Grace Mutandwa

Two Philips Groaning

Monday morning. It’s been a weekend of doughnuts and I’m drinking too much again. A can of Namibian beer seems easier and tastier than water flavoured with the sulphuric tang of purification tablets. In Zimbabwe, alcoholism is a prophylactic for cholera. Not surprisingly after my excess, a certain tightness of my bowel suggests that I’d better visit the loo. But that’s not a pleasant prospect.

For some reason Harare’s  powers that be cut off the British Embassy’s water supply in December. It’s not clear if this was another sign of Zim’s water system failure or a protest at our policy of saying that Mr Mugabe’s government is not altogether the best thing since sliced bread. Now Harare’s water ain’t great for drinking, fortified as it is by large amounts of the charmingly named but deadly Vibrio cholera bacterium. But I do still find it helpful for flushing toilets and miss it now it’s gone. So my toiletry routine has taken on a semi-African form. I fill a bucket from a butt and carry it down the corridor, spilling a little to present a banana-skin-type walkway to my colleagues.

I should study Zimbie women, some of whom carry water buckets (not to mention tree trunks) on their heads with no spillage and a greater impression of grace than I offer at 8am on Monday, groaning as I heave my sloshing load of toxicity along. We’ll skip the next part of the story; suffice to say that I empty my bucket.  I try to shake off some of the associated effects by washing my hands using a ‘water-free purification liquid.’ This stuff smells like something a mortician would use, but succeeds only in making me feel like a dirty person with clean hands.

So that’s Monday in Harare. But this being Zimbabwe there’s always somebody a thousand times worse off than me. Today it’s Philip (another Philip), an Embassy security guard, who I find folded on his chair, in tears and groaning as if his chest is about to burst. He has just heard that his sister died in Mutare on Saturday. These are Philip’s problems in order of significance.  His beloved sister, a 35 year old mother of two, is dead.   Nobody knows what she died of. Philip worries she caught cholera which means his whole family is at risk.      

He wants to pay for her funeral, but has nothing like enough money.  His family needs to offer a minimal meal of sadza and relish at the wake, but does not have much of either.  He wants to attend the funeral but, again, has no money.  He is supposed to be working all week. Despite the coarsening effect of three years in Zimbabwe, I recognise Philip’s suffering to be infinitely greater than mine. I help as I can; knowing as I do that nothing can mend Philip’s broken heart or rescue his broken family from danger. Nor is there much prospect of anything mending his broken country anytime soon. 

Posted at 16:17 19 January 2009 by Philip Barclay  |  Comments[5]

One big rubbish dump

I have just returned from a week-long training in London. It is good to be back home inspite of all the hardships but I came back when the country's sanitation problems had worsened.

I am running out of the little water I had stashed in containers. In the past I could count on my partner for water but now his taps have dried up too. The only friend I know who has a borehole can not help because she has not had power for two weeks now. I feel terribly despondent.

The whole city of Harare has no water. Our offices have no water and outside the cholera statistics are growing. Only a week ago we had someone from Population Services International (PSI) come in to tell us about prevention of cholera.

I remember vividly how she emphasised that we should wash our hands, keep ourselves and surroundings clean. she advised us not to shake hands. She spoke with passion. She made a lot of sense but today as I write this I am asking myself many questions.

Even Zimbabwe's health minister, David Parirenyatwa and president Robert Mugabe have taken turns to tell people about the importance of washing hands and general hygiene. But the question on everyone's lips is; "Where is the water?"

You can wash hands and keep your home and yourself clean if you have running water. We have had no water for several days and some of my colleagues have not had running water for months.

We have become innovative bathers but I do not know for how long we are going to be able to come to work without stinking the whole office out. There is a limit to how much perfumes and deodorants can mask body odours.

It will be very easy for cholera to wipe out whole offices. People are coming from waterless homes to waterless offices. Anyone who thinks cholera is under control is having one very big sad joke. The Zimbabwean government does not believe it should be
declared a national disaster.

And why should it? Hospitals are paralysed. There are no drugs. Some people close to the South African border are now crossing into South Africa for treatment. Of course it does not matter that some of these people will probably die on the way to South Africa.

The deputy health minister says 300 or so people have died. His boss, the minister of health puts the figure at 425. Doctors for human rights say more than 800 people have sucumbed to cholera and that more 11 000 suspected cases have been reported. Whatever the figures are we need to start taking cholera seriously and those saying it is under control should prove to us that it is under control by ensuring that basics such as water, sanitation and drugs are guaranteed.

With no water, no proper sanitation and more and more people having to dig shallow wells to get water, it will be a major miracle if half the population does not get wiped out in the next few days. It sounds dramatic but the truth is that our country no longer has a reliable water system, has failed to repair sewer pipes and completely neglected refuse collection so the country has become one big rubbish dump.

In the past around this time of the year, people are usually pre-occupied with preparations for the Christmas holiday. This year most people have no money, can not afford three square meals and are struggling just to make it through the day. Add on that we have crippling water and power cuts.

