some of the items missing in our roads today and we are in 2017. Any government that doesn’t put its people first especially in matters such as safety on the roads is not of the people as it clearly is showing in Zimbabwe, were commissioning of a single traffic light in Chivhu makes headline news. Cry my beloved country.

Why does our government not just look in the mirror and hold their hands up to say we have failed let others try and rebuild the country. I think there’s no shame in that line of thinking, but it is hard to imagine a Mugabe saying that I give up because his cronies won’t allow him to even contemplate stepping aside.

My last words to you on this matter is just an encouragement, please do not allow this to continue happening let us challenge these people who are ruining our future. Let us help rebuild our country but it’s only possible after Zanu PF is gone as they are not willing to change. With Zanu PF in charge we are moving 20 years backwards, while others are thriving.

Imagine a country that fails to build 3 way Motorway/ Highway/Freeway but continues to allow millions of cars good and bad to roam our streets! Let me leave this here I will come back to it on another day.

Our country needs us next year let’s vote Zanu PF out and bring change in Zimbabwe.

May the deceased rest in Peace. I also wish a speedy recovery to those injured. I would also like to extend my gratitude to those who helped the casualtie, God bless you all and your families.

Written by Gilbert Navonika

This has been a submission by Gilbert Navonika.
Gilbert is a Law graduate and a politician, who is also a human rights activists based in the UK. He is very active in Zimbabwean politics, his passion is to inspire social change by demonstration.
You too can become a Citizen Journalist by submitting your story here: Citizen Journalism by Living Zimbabwe
The views expressed in the article are those of the author and not necessarily Living Zimbabwe.

June 10, 2017
Corrupt Temba Peter Mliswa Hon MP

On the 18 December 2009 Temba Peter Mliswa (now MP) came to my company Noshio Motors incorporating Benbar/Tromps (Zimbabwe’s Number One choice) and said “In line with indiginization I now own this company.” “I have a “Banda Trust” in my hand of which I am the Chairman.”! My lawyer Victor Zobgo at the time did a search at the deeds office in February 2010 and NO such trust exists!

My business partner is Hammarskjold Banda (Was a Senior Pastor at the church he brought me to, where in fact I got “Born Again”) and his wife Brendaly Banda (Also Pastor of the same church) was finance and administration manager (but acted like the Chairman of the board) at the company. It was when I suspended her on 22 October 2009 the Hammarskjold and his wife started plotting a way how to get out of this massive they were up to! They were deducting money from the workers, but DID NOT pay relevant authorities (Nassa, N.E.C. P.A.Y.E etc) and converted the money for their personal gain!! They also defrauded SARS and ZIMRA (I gave ALL proof to the Police, Public Prosecutor (who mysteriously died 48 hours after he was released from jail as he was charged with obstructing justice and colluding with state witnesses!) This is why Temba Peter Mliswa was brought in as I had called for a forensic audit, but Bredaly Banda had to make sure this DID NOT happen. Hammarskjold Banda, the Managing Director and public officer held the company to ransom and did not come to work until 18 December 2009!!( What a coincidence) Temba used his uncle, Didymus Mutasa (As Martin Mutasa Didymus’s son was also involved) to make sure they would be “aquitted”. (BROWN ENVELOPES were definitely used to make sure my case went away in a hurry!!

I was defamed by Mliswa and the state closed the case without 3 other very important witnesses testifying, (A lady from the deeds office, the investigating officer (who Hammarskjold confessed to and my wife who was at the company when this terrifying ordeal was taking place. Even though Brendaly Banda was still suspended she started running the payroll and awarded herself and her husband a bonus along with other family members working at the company). All the proof the court needed to hear was prevented by Temba Mliswa and his “behind the scenes meetings” with the magistrates involved! The Attorney General at the time Johannes Tommana (who was Temba Mliswa’s lawyer in 2000 during the land invasion where Mliswa ruthlessly beat up people) purportedly ordered the state to close the case as I had too many facts and evidence to back the charges.

Hammarskjold Banda and His wife Brendaly fled the country to South Africa with his daughter and son but there still charges pending against them! I am led to believe interpol are looking for them and are staying in Johannesburg nearAmalgam off the R41 having left Port Elizabeth.

