July - 2018

Art is a form of expression, truth telling. Period!

Fela Kuti and the Winky D Mania: ‘Everything Scatter, Scatter’

Editor's Note

Pro-Poor Budgeting: Panacea to an Inclusive and Shared National Vision

Income redistribution to the vulnerable through budgeting

The Finale…#ZimbabweDecides2018

The curtain is finally coming down as Zimbabweans get ready with eagerness to participate in this historic plebiscite. With months of mobilization, politicking and campaigning political parties are hoping for better fortunes as the battle to win the souls of Zimbabweans will finally be decided by the ballot on Monday the 30th of July. It has been quite a journey and for many, they cannot wait to put the X next to their preferred candidates on the ballot paper. Since the procl

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s ‘shenanigans’ a view from afar.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (‘ZEC’) is an independent electoral body that is tasked with the running of elections in terms of Zimbabwe’s Constitution of 2013. Section 238 of the Constitution sets out the establishment and composition of ZEC while section 239 outlines its main functions. What is more important however is that section 232 of the Constitution provides that ZEC is an independent body whose main purpose is to support the democracy of the republic. ZEC has fo

So what’s a post-coup pre-election like? Zimbabwe’s Democracy after Mugabe – Phase I

You take a chance when trying to get an afternoon fill-up in Harare these days: a return for the next sunrise is likely. As Elphias (let’s call him that) the petrol attendant told me the bad news I said “That’s not very good for ZANU-PF before an election is it”? We proceeded to have an energetic and entertaining conversation. He thought Nelson Chamisa and his Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (never mind its sometimes fractious blend of many parties:[1] the one-man sho

The Zimbabwe Crisis, What Crisis: Can We Learn from History?

On the 30th of July 2018, Zimbabwe will be holding its first elections without founding president Robert Mugabe-deposed by a military coup- and his nemesis Morgan Tsvangirai, who passed away on 14th of February 2018. These elections have become very significant not only for Zimbabweans but also offers the Southern African region an opportunity to resolve the ever elusive and prolonged ‘Zimbabwe Crisis.’ Therefore, the 2018 elections are about resolving the electoral legitimac

Is Zimbabwe headed for yet another disputed poll?

With barely 2 days to go to elections, the political temperatures in Zimbabwe are reaching a boiling point. At the centre of it all is a dispute over transparency and fairness in the running of the first post-Mugabe plebiscite. Revolving around the voters’ roll, ballot paper design, printing, storage and distribution, and more recently, postal voting, the dispute pits the country’s electoral management body, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) against the country’s main o

Coordinator's Note: The media and the elections in Zimbabwe

It’s now two weeks before Zimbabwe’s historic harmonised election pencilled for the 30th of July 2018. The parties have been busy holding rallies across the length and breadth of the country with major highlights, on one hand being the MDC Alliance demonstration against the conduct of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). On the other hand ZANU PF‘s candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa had a nightmare of an experience when people walked out during his address at a rally in Bindura

The Zimbabwe People's Charter

February 09, 2008 The Zimbabwe People's Charter adopted at the Peoples’ Convention, Harare, on the 9th of February 2008 We, the People of Zimbabwe, After deliberations amongst ourselves and with the full knowledge of the work done by civic society organizations and social movements; With an understanding that our struggle for emancipation has been drawn-out and is in need of a people-driven solution; Hereby declare for all to know that: - 1. Political Environment

Thinking after Zimbabwe’s ConCoup: Now, Then, and Then Again

The events of December 6, 2017 in Harare reminded me of the old adage about men and their mid-life crises. The house of the police commissioner, Augustin Chihuri, was burnt badly and a police officer alleged to have stolen a TV was shot by a soldier, one of many rushed in to solve the crime. This seemed to be a bit more of a fuss than warranted by a miscreant police officer. More ominously, the WhatsApp messages were saying, the military had taken over a few Harare police sta

The media Environment in Zimbabwe: Opportunities and Gaps for Leveling the Electoral Playing Field

IT'S less than a two weeks before Zimbabwe goes to its first election ever since Robert Mugabe was pushed out of power through a military coup. The election will also be historic in the sense that it happens less than six months after the death of Morgan Tsvangirai who has been the face of opposition politics since the turn of the millennium. There have been signs of positive change in terms of levelling the political playing field although some areas still require enormous p

ZBC's Problem is Editorial not Advertorial

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) recently issued a statement on its coverage of political parties during the current campaign period of Zimbabwe’s 2018 harmonised election. This was after opposition political parties decried the high costs that the state broadcaster is charging for campaign adverts on its single television station and multiple radio stations. As is its norm, ZBC went on the defensive and claimed that it had complied with the electoral laws and Zimb

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