News agency reports say that some government offices have closed down due to lack of water and sanitation in the buildings.

Cholera has become an epidemic but not many are taking it seriously. Certainly not  the authorities. Vendors are still selling all manner of fly infested fruit and vegetables from the backs of their vehicles. People are hard pressed for cash so they still buy from the vendors because it is cheaper, even when they know they are putting themselves at risk.

In Zimbabwe today, you invite friends for dinner provided you have water and power. If you use gas for cooking you can still invite people but you warn them about a possible cancellation due to lack of water.

You phone your hairdresser first not to establish if he or she can fit you in, but to ensure there is water and power. There is however no guarantee that by the time you arrive they will still have one of the two or both.

The office has promised us water treatment pills but I hope when we do finally get them, water will be flowing again from our taps otherwise it will be a wasted effort.

Posted at 13:32 03 December 2008 by Grace Mutandwa  |  Comments[5]

Economic reform is in the eye of the beholder

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed by the leaders of Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU PF and the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The politicians are talking, the economy continues to decline at an unimaginable speed and hunger is stalking the nation. On the surface all seems to be quite normal. People who still have jobs are still going to work. Students who can, are going to school or college, while vendors continue to make a quick buck from selling food in short supply at parallel market rates.

Our money has gained so many zeros, I am amazed anyone can still make sense of it. I salute my colleagues in the accounts section and those who work on our electronic accounting system to effect various purchases and payments day-in-day-out. How they can whizz around the zeros is a miracle.

This weekend I bought an imported bottle of red wine at Z$8.5 trillion, which in real money is about US$71 if you use last week's cash rate of $120 billion to the greenback. I also bought several 500ml bottles of mineral water there were no bigger bottles) at Z$1.2 trillion each.

We have had no water for more than a week. There was a time when we took having access to water for granted. Not anymore. I have become quite skilled at bathing myself in miniscule amounts of water. There is water in Zimbabwe but at times there either an inadequate supply of water treatment drugs or there is no power to pump water into our homes.

Negotiations under the MOU for a political settlement started a week ago but we have only now just learnt they have either been abandoned or adjourned, depending on who is speaking. I and colleagues I have spoken to are skeptical about the outcome of the talks. I guess we are realists.

While we wonder what our political future is going to be, the Reserve Bank Governor of Zimbabwe, Gideon Gono, has just announced that we are dropping 10 zeros from our currency!

Most Zimbabweans, even vendors, had become multi-billionnaires and now they will find their money has been re-denominated. It should make sense,but it does not. The coins that had been abandoned years ago, are once again legal tender. We will now have a $500 note which in real terms is 5 000 000 000 000 (five trillion). This will be the highest new note in circulation. A twenty-five cent coin will be part of the new currency. I am not so sure what it's real value will be.

You want to go shopping after this announcement - I can assure you, it is a mind boggling experience. There is not much to buy from shops anyway. In any case whatever money you have, loses value well before you set off for the shops. Our daily bank withdrawal limit was $100 000 000 000 ($100 Billion) which was just enough for a one way trip to work. From the beginning of August it has been set at $200 which is actually $2 trillion of the old money. You need three trips to the bank to access the equivalent of the highest note (500) now in circulation.

We are going to have to re-configure our lives. Public transport providers will have to re-work their fares and prices in shops will also have to shuffle around this new currency. We are even going to have a $10 coin and $10 note! And we have been told that we can do the switch over from old to new currency at "our own pace" until the end of the year. How very generous! I suppose this means all our problems are solved.

Unless the political situation in Zimbabwe is resolved, all these constant currency reforms will never work. They will remain temporary measures that only serve to prolong the suffering of Zimbabweans. Soon after the Governor of the Reserve Bank announced the new monetary reforms, President Robert Mugabe, who attended the presentation for the first time chided those who want him to step down. He also denounced his usual imagined detractors the leaders of America and Britain. To him it does not matter that Tony Blair no longer leads the British Government. He is still seen as a threat and behind the regime change agenda and so he also got a special mention (attack).

If Mugabe still sees himself as the main and indispensable part of the equation in a new Zimbabwe, what are the so called talks about then? Is he really serious about wanting an end to the political and economic turmoil? The opposition Movement for Democratic Change will either stand their ground and refuse to play the underdog, because they won the first round of the presidential and parliamentary elections, or accept being swallowed like what happened to the former ZAPU, led by the late nationalist Joshua Nkomo.

I am a cynic when it comes to politics so I do not see a happy ending to the talks the MOU gave birth to. It will all end in tears. We have representatives of the two formations of the MDC and ZANU PF talking in a secret venue in Pretoria, South Africa. On the other hand state radio, television and the papers seem to be still running a campaign of sorts for President Mugabe. A month after the June 27 presidential run-off war music is still being played on national radio. Do they know something we don't?