These are the facts I present to you “the jury” as to why Hon MP Temba Peter Mliswa was brought to my company! This Hon MP lied as he claimed he had “permission” from Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, (Then Minister for indiginisation) but worst of all he claimed His Excellency President R.G. Mugabe “sanctioned” this illegal takeover!

I have faith that this time Hon MP Mliswa will be held accountable for his wrongful actions and decisions and the TRUTH WILL come out! Justice is near.

Paul Westwood

This has been a submission by Paul Westwood.
You can connect with Paul via the following: http://twitter.com/PaulPaulus13/status/464388746599620609.
You too can become a Citizen Journalist by submitting your story here: Citizen Journalism by Living Zimbabwe
The views expressed in the article are those of the author and not necessarily Living Zimbabwe.

June 4, 2014
Bullied By ZIMRA At Harare International Airport

The following is a letter that one of readers wrote to the The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) in response to unpleasant experiences at the hands of their officers and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP):

I would like to report two consecutive incidences that made me feel like I was being bullied by those who think they have the power to oppress others.

I am a Wits student so I fly often. The first incident was when I was with my pregnant sister who had come to SA to buy stuff for her baby. It was on XX November 2013, SAA flight that had left SA at 1930hrs.

After passport control we managed to get our luggage and because I had big bags ZIMRA people stopped us surprise surprise. We didn’t have receipts for the baby’s stuff only a tax statement listing the stuff since we had left them with SARS. They then told us to go to a room where x-x-x (name censored) (ZIMRA) lady acted like she was doing something but really they were telling us to open our bags. We didn’t want to keep our father waiting and feeling like we were being picked on we only opened my sister’s bag which only had the new things.

An argument then started and then a guy who used to work at Kariba came. He heard our surname and immediately called my father, who he knew. If I’m NOT mistaken he used to get bribes in BREAD during the economic depression. My father then came and they started acting like they had been nice to us. They told us we were allowed new things under $300 and since we were under that we left.

“Coincidentally” the police stopped us outside and said they also wanted to open our bags surprise surprise again. They then told us the duty free limit was $100 lower than what ZIMRA had told us. They then said we should go back inside with them, mind you everyone else had left.

They then made us go through the departures way and had to scan our bags and go through some door back to where we had been. The people scanning our bags continuously said “we are different departments, we don’t work with these guys” having seen that laws were being broken and didn’t want to be mentioned in my complaint.

The police now joined and insisted we open our bags. We gave them the permission to do so but they weren’t doing anything. All the while my pregnant sister was standing. We asked for their names because they said we could write a complaint if we wanted but they refused to give us their names.

One policeman and the Kariba ZIMRA guy went to a room and they talked about something. My dad then shook then policeman in the forefront of it all’s hand and they let us go just like that. We ended up leaving at midnight.

I’m NOT saying he accepted a bribe but that’s how money is usually passed on when people bribe the Police.

We were only allowed to leave the airport at midnight when everyone including employees had left.

The 2nd time I was coming from registration on the XX of January 2014 on SAA25, stopped by ZIMRA again I had two small bags. They opened my stuff and they didn’t find anything, again I was the last one to leave. Once I said I was on SAA she immediately told me to go to a room to be searched.

I am studying actuarial science and randomness is what we study. ZIMRA claims it picks people at random and seeing as it happened to me consecutively I highly doubt that paradigm is feasible because estimating the number of people on each flight and assuming randomness that you claim, the probability of me being picked twice is very close to 0, meaning its highly unlikely to happen in any normal system.

I am now forced to fly to Lusaka then drive to Kariba because of this bullying, this is another expense I have to incur just to avoid being bullied. How can the management allow the staff to treat people like this?

Kind regards

x-x-x (name censored)

Your turn; what are your thoughts on what this reader experienced and have you been through something similar at the hands of ZIMRA?

This has been a submission by Anonymous.
You too can become a Citizen Journalist by submitting your story here: Citizen Journalism by Living Zimbabwe
The views expressed in the article are those of the author and not necessarily Living Zimbabwe.

March 9, 2014
Lessons in Business From Zimbabwean Entrepreneur Strive Masiyiwa
Zimbabwe is one of those places that might be and has been dismissed by some as a lost cause in terms of doing business. It has been described as a country that does not have a conducive environment in which to conduct business for a number of reasons. The International Finance Corporation ranks Zimbabwe at 170 out of 189 countries for it’s ease of doing business so as far as they are concerned, we are pretty much at the bottom.

