TB Joshua's popularity seemed to rise in Zimbabwe after after his prediction that an “aging African leader” would die, with critics of long time ruler President Robert Mugabe concluding that the prophecy was referring to Mugabe. Malawian President Bingu wa Mutarika died shortly afterwards, apparently confirming that indeed TB Joshua is a “prophet.”

Now, social media sites and blogs are on fire ahead of his May 25 Day of Prayer visit.

TB Joshua prayer banner. Image source: scoan.org

Patrick Kabwela describes TB Joshua as a man “intensely hated and crazily loved”:

If there is one name in Africa that sparks more controversy, heightens emotion both of ardour and anger or breaks up a conversation more than TB Joshua, then tell me. Some express intense hatred towards him, so much so, that you would think he had personally inflicted all their woes and sorrows. On the contrary, others talk with such rapture about him that you would think they couldn't live without him.

Who is this man that is constantly causing a stir, a rift in the breach, rippling the still waters? Who is this man who has become a topic of conversation from the mouths of the most impoverished to societies finest and elites? Who is this man who keeps ardent bloggers happily awake throughout the night (either attacking or defending him), knowing they have to get up in the morning and monotonously trudge to their respective places of work? Who is this man who can utter a few words of “God says” and within seconds set the global computer village abuzz, some scoffing and misinterpreting, others gaping in admiration.

Ezekieli says:

Why should Joshua’s hatred become a national affair in Zimbabwe? Why should some debased ‘pastors’ insist on misleading Zimbabweans and their chosen path to true Chrsitianity? Are Christians not supposed to be united instead of being separated, hateful, jealous? These “palace pastors” are doing much damage to Christ and His body because He preached tolerance, unity, love, forbearance, understanding and humility. What do these hypocritical evangelical touts teach people in Zimbabwe? Deceit? Hypocrisy? Indiscipline? Pride? Mischief?

What Joshua has done in the lives of people, through God’s anointing, has not been done for Zimbabweans by all these “pastors” and their funny spirituality. And we are talking of millions of widows, widowers, the poor, jobless, helpless, sick, and spiritually trapped. These “pastors” have a role to watch more of Emmanuel TV to know what their exact work should be in Zimbabwe and other places, if their world is not polluted by the devil and the acrobats of ritual bigots. Enough is enough!

Online reactions to news reports about the “Prophet's” visit are just as lively. For example, commenting on a story published on MyZimbabwe website, Annatiwi Mutasa argues that TB Joshua is a true man of God:

hahahahahaha let me just laugh, touch not my annointed ones, PLEASE, PLEASE, tuch not the MAN OF GOD, call him names but he is a true man of GOD, period coz we have different beliefs so let it be, I personally enjoy his teachings!

Sicelani Mthombeni Ndhlovu responds to the same story saying:

shame on you pastors who are u judge TB Joshua. Arikuvinga imimi here or the nation vanhu vemuzim munongoda kuisa politics pese pese. [Is he here for you or the ordinary man? You Zimbabweans want to include politics everywhere].

Richard Manyanga wonders whether Zimbabwean pastors are afraid of TB Joshua because they have skeletons in their closets:

These Pastors, Bishops, or whatever titles are also unknowingly to them, showing that they are Partisan. Anyone in a free country, regardless of political affiliation is allowed to invite a religious leader to minister to the people at any day. What did they say about a rapist, Apostle who was once prisoned and pardoned on a party ticket, so he could campaign for the party that pardoned him during prayer sessions. Weather, prophecies are for death or healthy, let him come to Zim and if these Pastors have got a Unity of purpose with their congregations, then the congregations will not set foot at the ZNSS, instead they will attend their usual prayer points. Why deny TB? Do you have skeletons in your closets.

Johannes Tafadwa Chibamu writes:

my qsn to u zimbos who seems to b touched by tb where was he when we were struggling to make ends meet in 07 & 08 please b advised mukaita semapaper bags ekumasupermarket muchingotora zvese zvese hameno, (Please be advised if you behave like supermarket paper bags that pick everything, I don't know)even in this country these other new churches that are mushrooming up seems there is some honey behind, is it not abt the USD we are now using, were these guys going to come or start their churches way before 07 & 08 nguva yema bearer chqs, be careful and remember that the bible tells us that there shall come at time when yu shall c mountains being moved and rivers bcoming playing fields but bcareful those may no b the works of Jesus, remember there is no-one who is going to do more than what The Savoiur did 4 Us- kutifira! think u zimboz!

Martin Phineas Begede advises Zimbabweans to learn from Ghana:

Its unfortunate we politicise everything. Take a leaf from Ghana. the President & his run off rival all visited the SCOAN. So is this being partisan? How many of our M.Ps / Ministers went to the SCOAN from the different Zim political formatioms? From the comments I have read, I am just wondering who these pastors and bishops are representing. Emmanuel!

Misheck Makora explains why Zimbabwean pastors are against his visit:

he is a threat to their shacky denominations I gess. warikukwata kuti church yose inoenda ikoko.manje zvaari kuda kutotanga church muZim wachaita sei? [the pastors and bishops are angry that the whole church is going there. But then since he (TB Joshua) wants to start a church in Zimbabwe what are they going to do?].

Wisdom Gokoko is sorry for church leaders in Zimbabwe:

I'm really sorry for these church leaders. This is a show that they don't know the word of God. T.B. Joshua has long been in Zimbabwe with his Emmanuel TV. There is no way they are going to stop him. At least vanhu vaona nekunzwa [people have seen by hearing] his prophecies come true and these leaders feel so threatened.

The Cameroonian government has blacklisted TB Joshua, saying that he is an agent of Satan hoodwinking unsuspecting members of the public with miracles.

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The report states that almost 5% of Africa's agricultural land has been bought or leased by investors since 2000, and emphasizes the fact that this is not a new issue, yet points out that the number of such land deals has increased tremendously in the past five years.