President Mugabe's wife, Grace, has become almost the main political face of ZANU PF. The state media feature her dishing out food handouts and telling people about the "virtues" of ZANU PF. Is she campaigning for her husband or is she building the foundations of her own political career? It might spice up the already hot political scene if it turns out she is aiming for the top job. She has been opening state funded "People's Shops" where goods are sold at way below their true value. She has also been dishing out free food hampers that contain a 2,5kg of sugar, 1kg salt, 2,5kg flour, a 750ml bottle of cooking oil, bath soap, 100ml of toothpaste, vaseline (a paraffin based petroleum body jelly) and a 500g laundry powder soap. When sold in the people's shops, the same hamper costs a paltry $105 billion. That amount cannot buy a loaf of bread.

All these foods are imported under the Government's Basic Commodity Supply Side Intervention (BACOSSI) programme which is bankrolled by the central bank. Our manufacturing industry continues to suffer a severe decline in output. Agriculture is almost non-existent. There is no new tangible investment inspite of all the stories we read in the state media about countries in the Far East expressing interest.

Mad does not even start to describe the everyday decisions of some of our political leaders. It is surreal. The fact that we have been able to survive this madness for seven years must mean we are all well and truly CERTIFIABLE.

There is a sense of pending doom. A sense of something being plotted. President Mugabe is still thanking Zimbabweans for voting for him "overwhelmingly" in advertisements in the state media. This is despite the fact that he won in a one-man race. We still hear advertisements promising us "100% empowerment, and total independence" but all we feel is total impoverishment and a sense of foreboding. And of course, Mugabe believes we have a "real" democracy, but then again, democracy is in the eye of the beholder!

Posted at 11:28 01 August 2008 by Grace Mutandwa  |  Comments[2]

Money woes

New to the blogging world and trying to fit it in my first entry between checking the Z$20,196,000,000 in consular fees we have taken today and persuading a local hotel to increase the £67,000 discount given to some visiting UK officials on their £68,000 hotel bill. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has an artificially high rate of exchange and hotels have to charge foreigners at this rate making even a round of beers over £1,000. Zimbabwe's problems are well documented but for many the reality of living in a hyper inflationary environment in a failing state is beyond imagination -  you have to make sure you've been to the toilet before you leave for work in case there is no water at the office but if you do get caught short it's better vfm to use a bank note rather than newspaper for toilet roll - just don't tell anyone you're doing it as you may be accused of defacing a note.  The difficulty in getting cash here means it can be difficult for people to get sufficient Zim dollars so we have had to find imaginative ways of helping people to meet our fees (which are set by Parliament). This includes allowing people to pay for the passports we issue here via the FCO in the UK or at any of our 200 posts worldwide - we even had one paid for as far away as the Dutch Antilles - an exception made only for Brits in Zimbabwe living through the historic rates of inflation we are experiencing here.

Posted at 10:12 20 March 2008 by Sarah Mannell  |  Comments[0]

Give me more madam politicians

Zimbabwe’s national television rarely if ever provides any useful information, but once in a while it is a source of comic relief. Election time in Zimbabwe is madness time.

All sorts of politicians crawl out of the woodwork. Promises are made that will never see the light of day.

Over the past few weeks I have been monitoring some of the weird campaign dances, messages and insipid advertisements on national television. Every election time politicians treat us voters like children, make false promises and sure, I am used to that now, but what I find maddening is that someone thinks I should vote for them just because they happen to be there.

The women’s organisations, which I believe have their hearts in the right place, have been running advertisements urging us voters to: “Vote for me, I am your sister or I am your mother.” Why stop there why not say “Vote for me I have one leg?” To say vote for me because I am a woman is irrational nonsense. It is simply not good enough!

People seeking political leadership should stop taking voters for granted. Show me a woman with credible qualities and I will vote for her. Give me a rational argument. Tell me how you are going to ensure that my children get the education they deserve.

For at least three days every week I wake up at midnight to fill up containers with water because there is never water during the day. Most of the time I do this by candlelight because power has become something that I can only imagine. We have water when we are supposed to be asleep and electricity comes back for a few hours when we are at work.

I would like to have a flushing toilet again and not be relegated to the bucket or bush system. We have all learnt defensive driving just by weaving in and out of the road to avoid craters the size of canoes.

I would like to see women in power but I am not going to vote them in on the basis of gender – I need more, I deserve more. Anyone who wants my vote has to realise that my vote is not for free. For me it is a ticket to a better life. Voters want change they can trust and believe in.

It is no good just empowering a specific group of people. Development does not come through empowering women, it comes from empowering society inclusively. For so long societies have suffered from selective development.

We should have policies that will help develop the community and society around us. Without development for all there is no justice for all. Political power has to be more meaningful and not just a ladder onto the gravy train.

While quota systems are a stop gap measure that may or may not work, there is no question that the main issue is education for all, equal opportunities and reform of our cultural systems that tend to see the girl child as a marriageable commodity and a second class citizen.

Posted at 11:18 19 March 2008 by Grace Mutandwa  |  Comments[2]