Whenever there is a discussion about business in Zimbabwe it is common place to have words and phrases such as corruption, scandal, bribery, mismanagement and misappropriation of funds included in the conversation. This paints a bleak picture that makes the prospect of conducting business in Zimbabwe as being quite a challenge and may even serve as a deterrent.

That said, there are people who manage to engage in legitimate business activities and some go on to defy the odds and do so without giving in to corrupt practices to realise success. A prime example of someone who has managed to do just that is Strive Masiyiwa. Strive has made most of his money in telecoms and in 2013, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $600 million. Once again, he has managed to amass this wealth whilst saying no to corruption.

How did he manage to become so successful? That is a question that many have probably asked and one that Strive is answering. His 240,000+ Facebook fans are treated with a regular dose of updates that include stories of how he managed to set up and fund his businesses. The updates also include tips on how to succeed and inspiration for aspiring and current entrepreneurs.

Post by Living Zimbabwe.

As you read through and take stock of his updates which are in effect lessons in business, one thing that is clear is that his Christian faith has played and continues to play a pivotal role in his success.

If you want to know more about how Strive Masiyiwa,
1. got to where he is today
2. learn a thing or two to help you realise success,
follow him on Facebook
Are there any other incorruptible Zimbabwean business people who you think are worth a mention and have something to share that could help other people realise their desired measure of success?
March 2, 2014
Anonymous Africa – Our End Game For Zimbabwe & Africa (@zim4thewin)
Greetings and Salutations fellow Africans and Earthlings.

We are Anonymous Africa and we were asked to write a short blog explaining our motivations. By now you may have noticed some of our ops hitting Southern Africa. We hope you like our work. We would like to thank you for the overwhelming support you are giving us.

So far our targets have included:
- IOL – A partly South African government owned media publication that pushed pro-Mugabe propaganda – www.iol.co.za
- ZANU-PF – The website for the completely corrupt ruling party in Zimbabwe – www.zanupf.org.zw
- Zimbabwean Herald – The ZANU-PF owned puppet media publication – www.herald.co.zw
- ZIMRA – The Zimbabwe Revenue Service, the Zim tax collectors – www.zimra.co.zw
- ZIM MOD – The Zimbabwe Ministry of Defence – www.mod.gov.zw
- ANC – The corrupt ruling political party in South Africa that supports Mugabe – www.anc.org.za
Why are we upset?

TWe believe most of Africa’s modern day problems stem from corrupt and evil leaders that have sold the people out (mostly to corrupt private commercial interests). Much of Africa has entered a cycle of corruption and we believe we are the generation to start breaking up that cycle. Not only can the youth of Africa change Africa. They have to.

Who are we?

The Hacker Manifesto best describes who we are:

“This is our world now… the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn’t run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. We explore… and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge… and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias… and you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us and try to make us believe it’s for our own good, yet we’re the criminals.”

We are a tight collective of hackers and coders. Some of our members have been part of anonymous since their origins in the Scientology protests. We have been involved in previous ops from around the world including and not limited to, South America, South East Asia and Europe.

What are we doing?

Following what happening in the Middle East we are hoping to help start the launch of the African spring. We believe that the Internet is the last place that free speech truly exists. We hope to use whatever skills and abilities we have to bring as much attention to the crimes and corruptions of our African leaders.

What do we have planned for the future?

We have many non-violent forms of electronic protest planned. We also hope in the near future to release an African specific version of wikileaks where Africans can expose corruption without fear.

This has been a submission by Anonymous Africa.
You can connect with Anonymous Africa via the following: .
You too can become a Citizen Journalist by submitting your story here: Citizen Journalism by Living Zimbabwe
The views expressed in the article are those of the author and not necessarily Living Zimbabwe.
June 16, 2013
Government Should Intervene To Curb Corruption In Rural Areas

Transparency International Zimbabwe (TI-Z) a non-partisan, systems oriented local chapter of the international movement in the fight against corruption is deeply disturbed by reports on alleged corruption in rural areas in which political leaders exacerbate the suffering of the most vulnerable people living in rural communities.

It has come to TI-Z attention that most people in Tsholotsho are not accessing the government’s Grain Loan Scheme. The Grain Loan scheme is a social safety net which was introduced by the government to assist villagers in need of grain. However that seems to have fallen on the wayside as councillors and local leaders who are politicians loyal to their parties are accused of selecting beneficiaries along party lines.