Many observers are increasingly worried that these land deals usually take place in the world's poorest countries and that they impact its most vulnerable population, the farmers. The benefits seldom go to the general population, partially because of a lack of transparency in the proceedings of the transactions.

An additional report by Global Witness, entitled Dealing with Disclosure, emphasizes the dire need for transparency in the making of land deals.

World's poorest nations targeted 

The Global Witness report lists that 754 land deals have been identified, involving the majority of African countries for about 56.2 million hectares.

Target countries of land deals from the Land Matrix Project

The nations targeted are usually some of the poorest in the world. The countries with the most deals in place are Mozambique (92 deals), Ethiopia (83), Tanzania (58) and Madagascar (39). Some of those deals have made headlines because they were conducted to ensure control over food imports, when the targeted regions faced major food crises.

The NGO GRAIN has already explained in detail the gist of their concerns in an extensive report released in 2008:

Today’s food and financial crises have, in tandem, triggered a new global land grab. On the one hand, “food insecure” governments that rely on imports to feed their people are snatching up vast areas of farmland abroad for their own offshore food production. On the other hand, food corporations and private investors, hungry for profits in the midst of the deepening financial crisis, see investment in foreign farmland as an important new source of revenue. As a result, fertile agricultural land is becoming increasingly privatised and concentrated. If left unchecked, this global land grab could spell the end of small-scale farming, and rural livelihoods, in numerous places around the world.

In Malawi, land deals have grown increasingly prevalent to the detriment of the local farmers. A report from Bangula explains the challenges faced by Malawian farmers, Dorothy Dyton and her family:

Like most smallholder farmers in Malawi, they did not have a title deed for the land Dyton was born on, and in 2009 she and about 2,000 other subsistence farmers from the area were informed by their local chief that the land had been sold and they could no longer cultivate there. […] Since that time, said Dyton, “life has been very hard on us.” With a game reserve on one side of the community and the Shire river and Mozambique border on the other, there is no other available land for them to farm and the family now ekes out a living selling firewood they gather from the nearby forest.

Land construction in Madagascar. Photo by Foko Madagascar, used with the author's authorization

Farmers in Madagascar share similar concerns because they do not own the rights to the land they farm and an effective land reform is yet to be implemented. The Malagasy association Terres Malgaches has been at the forefront of land protection for the local population. They report that [fr]:

 Les familles malgaches ne possèdent pas de document foncier pour sécuriser leurs terres contre les accaparements de toutes sortes. En effet, depuis la colonisation, l’obtention de titres fonciers auprès de l’un des 33 services des domaines d’un pays de 589 000 km2 nécessite 24 étapes, 6 ans en moyenne et jusqu’à 500 dollars US. (..) .  Face aux convoitises et accaparements dont les terres malgaches font l’objet actuellement, seule la possession d’un titre ou d’un certificat foncier, seuls documents juridiques reconnus, permet d’entreprendre des actions en justice en cas de conflit.

The association also reports on the practices of a mining company Sheritt, in Ambatovy, which have created a buzz in the local blogosphere because of environmental concerns for the local population and business malpractices (via MiningWatch Canada):

Sherritt International’s Ambatovy project in eastern Madagascar – costing $5.5 billion to build and scheduled to begin full production this month – will comprise a number of open pit mines (..) it will close in 29 years. There are already many concerns about the mine from the thousands of local people near the facilities. They say that their fields are destroyed ; the water is dirty ; the fish in the river are dead and there have been landslides near their village. During testing of the new plant, there have been at least four separate leaks of sulphur dioxide from the hydro-metallurgical facility which villagers say have killed at least two adults and two babies and sickened at least 50 more people. In January, laid-off construction workers from Ambatovy began a wildcat strike, arguing that the jobs they were promised when construction ended have not materialized. The people in nearby cities like Moramanga say that their daughters are increasingly engaged in prostitution.

Video of a worker's testimony in Ambatovy.

Solutions for the local population? 

The plight of Madagascar's farmers' plight may be slowly changing though. Land reform discussions are in progress, according to this report:

 According to a paper presented at the 2011 International Conference on Global Land Grabbing, about 50 agribusiness projects were announced between 2005 and 2010, about 30 of which are still active, covering a total land area of about 150,000 ha. Projects include plantations to produce sugar cane, cassava and jatropha-based biofuel.
To prevent the negative impacts of land grabbing, (The NGO) EFA has set up social models for investors, with funding from the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The goal is to help investors negotiate with the people in the area where they want to implement projects, as a way to prevent future problems.

Joachim Von Braun, formerly  of the International Food Policy Insitute (IFPRI), wrote the following regarding land deals:

 It is in the long-run interest of investors, host governments, and the local people involved to ensure that these arrangements are properly negotiated, practices are sustainable, and benefits are shared. Because of the transnational nature of such arrangements, no single institutional mechanism will ensure this outcome. Rather, a combination of international law, government policies, and the involvement of civil society, the media, and local communities is needed to minimize the threats and realize the benefits.

The need for transparency in land deals is further emphasized by  Megan MacInnes, Senior Land Campaigner at Global Witness:

Far too many people are being kept in the dark about massive land deals that could destroy their homes and livelihoods. That this needs to change is well understood, but how to change it is not. For the first time, this report (Dealing with Disclosure)  sets out in detail what tools governments, companies and citizens can harness to remove the shroud of secrecy that surrounds land acquisition. It takes lessons from efforts to improve transparency in other sectors and looks at what is likely to work for land. Companies should have to prove they are doing no harm, rather than communities with little information or power having to prove that a land deal is negatively affecting them.

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Mohamed Keita (MK): I run the Africa desk of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which is based in New-York.

AB: What are the aims of CPJ?

MK: CPJ is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide since 1981. CPJ was founded by a group of eminent American journalists, including the late Walter Cronkyte and Dan Rather, to support their colleagues around the world during a period of kidnappings and murders of journalists in Lebanon and Latin America in the 1980s. CPJ cherishes its independence from any government and does not take any contributions from any state.