A survey conducted by TI-Z revealed that villagers were being asked to pay up to US$3 the transportation of grain. Only a few were being chosen to benefit from this scheme despite the fact that they all had paid money for the transportation of the grain from Bulawayo to Tsholotsho. Upon further inquiry it emerged that councillors were choosing people who are loyal to their political parties. TI-Z also learnt that few people were benefitting from the scheme because powerful political figures and ministers are accused of diverting grain and agricultural inputs such as fertiliser meant to benefit communities of Tsholotsho to other nearby constituencies. Villagers further allege that a minister (name supplied) was taking grain from Tsholotsho and giving it to people of nearby constituency leaving the people of Tsholotsho helpless.

The Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) facility is another social safety net which is being abused by local community leaders. Respondents visited by TI-Z accused headmasters and traditional leaders for abusing the facility meant to benefit everyone in the community. Rural communities such as Tsholotsho and Lupane are more vulnerable to the corruption risks than the urban community as a result of a multiplicity of factors. Rural communities depend on the government and Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO for food aid and school fees support for the vulnerable groups of society.

TI-Z strongly believes there is need for the government through the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission to intervene and investigate alleged corrupt activities in rural areas. Parliamentarians and representatives should pay attention to these reports because their constituencies are suffering while they are living lavishly in urban areas. The trend has been that most parliamentarians neglect the people they represent and only re-surface during election periods. The electorate should choose leaders who uphold principles of transparency, accountability and integrity.

This has been a submission by Transparency International Zimbabwe.
You can connect with Transparency International Zimbabwe via the following: http://www.tizim.org/, http://twitter.com/transparencyzim, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Transparency-International-Zimbabwe-TI-Z/168077246536817.
You too can become a Citizen Journalist by submitting your story here: Citizen Journalism by Living Zimbabwe
The views expressed in the article are those of the author and not necessarily Living Zimbabwe.

November 7, 2012
Are We Going Down The Drain… Again? Part 2

Following on from – Are We Going Down The Drain… Again? Part 1:

Then there is another monstrosity in the form of the Zimbabwe National Road Agency, ZINARA. One is often reminded of another miscreation, the National Oil Corporation of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) which, despite the glaring reality that we are yet to strike oil, that was shoved down our throats only for it to manifest one of the most devastating fuel shortages this country has ever experienced.

NOCZIM proved to be a blatant funnelling of state resources into the pockets of a handful of clever dicks. To this day, the culprits are yet to see the four walls of a prison cell as is expected of miscreants of this kind. Shock turned to desperation as very prominent politicians were dispatched to the mountains to seek divine intervention of a traditional kind.

If the images of shoeless leaders witnessing pure diesel gushing from a rock awash in the blogosphere are any accurate, then it explains why Zimbabwe is in the mess it is in. But that is not the point. Another elaborate siphon of state funds has entered the fray, ZINARA, and the fact that it has been in operation for close to four years is cause for concern. Just the acronym itself should send shivers of trepidation.

Anyone who has driven on the roads in Zimbabwe will tell you that they are arguably the worst. Let me drop any comparison because that would open a Pandora’s box. In some parts of the country, the roads have simply vanished, reclaimed by the advancing bush.

A giraffe is claimed to have disappeared into one notorious drumhole. It is stuff of crisis proportions if highways are fraught with gulleys and are evidently disintegrating by the day. That fatalities are the norm on our roads should to surprise anyone.

It then begs the question: what the heck is ZINARA doing?

Time there was when the mere existence of a ministry dealing with roads and transport was enough to keep our roads in pristine condition. It then boggles the mind why an entity created for the purpose decides that their first act is to acquire new headquarters and a shiny fleet of vehicles for their ‘hard working’ executives? What has this got to do with fixing the roads? Get your hands dirty first to earn your keep, I say.

The toll fees that we are levied on the highways should be going into the coffers of ZINARA to help fix the roads. Before we can even smell the bitumen, there now is a proposal on the table to increase the tolls so that they are ‘in line with those in the region.’ OR WHAT? Tell us where the money already collected is!

The only time the public knew anything about the revenues from toll gates was when some more clever dicks employed the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, ZIMRA, originally tasked with collecting the toll fees were caught with their hands in the till. They had managed to spirit away more than a million dollars by the time they were caught. A MILLION DOLLARS! How selfish can one get!

Then we read in the press that ZINARA is blacklisting a number of local authorities for the abuse of something called called the Road Fund. Where is the accountability or transparency in all this? Why is it that all we hear does not directly translate into good roads that we are be paying for through levies and toll fees?

Talking about toll fees, tell us, has the role of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, ZRP’s national traffic cops been amended to include the mandatory collection of another set of toll fees? Is it true that traffic police have each been given a daily target to collect from motorists? If that is the case, then one can explain why Zimbabwe arguably has the highest number of road blocks on the continent per kilometre of road, easily surpassing those of Mobutu Sese Seko’s era.

That does not include those irritating bike cops who run the danger of being run over themselves. Never mind the fact that they are so blatantly corrupt, in a manner of speaking. How long shall they kill our economy while we stand aside and look? Surely?

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

Image courtesy of Sokwanele

March 12, 2012
Are We Going Down The Drain… Again? Part 1

There are some of us who have entered 2012 with a sense of trepidation. They believe this is the year when a decadent earth will collapse into itself. I predicted the same for Zanu PF, but the earth? My bible says no one knows the day or the hour when the Son of Man will come. Meaning, make a living while the sun still shines.

Don’t listen to those who are creating a multi-billion dollar industry out of scaring people. There even is a movie entitled “2012” that portrays the destruction of the world as we know it. It relives mankind’s worst fears…earthquakes, floods, fires, the works. But then I ask, what’s new? We already have fair share of death and destruction… most of it man made. We have seen it all.

Mankind has become suicidal. We now swear by the motto “Live for today fas if there is no tomorrow.” Guess what? – to borrow Reserve Bank head honcho Gideon Gono’s favourite cliché – there is a tomorrow we all can look forward to. You might be flat broke today, yet tomorrow could be different. Just like the fingers on your hand, not all days are the same.The key is to have a deliberately positive attitude.

There are a lot of things that we will never understand. If we knew all of life’s secrets, we would hasten the end of the world as we know it selfish beings that we are. We are so destructively selfish that we do not care about the consequences of our actions as long as we believe we are not on the receiving end.

Take the fact that God has endowed Zimbabwe with unfathomable mineral wealth and a people who are supposed to be intelligent because, come to think of it, we run the world. Minerals that would easily take the country out of the rut it is in if the revenue found its way into the fiscus and not into someone venerated pocket.

Yet the nation is robbed blind in broad daylight by people whose preoccupation is to ensure that we marvel at how rich they are. We watch them with awe as they claim that they were not born poor.

There is nothing more treacherous than to personalise state resources with impunity and continue to perpetuate a crisis in order to pull wool over our eyes. We are in trouble as a country because there are those whose very existence is dependent on the status quo remaining as it is. They thrive on chaos.

There are things happening that defy logic. Air Zimbabwe, a pale shadow of its former self, is kept gasping in the Intensive Care even when a basic grasp of elementary economics tells us that it should be shut down. It has gone way below the status of a chicken bus operation. The only consolation perhaps is that they don’t allow one to enter the cabin with chickens and goats like used to happen on some airlines in West Africa.

Not that I don’t like goats and chickens. But there are depths that we cannot surely plumb if we claim to be more educated and intelligent than the next village idiot. We are tempted to believe that we are a country that celebrates mediocrity.

Reports of the aircraft that transported the president to the African Union summit filling up with smoke before take-off should have sent alarm bells ringing in close security circles. If it were in Idi Amin’s time, those responsible would have been fed to the crocodiles.

Worse still, the fact that engineers had to be lured from their lairs for a few pieces of silver to repair the plane reads like something out of a very dark comedy. I know of prominent people who have vowed never to fly Air Zimbabwe again even at gunpoint.

It remains a mystery why none of their planes have ever dropped out of the sky. Is it because of the fact that it takes 120 people to service one Air Zimbabwe plane? I bet that some of those duties would be to blow cockroaches from the aircraft’s avionics if need be. Aren’t we just embarrassed that the South African Taxi Association has managed to, or is about to launch an airline of their own?

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

March 7, 2012
Passport Office Corruption and Fraudulent Zimbabwean Passports

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.

October 21, 2010