Logo of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Image source: http://cpj.org/.

AB: What are the African countries where freedom of expression is most at risk?

MK: Eritrea: President Isaias Afewerki brutally closed down the independent press in this Red Sea nation in a September 2001 crackdown on dissent. Since then, Isaias' information minister Ali Abdu runs and directs the propaganda machine of the state-controlled press. The government directs journalists what and how to report on. It is the African country whose prisons are holding the largest number of journalists (at least 28). All the journalists are held in secret prisons without charge or trial and without contact with their families, with many of them thought to have died in custody. Only Iran is imprisoning more journalists worldwide.

Ethiopia: In February 2011, Ethiopian police threatened to throw into prison dissident blogger Eskinder Nega if he did not stop comparing the Arab Spring uprisings to Ethiopia’s 2005 pro-democracy protests. Eskinder was arrested 9 months later on terrorism charges and faces a possible life sentence in a politicized case based on his critical online writings. Ethiopia operates sub-saharan Africa’s most extensive snd sophisticated Internet censorship infrasctructure and was ranked among CPJ’s top 10 Online Oppressors.

The government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is trailing only Eritrea in imprisonment of journalists. Almost all the journalists, including two Swedish reporters, have been charged with terrorism for reporting on opposition and rebel groups. With a series of restrictive laws, Meles' ruling EPRDF has tightned absolute grip over media licensing and regulation, the public state media and all public institutions. The independent press is limited to a handful of private newspapers and one radio station. The government also jams radio programs from Voice of America and Deutsche Welle and bans journalists’ access to the Ogaden where a rebellion is taking place. Meles' government has driven into exile the largest number of journalists in the world over the last decade.

Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh's years of intimidation of the press, a series of arson attacks on media houses, the closure of newspapers and radio stations, the unsolved murder of Deyda Hydara and the disappearance in government custody of reporter Ebrima Chief Manneh, have created a climate of terror for journalists in Gambia and forced the best journalists into exile.

Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe arrested and prosecuted a man last year for posting a political comment on Facebook. President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF has allowed only a handful of independent newspapers to operate in Zimbabwe while retaining absolute grip over media licensing and regulation and national airwaves. Journalists operate under some of the world's most restrictive security and media laws.

Equatorial Guinea: President Teodoro Obiang's grip on the oil-rich nation is based on strict control of news and information. The president and his associates control all the media outlets in the country and no journalist is able to report independently about national priorities or spending or corruption.

Rwanda: Paul Kagame justifies restrictions on the press by invoking Radio Milles Collines, which in fact was a government-sponsored radio station, not an independent station. Kagame's government also abuses laws against “genocide ideology” and “ethnic divisionism” to prosecute and jail critical journalists and opinions contradicting the official version of the 1994 genocide.

Somalia: all belligerents in Somalia's conflict target journalists who are caught in the crossfire between rival militias, warlords, government and insurgents. Somalia is the deadliest country for the press in Africa: at least 40 journalists have been killed since 1992.

South Africa: President Jacob Zuma's ruling African National Congress has faced press criticism over its record on corruption, crime and poverty. To silence the critics, the government has introduced a series of legislative proposals that would criminalize investigative journalists, including the controversial Protection of State Information Bill, which critics have called the secrecy bill. Verbal and physical intimidation of journalists, particularly by the ANC’s youth league is on the rise.

Angola: President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos and his associates of the ruling MPLA control most of Angola's media outlets and enforce censorship of news and information. only 2 newspapers and 2 radio stations were not controlled by the government. Journalists reporting about official corruption are prosecuted and given prison sentences. Security forces attacked and intimidated journalists reporting on anti-government protests by youths calling for Dos Santos to step down.

Angola and Cameroon have introduced legislative measures to combat “internet crime” but the laws punish the electronic dissemination of photos and videos of public events with prison terms.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Journalists operate at the mercy of security forces, rebel groups and powerful politicians who abuse journalists in total impunity. at least 8 journalists have been murdered since 2005 with justice falling short of solving the murders.

Ethiopia's dissident blogger Eskinder Nega. Photo courtesy of Lennart Kjörling.

AB: Bloggers from North Africa have contributed significantly to the success of revolts in the countries of North Africa. Is it conceivable that in sub-Saharan Africa bloggers play a similar role?

MK: Social media tools have become platforms for the kind of dissent that is repressed offline and they are used to organize protests offline. Some governments, such as Ethiopia, Angola, and Cameroon, are beginning to crack down on this use of the Internet, by passing laws against “cyber crime” or intimidating bloggers. In addition, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube users who are posting photos and videos from the streets using their cell phones are breaking some of the biggest news in Africa these days, and traditional media is trying to keep up with them.

AB: In Mozambique, in 2008 and 2010, well before the revolutions in the Arab world, the civil society was able to organize a demonstration against the rising cost of living using SMS. In Ghana, in 2010, citizens participated massively in constitutional review by using Facebook and mobile phones. Should these examples be regarded as exceptional cases or other similar events may occur elsewhere?

MK: Social media in the hands of young citizen journalists is fueling protest movements in Angola, Nigeria and Senegal.

The cover of CPJ

AB: What role do you attribute to social media in Africa and what are the obstacles?

MK: They have democratized news and information - making it more difficult for governments and the enemies of press freedom to keep a nation into the dark. it has created a virtual bridge between Africans in the Diaspora and those in the home countries. but the users are still largely unprepared to the dangers lurking online. Zimbabwe arrested and prosecuted a man last year for posting a political comment on Facebook. and many governments regularly demand email passwords of journalists in custody. Data security is the next challenge for journalists as more of them start to mostly work online.

AB: What can we expect from the African Union?

MK: The AU has a Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression but she works only part time and lacks the resource to do her job. AU member states still lack the political will to respect press freedom and protect journalists. Regional human rights instruments like the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS) give us hope. The court issued landmark rulings against the Gambia on cases of disappearance and torture of journalists, but the problem is enforcement.

AB: The year 2011 was difficult for the press freedom in Africa, how do you see the year 2012?

MK: Each new year brings new challenges in this battle to keep the press free. The secrecy bill in South Africa has to be defeated, because South Africa is a model of democracy and free press for the continent, and this bill threatens to undo 18 years of progress since the end of Apartheid. South Sudan, the world's newest nation, is already abusing press freedom, this is also worrying. Ethiopia and Burundi's abuse of terrorism laws to prosecute and jail critical journalists is a disturbing new trend that has to be stopped. Press freedom is on the brink of extinction in Ethiopia, Angola, Gambia and Rwanda. Niger is probably the best example of a country where press freedom has advanced.

You can follow Mohamed Keita on Twitter @africamedia_CPJ and also read his articles on CPJ blog.

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Each debate on the multi-blogging site consists of many individual arguments. The first contribution is commissioned from an expert on the theme. Responses are then invited and moderated by the editor.

African Arguments logo. Image courtesy of www.africanarguments.org/

African Arguments Online About page says:

Africa has long been the locus and the focus for the most impassioned and intellectually-informed debate. But for many years, specialist Africa coverage in the world’s media has been in decline, alongside the withering of many African journals and magazines that used to provide a forum for debate and opinion. African news and views have moved to the web, but there has been no comparable Africa-wide movement which provides in-depth analysis and debate of the issues and controversies that animate the continent today. With African Arguments Online we intend to fill this gap.

Let’s take a look at some of the latest arguments posted on the site. In “Making money in Somaliland: meeting Abdirashid Duale, CEO, Dahabshiil”, Magnus Taylor talks to Abdirashid Duale. Abdirashid Duale is CEO of Dahabshiil, which is one of the biggest international money transfer companies in the Horn of Africa.

Abdirashid Duale - CEO of Dahabshiil. Photo courtesy of www.africanarguments.org/

Dahabshiil is an example of how the entrepreneurial strata in Somali society has survived the country’s long-running upheaval. It combines diaspora expertise and money with a particularly strong desire to support communities back home, and in doing so to make a healthy profit in an underdeveloped business environment. Duale tells me that the diaspora are the biggest source of investment in Somalia where, particularly in the more stable regions, the housing and construction sectors are booming. Flights back to Hargeisa, and even to Mogadishu, are frequently booked out, as diasporans, and globe-trotting Somali businessmen fly in to visit extended families and check up on their investments – not the image we normally get of the country.

William Townsend reflects on the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo:

‘Congo is on the move, but where is it going?’ asked Dr Theodore Trefon (author of the African Arguments book Congo Masquerade) at an international conference, hosted by the Royal African Society in London earlier this week. It was hoped that the historic presidential poll conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last November, only the second since six years civil conflict came to an end in 2003, would consolidate plurality and herald a new era of political accountability. Instead, Kris Berwouts (until recently, the Director of the Belgium-based European Network for Central Africa) described the unfolding political picture as one of growing uncertainty and pervasive insecurity, limiting opportunities for the Congo’s vibrant civil society to take root and flourish.

Writing about post-civil war politics in Angola, Keith Somerville wonders whether UNITA is sinking after one of its leading member, Abel Chivukuvuku, decided to defect:

Abel Chivukuvuku Chivukuvuku, a former foreign secretary of UNITA. Photo courtesy of www.africanarguments.org/

The desire of UNITA to rebuild itself and develop the support base to seriously threaten the hegemony of the MPLA will not be furthered by the decision of a leading member, Abel Chivukuvuku, to leave and make his own bid for political power, in opposition to the party that has been his home throughout his political career. Chivukuvuku, a former foreign secretary of UNITA when it was a guerrilla movement led by Jonas Savimbi, now wants to run for office in a coalition with former members of the small PRS (Partido de Renovacao Social) party and the Democratic Block…

Jolyon Ford rethinks investor risk in contemporary Zimbabwe:

There is a limit to what one can read into visual impressions made during the Mining Indaba in Cape Town earlier this month….
The Zimbabwe country stand was notable mainly for the relatively large number of well-groomed delegates from the country’s Minerals Marketing Board. The stand however hardly appeared swamped with expressions of interest from conference delegates. Now, given the experiences of many farm, mine and business owners in Zimbabwe in the last decade — and continued political and mining policy uncertainty and potential volatility — it may seem unsurprising that conference attendees largely gave the stand a wide berth.

Still, the question remains whether current analysis tends to exaggerate the political risks of investing or operating in Zimbabwe.

Diaspora Debate is a forum for exciting, informed and vigorous debate on the issues engaging the African Diaspora in the United Kingdom and beyond.

The current debate question raised by Dele Fantula is: What’s Diaspora Got To Do With It? The question has attracted reactions from Semhar Araia, Boko Inyundo and Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie.

Dele Fantula argues:

For a long while, Africa’s diaspora have been a trump card afro-optimists have wielded against the pessimists despairing about the future of the continent. Rather than a symptom of a ‘brain drain’, they saw in this large pool of skilled professionals the brightest and best of Africa, who fled the detritus of the failed states of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and became the vanguard that would transform said basket cases into shining examples of functioning market democracies. So it’s somewhat contrary popular perception to find that the current stability and prosperity in Africa’s nations has had little to [do] with the diaspora.

"Members of the African diaspora in China. Photo courtesy of www.africanarguments.org/

He asks:

So why the faith in a group of people who by and large fled the continent when it was most in need, and returned when it least needs them? Where exactly has the diaspora shown itself to be a glorious knight in shining armor? Are we investing a little too much in this myth about ourselves and too little in the future – most crucially, in the skills and capacity of Africans on the ground?

Semhar responds to Dele's post by pointing out shortcomings in his arguments:

…it’s worth noting that Fatunla fails to define who exactly the diaspora is within the context of his analysis. It is overly simplistic and dangerous to suggest they are “a group of people who by and large fled the continent when it was most in need, and returned when it least needs them”. The diaspora must be disaggregated into its many parts and identify what contributions they actually are providing.
…..
The other shortcoming with What’s Diaspora Got to Do With It is that it falls completely short on recognizing the diaspora’s added value – which is far beyond economic remittances and sporadic tourism. Even though remittances continue to be the largest form of diaspora contributions, amounting to roughly $40 billion a year to support livelihoods and development, it is not the only form of significant deliverables from diaspora.

Chukwu-Emeka notes that most diaspora returnees are ill-equipped to drive change in Africa:

But few of the diaspora returnees will drive change in African countries. For the most part, they will be ill equipped to do so. Think about it. Many will have spent a considerable part of their career in the lower, middle, and senior ranks of their respective occupations. For those who have worked in western developed countries (and some emerging economies), these ranks are typically well defined and structured, and operate in the context of stable institutions, an enabling ecosystem of support, and adequate soft and hard infrastructure.

African Arguments Online is hosted by the Royal African Society and the Social Science Research Council.

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Mugabe has been in power since 1980. He has rejected local and international calls for him to quit. Many Zimbabweans hoped that his ill health and age would force him to leave power. The ZANU-PF congress quashed all those hopes. If elections are held next year, Mugabe will be 88 years old and Africa’s second oldest person to stand in a presidential election after the late Kamuzu Hastings Banda of Malawi who was 98 years old when he stood in Malawi’s 1994 elections.

Twitter and Facebook, the two online alternative public spheres that have become the favored platform for Zimbabweans, became the sites of expression of outrage and disbelief.

Robert Mugabe will be Africa’s second oldest person to stand in a presidential election. Photo released to the public domain by the U.S. federal government.

Facebook user Wise Chokuda wrote:

the President Cde Robert Mugabe will not retire anytime soon as he was anonimasly [sic] endorsed by all provinces as their next year candidate. This was announced at the close of the 12th ZANU PF People’s Congress in Bulawayo yesterday.

Masamha Tulisticated posted on his wall:

no retirement plans for the Zimbabwean president. More white farms to be designated for rural resettlement. #Zanu PF congress.

On Twitter, @BrendahNyakudya tweeted a Mugabe quote:

I am lucky that God has given me longer years than others to be with you (Zimbabweans). I will not let you down,” he (Mugabe) added. #FML

@BrendahNyakudya quipped:

Mugabe says it would be wrong to step down” *Brendah pours ashes on head, dons sack-cloth and spends night wailing at city gates*

@masamhat: Robert Mugabe says no plans to retire. He thanks God for living long because he can now rule longer##Zanu PF congress in Byo [Bulawayo]

@mashanubian: “No surprise! ZANU PF congress endorses #Mugabe as presidential candidate for elections to be held in 2012 or early 2013 #zimbabwe

@clivembayimbayi posted an angry tweet:

Guys tel me, whn is the bastard goind 2 step dwn, I mean Mugabe from Zimbabwe, gyz lets do somthng

@nqabamatshazi added a bit of humour noting something different in a country where citizens have learnt to curse the dark because of the perennial power cuts:

Bulawayo city centre dwellers are having the time of their lives. Since the Zanu PF conference began [December], they have not experienced a power cut.

Later, a day after the Zanu PF conference ended, @nqabamatshazi followed up with:

After an uncharacteristic break, power cuts are back with a vengeance in Bulawayo I bet some people wish the Zanu PF conference was still on.

Meanwhile, @IamClaro made reference to the controversial Nando’s advert that the whole world's laughing at:

Hahahaaha NANDO’S Changed their advert from last DIDACTOR standing to LAST STICKTATOR standing! :’ -To Protect Mugabe assassination”

The controversial advert shows Robert Mugabe dining alone at Christmas in a large mansion while he reminisces about “happier times” with former dictators, such as playing water tag with Muammar Gaddafi, making snow angels in the sand with Saddam Hussein, singing Karaoke with Mao Zedong, pushing P. W. Botha on a swing set, and riding a tank with Idi Amin.

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The South African government has decided to lift a moratorium on deportations of undocumented Zimbabweans who did not apply for legal status through the Zimbabwe Documentation Process (ZDP).

Zimbabweans queue to apply for work permits last year. Photo courtesy of newzimbabwe.com

People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) is extremely concerned about deportation of Zimbabwe. The organisation believes that deportation is an Apartheid tendency:

We believe that deportation is an Apartheid tendency and that deportations of fellow Africans is un-African.

We also believe that the situation in Zimbabwe is not resolved and this move will put immense pressure on Zimbabwe.

Commenting at TalkZimbabwe.com following the revelations that the government deported 261 Zimbabweans on 11 October 2011, Firebird said:

Recently Malema [the president of the African National Congress Youth League] demanded that all the whites leave. (Yes, of course that includes the Investors.) Now its the Zimbabweans. What about the Nigerians and the Somalians?
The fact is that anyone in that country without a work permit is depriving every unemployed South African of a job…
Yet these foreign people are just like those Mexicans risking their lives to jump borders in the USA, prepared to do those awful menial jobs that no red-blooded American would dream of doing.
Did you hear about that female cop in SA who patrols the border into Zimbabwe and does not hesitate to shoot anyone crawling under the barbed wire-whether that person has a child on their back or not.

Alex Bell of SW Radio reported:

A Zimbabwean rights group in South Africa has slammed the country’s apparently clandestine decision to resume deporting Zim nationals, after hundreds were forcibly removed from the country this week.

More than 500 nationals had been taken across the border and handed over to immigration officials at Beitbridge by Thursday evening [13 October 2011]…

He continued:

A Zimbabwean rights group in South Africa has slammed the country’s apparently clandestine decision to resume deporting Zim nationals, after hundreds were forcibly removed from the country this week. The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) has previously warned that arrests and detentions of Zim nationals have been underway for several weeks, despite the documentation project that was launched last year. The group’s Director, Gabriel Shumba, told SW Radio Africa on Friday that the return to deportations now is ‘alarming’.

Responding to the SW Radio report, Dumbu said:

Let`s go home and prepare to vote out Mugabage.

Wildfire left this comment:

Its sad what is happening to my fellow bothers and sisters in SA, but one thing I. Can tell u is that 2day most people were arrested in the morning in one area and by night fall they had been released, having paid R50 to R100 to police officers

Lillian Mhosva argued that the move is politically motivated:

One has to look at these deportations from the point of view of the South African government. The voice of discontent amongst the poor and working class in South Africa is rising and the ANC government must be seen to sympathize with the needs of the electorate. As ANC Youth Leader Julius Malema continues to voice discontent among the poor and workers go on strike there is a need for the government to be seen on the side of the poor and working class to quiet the discontent looming in the townships. This is a class act by the South African government to silence the voice of discontent in the midst of the global recession and Zimbabweans unfortunately are just caught in the middle of politics.

Why is President Robert Mugabe wary of the deportations:

President Robert Mugabe and Zanu (PF) are understood to be jittery over the resumption of the deportation of undocumented Zimbabweans from South Africa.

There are fears the deportees might tilt the scales in favour of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in the fresh presidential and harmonised elections President Mugabe wants held in March 2012.

Whether these people will be safe upon returning home remains to be seen.

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Our tribute for Ada Lovelace Day goes to women who are constantly working to make our world a more transparent and fair place; brave social leaders denouncing corruption while providing tools and directing campaigns who are increasing our awareness and uniting us to act for change.

'One Laptop Per Child' project. Image by Flickr user venkylinux (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

As we have done in the past, this year we are including smart women in the intersection between technology and social change who are a central presence in projects promoting a more accountable and transparent society.

Our tributes

Fernanda Viegas (@viegasf) is on the list of the top 100 more influential Brazilians. She is a computational designer whose work focuses on the social, collaborative, and artistic aspects of information visualization.

Viegas is a co-leader, with Martin Wattenberg, of Google's ‘Big Picture' data visualization group in Cambridge, MA. She is also one of the great minds behind public visualization platform Many Eyes, an experiment in open, public data visualization and analysis. In this video you can see her talk in TedX Sao Paulo:

Hok Kakada from Cambodia is creating a software program that will help Cambodian hospitals store data more accurately, allowing for better treatment. All her work is based on Open Source software. She challenged the difficulties girls face in her country and obtained a master degree in Japan.

Linda Kamau (@lkamau) is one of the coders behind the well known Ushahidi initiative. She is a software developer based in Kenya with a degree in Business Information Technology. Kamau develops both web and mobile applications and is contributing to change across continents, from election monitoring to corruption mapping.

Brenda Burell is the technical mind behind the Freedom Fone Project, a voice database where users can access news and public-interest information via land, mobile or Internet phones. Previously she directed the Kubatana initiative in Zimbabwe.

Camila Bustamante (@cabude), from Peru, is working on the design front, on design strategies for participatory processes mainly related to urban mobility, public space and new media. In 2010 Camila iniciated Todos somos dateros (”We are all data providers”), a participatory mechanism for sustainable urban mobility in Lima.

Working from the UK-based Open Knowledge Foundation, Kat Braybrooke @kat_braybrooke is a front-end web developer and Lucy Chambers (@lucyfedia) is in the process of learning how to code. They are involved in the organization of the world's biggest open government event, the Open Government Data Camp in Warsaw.

Kristin Antin (@kjantin) from the United States is participating in the design and organization of New Tactics in Human Rights, a technical on-line platform providing resources to human rights advocates that offer innovative tactical solutions for confronting specific local challenges, using technology.

Stephanie Hankey is the co-founder of Tactical Technology Collective, a small non-governmental organization dedicated to advance the skills, tools and techniques of rights advocates, empowering them to use information and communications as a critical asset in helping marginalised communities understand and effect progressive social, environmental and political change.

Daniela Silva (@danielabsilva) from Brazil is the founder of Sfera Brazil and Transparencia Hacker a community of over 800 designers, developers, coders and even government officers developing huge projects together to promote transparency and accountability.

These are some examples of brilliant women who are not afraid of the mouse, the screen, or the complexities of coding. They are inspiring others by doing amazing projects, all of them contributing to social change.

If you have an example in mind today, we invite you to write about them, to describe the amazing women working in technology you know; women who are an example and inspiration for girls in the generations to come as Ada Lovelace, more than hundred years ago, was for many others. Share your stories and inspire others!

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Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks cables are raising an online storm among Zimbabwe’s netizens with the latest public release of diplomatic cables from the United States Embassy in Harare upping the political temperatures among the ruling elite amid denials and rebuttals. Dubbed Cablegate, the cables show how fragile political loyalties can be as allies are quoted disparing one another.

Zimbabwean netizens are responding to the WikiLeaks cables. Most of them wonder what would be the possible implications to the country’s political scene.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor says Mugabe will die of prostate cancer before 2013. Photo source: dodmedia.osd.mil/Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)

On Facebook, Ntungamili Nkomo wrote:

Now that the political backbiting has been exposed thanks to WikiLeaks, it is time for desperate rebuttals and recriminations. Talk of Gono [Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor] saying Mugabe will die of prostate cancer before 2013, Gutu and Chamisa disparaging Tsvangirai is weak, Saviour Kasukuwere trashing Zanu Pf old-guard, Mujuru meeting Westerners outside protocol, Gono wanting Chinamasa wounded, and the two Generals who berated Chiwenga. Let the fallout begin, and may the double-faced, hobnobbing hypocrites fall!

Responding to Ntungamili’s wall post, Fambai Ngirande wrote:

I hate the way the State is held at ransom by dysfunctional politics and juvenile politicians.

Vusumuzi made the following observation:

If only politicians could also say in public some of the things we only got to know through WikiLeaks.

Nqaba Matshazi tweeted:

Its Tsvangirai corrupt, wikileaks reveals his Gono [Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor], these cables are pretty damning.

He continued:

Most weekend newspapers sold out, wikileaks is a seller, but there will be backlash.

Mduduzi Mathuthu considers Julian Assange a legend:

Cde Julian Assange. What a legend! He is causing alarm, fear and despondancy across the world.

@Mathuthu wrote again:

Up next on NewZimbabwe.com. Devastating. “Tsvangirai does what last person says,” Roy Bennet #WikiLeaks.

Lance Guma commented on Twitter:

so now we know why Zanu PF want early election. According to Gideon Gono doctors told Mugabe he has prostate cancer and will be dead by 2013.

Newsman, publisher and government critic Trevor Ncube whose ownership of a daily paper is brought into question in the WikiLeaks cables reacted:

WikiLeaks become just another channel for eeckless proganda and misinformation. The real tragedy about WikiLeaks is journalist who take gossip by US Diplomats as gospel truth. No effort to check facts in most instances.

The Bearded Man did not take lightly the news that Mugabe is sick:

I sometimes am concerned at what WikiLeaks has to say and why they should say it - but when it comes to Mugabe, I do believe that the idea that he is very poorly and close to death should be considered.

There has also been a deluge of comments from readers of Zimbabwe's online media. Zimbabweans increasingly rely on online news outlets. At Newzimbabwe.com, reader Wilberforce Majaji wrote:

I am shocked and stumped by these WikiLeaks revelations. After all the suffering we go through to support political leaders to present us the go at night and present themselves to the Americans. This is pathetic leadeership from our cur[rent] leadership. There should now be a resolution among young Zimbabweans to take over leadership of the country because the current leadership has failed Zimbabwe for personal gain. A revolution to uproot all of Zimbabwe's leadership should follow behind these WikiLeaks.

Another Newzimbabwe.com reader commented“:

WikiLeaks is the best resource ever for ZANU. Not only can the party now know the MDC schemes with the americans, it get the bonus revelations on who within the organisation was betraying the party. Going forward, the party can now ascertain who genuinly believes in its policies or who is in it for power and can easily stich on the party to advance their interests. This is a blessing that rarely manifests itself ever. Also there shall be more revelations on the role African ambassadors have been playing in helping destabilise our country, even as they publicly declared themselves aligned to our cause. Lindiwe Zuluis about to be exposed big time!

Newsday.co.zw readers such as Shepherd Sithole also had their say. Sithole used the online reader comments platform to express his views and wrote:

I love WikiLeaks for bringing out the fact that every Zimbabwean want Bob to go. Those in Zanu PF are not brave enough to say it out.

At herald.co.zw, reader Chamboko posted:

WikiLeaks tells the truth everytime!!!!!!!!!!! Remember when Zi PF wanted Tsvangison tried for treason? I wonder what will become of this guy!!!!

Another reader at herald.co.zw, Simbaregono, thought that Wikileaks reports are causing a lot of harm to individuals:

WikiLeaks may want to get at USA, but they are doing a lot of harm to individuals, friendships, parties e.t.c. Anything that was said confidentially, under the cover of darkness should stay that way.

Samubvuta, however, pointed out that people should say things they are prepared to stand by:

No-more secrets, trust nobody. The solution is to always say things you are prepared to stand by when they WIKILEAK one day. no matter how true.

Takura Zhangazha said that Wikileaks saga would make for a good script for comedy:

if it was not a demonstration of the quality of some of our political leaders, the WikiLeaks saga would make for a good script for a theatrical satire or comedy. When political party leaders or government ministers were meeting American diplomats and giving their mostly unmitigated opinions on our country’s politics they must have taken themselves and their American counterparts very seriously. In fact more seriously than they would take their own party meetings, Parliamentary hearings or even cabinet sessions. Judging by the content of the cables, those who were meeting with the American diplomats were under the obvious illusion of secrecy. Never in their minds did it occur to them that these discussions would see the light of day. And for that we have WikiLeaks to thank or chastise depending on your viewpoint.

Zimtweets tweeted:

Wikileaks somehow reminds me of that wierdo postman aiba tsamba dzedu dzabva kuLondon, [postman who used to steal our letters from London] snooping on my family's juicy gossip.

This post is part of our special coverage WikiLeaks and the World.

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Written by Abdoulaye Bah · Translated by Paula Góes · View original post [fr] · comments (0)
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Boyce Chaka

With few amenities to go around for extra curricular activities, tutoring young high school children acting and poetry has become one of the activities Chaka says will fill what would otherwise have been idle hours.

This is his own way of bringing school children into the “wonderful world of Shakespeare” and also encourage them to read at a time when there are concerns in Zimbabwe that there is no culture of reading among young people.

Chaka says:

These are stories they can easily relate to outside pulp fiction. There is always something to be learned in Shakespeare and if I can encourage these youngsters to master these texts at an early age, they could take it up to wherever they want. For example, many say they want to be lawyers, and in Zimbabwe to be accepted at the university to study law you must at least have aced English literature. So this is one the reasons why I am doing this. I teach at a number of schools in the city [Bulawayo] and the response has been great. It is not just about knowing the plays by Shakespeare, but I am also giving acting classes.

Chaka tells me he wants to connect the “township street theatre” with Shakespearean stage plays and see how children from different backgrounds can learn from each of these genres. It is from this passion that he set his ambitions on creating this rich cultural mosaic in Bulawayo, which is already celebrated as Zimbabwe’s cultural hub.

Merchant of Venice? Saturday morning market by Bulawayo city hall. By Sokwanele on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA)

His is an initiative based on a desire to contribute towards creating not just a reading culture among young school-going boys and girls, but effectively to open their eyes to other career opportunities. Zimbabwean youths are the largest demographic group in Zimbabwe, and opportunities for school leavers remain few.

Chaka says he wants to open these young people to other career possibilities after they leave school. “I believe if taken seriously, they can become professional stage actors as theatre is gaining popularity across the country,” Chaka says.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - Romeo and Juliet. The national flower of Zimbabwe, Gloriosa Superba, in Bulawayo by The Botser on Flickr (CC BY-SA).

Chaka has also been invited to teach literature to university students and says it feels great knowing that what he is doing is being taken seriously. “I will be teaching literature and stage acting to some university students as part of a course they are doing and this is one thing that I have wanted to do for a long time,” he says.

As the world population grows to hit the 7 billion mark, and bleak stories are beamed by international news agencies, citizens of the world such as Chaka have found other means to make this a better place and contribute towards making a difference in their own small but very significant ways.

Written by Madalitso Mwando · comments (4)
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NewDZE reported:

FUGITIVE tyrant Colonel Gaddafi fled to Zimbabwe in a jet provided by its hated president Robert Mugabe, it was claimed last night.

Mugabe’s political rivals said their spies witnessed Gaddafi’s arrival on a Zimbabwe Air Force jet at the Suri-Suri airbase shortly after 1am on Wednesday.

He was then whisked away to a mansion in the capital Harare’s Gunninghill suburb.

And nearby roads were sealed off by Zimbabwean troops and plain-clothes police officers, it was claimed.

A spokesman for the opposition MDC Veterans party added: “There’s now no doubt that Gaddafi is here as a ‘unique guest’ of Mugabe.”

Eyewitness reports say riot police have taken over Africa Unity Square in a strong show of force. It is unclear whether this is related to widespread rumours sweeping the capital about Gaddafi’s presence.

Totorosi thought the story was not true:

This site was becoming very popular but of late some of their stories are unfounded.I hope you verify your stories before you feed them to us for your own credibility’s sake.Many Zimbabweans are just rumour mongers but a news site should not be like that.

If Kaddafi is in ZImbabwe,he will be found.Those drone planes will do their work.These Western guys went to Pakistani and got Bin Laden (hopefully) so they can and will get Kadaffi if he’s in Zim.Zimbabwe is very weak militarily and even the Bhanyamulenge embarassed them in Congo so Kadaffi anongotorwa sehuku iri pamazai without any resistance.Anyone anoramba shouldnt even forget kuti Air Force yeZimbabwe yakambobirwa ndege.If Mugabe took Kadaffi in ,a man on an international warrant of arrest then he has just sealed his own fate…

Kubatana, an online community of Zimbabwean activists, sought reaction from its mobile phone subscribers about the fall of Gaddafi:

Yesterday, we sent a text message to our SMS subscribers informing them about the breaking news in Libya: Muammar Gaddafi’s whereabouts unknown, sons detained, and opposition forces taking control of Tripoli. With reports today of a “defiant regime fightback,” the situation in Libya is clearly still unfolding. But Zimbabweans resonate with attempts to remove a strongman, decades long in power. Here are some of their responses to yesterday’s news:

• Hope the brutal dictator will be captured alive and face trial for other dictators 2 wake up and realise they can b next
• It is very unfortunate that dictators are incapable of reading between the lines of the changing times and hence become victims of political upheavals of our time. May he be forgiven for his hands tainted with human blood. We really wonder which existing dictator will give him refuge. Oh! Leaders never learn that they are mortals.
• Mugabe must smell the coffee. The upheaval in Africa e.g. Libya is causing some shivers into his helpless spine.
• Mugabe will never relinquish power. He committed many crimes against humanity.

Netizen Samuel Maruta commented:

As the age old saying goes, the last kicks of a dying horse are fatal. With no where to run to – as havens are fast dwindling – he has to fight till the last drop of his blood. Let’s draw lessons from this.

Sir Nigel tweeted:

These Libyan Rebels look organised!Their flag raised in Algeria and now Egypt has already recognised the new Libyan govt.

Nqaba Matshazi tweeted:

Ordinary Zimbabweans join in the celebrations at #Libyan embassy in Harare.

And then reported:

Jubilant Libyan citizens celebrate outside the country's office in Zimbabwe, burning down old flag, wonder what Zim govt thinks of that

Riot police have been called in to monitor #Libyans celebrating the demise of Gaddafi in central Harare, peaceful demo so far.

Jones Masura at The Zimpolitics blog said that Mugabe and Gaddafi are fundamentally the same:

And this success of the Libyan Revolution comes at a very significant time in history. At a time when more and more people across the world are becoming more enlightened and more assertive in demanding their fundamental rights and freedoms and what it reminds us is that there is nobody who can stop an idea whose time has come, and no one can suppress forever the people's basic and common aspiration for freedom, liberty and dignity. And when you look at it, our situation in Zimbabwe is fundamentally the same with the situation in Libya. Both of us have endured a long reign of tyranny and terror under Mugabe and Ghadaffi respectively. And Gadhaffi and Mugabe are fundamentally the same.

These are lessons from the Libyan revolution:

First and foremost,the whole world has borne witness to the dignity, courage, resilience, tenacity and good will of the Libyan people in the face of an unrelenting but eventually defeated brutal tyrant.

Secondly, we have learnt the power and ability of the ordinary people to fight back and overthrow systems of oppression and tyranny. In the face of mercenaries and troops which were send by Colonel Gaddafi to massacre civilians, we saw young men and women, the young and the old refusing to give in to fear, and rather decided to fight back through various ways and means of revolutionary resistance. We saw both educated and no educated, Christian and Muslim, coming together, united by our undeniable common humanity and a common longing for freedom, dignity and better lives, to fight back using whatever resources they had and that's how they were able to win against all odds and this has proven beyond any reasonable doubt the proverbial power of the people to make a change.

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