Are Zimbabweans trapped in politics of political correctness?

If there one is thing that young Zimbabweans must guide against, it is the none other than the trap of "political correctness" It is obvious that there are many politicians that have gained a lot from this predicarment. One would be amazed that as much as all opposition  political parties are competing against the ruling party ZANU PF. They also find themselves trapped in a many cages of their own. Deliberate or not but surely none seems to be able to rise above the four corners of the political frame!. The ruling party do as they please.They do as they please, and they had done so since Independence in 1980. Not that they are right. No not at all. However it would be foolish for me to suddenly come out of nowhere with some kind of advise for them. And beside, who I am I to do that.

It is my aim to free the minds of young people who might fall into the trap of yesterdays' political era style, and predicament such as the one we found ourselves in today as nation. Most of these trends are in the opposition parties. One might argue that political styles we are in right now, were cleverly masterminded by the those so called nationalist who only saw the opportunity to to manipulate the masses and get into positions of power. And sadly it did work. It was quick fix, but now that we need long term strategies and ideas both to run and take our nation to another level those quick fix political strategies employed to take us away from the oppression of the white men. White men oppressed us for too long and nobody is happy being oppressed in their own land. I cannot under estimate the oppression by the Smith regime, not even on my happiest day!

Many generations later, we are now oppressing ourselves. The only problem with oppression is that its burden is felt by only those who are burring it. We were only managed to count from nothing to zero, and sadly never moved to one. Maybe we moved from zero to half, and that is depending on how heavy the load is on your shoulders. Some might say we are free, while some might say other wise. We are faced with new challenges and political slogans on their own are not enough anymore. Many would agree that at no other time has the political play ground of Zimbabwe been more complicated than now. It confuses even the political scientists and professors. There is a lot of legal issues. There is a lot of political awareness. There are tribal differences. The political, parties are divided more than ever. People are suffering, and honestly some are thinking that the Smith regime was better than the ZANU PF. There are human rights issues and son.

The economy is bad, and employment is at an all time low. The country has no currency of its own. The land has been redistributed and not everybody is happy. Some have maximized it while other have no means to cultivate it and make it productive.
To be continued!

Donald Trump has crossed the line!

Shrewd business empire owner and popular television show host for The Apprentice has crossed the line that he and anybody else must not be allowed to cross. I have no problem with Trump running his mouth for attention for whatever reason he may choose. Nobody has ever said anything about his questinable moral values. He has divorced twice if I am not mistaken.Filled bankruptcy more than four timesat least. This guy who was with a silver spoon cannot and must not be allowed to disrespect President Obama in that manner even if he does not agree with his policies, or style of governance.

In America it is allowed to differ with somebody for whatever reason. That is what makes America unique. It is what makes America stand out among nations. However, for anything good or bad there is a limit. Trump you have dishonored America, and you should be ashamed for your silly mischievous acts of attention seeking at such a low level. In the history of America and the world at large, it is unheard of the sitting President may be questioned about his birth.

To be asked to produce his own birth certificate for that matter. As if that is not enough you are now boldly questioning his education credentials. One wonders if you were going to to that has it been a white men. President George W Bush lied and messed up the country yet you never said a word. You were busy checking your beautiful women behind the scenes of Miss Universe. It is people like you and Other Republicans like Dick Cheney who did not want Nelson Mandela realised from prison.

I call upon America and the civilized world to condemn and denounce such racism and senselessness in our time. We have came a long way to arrive at this historic period. Many people died in ships and boats chained and enslaved. May people died in plantations. Many people died for this country to arrive at such a juncture. You are insulting the bravery of many great men and women. You are reversing the gains of freedom. You are taking advantage of people's kindness. I am disgusted by your attention seeking disorder that masquerade as a voice of reason. Good luck on your run for Apprentice presidency. If America is going lead by people of your mindset,then the world is sorry state.

Shame Shame Shame!

Acceptable Ndebele slang words

Language, like culture is a dynamic phenomenon. My own langauge Sindebele is not immune to change either. There are few words that has been added in recent years. Amabala esitsotsi antshontshwe kwezinye izilimi. This words have been adopted into the language over a long time. Quite often its the younger generations that invent these words or terms. Some of the are retrieved from archives of historical events.

In short thses are some of the few that came to my mind.

Emavinki - ivinkili: store/stores

Itopi - ubaba : my father

Etoni - edolobheni: town

Inyuku- Imali: money

Inxabano- Imali: money or cash

Itsheri- Intombazana : girl or girl friend

Zwakala - buya lapha : come here

Masalu - umama : mother

Tshayisa - hamba : go or leave

Ngiyakunchanywa- Ngiyakuthanda : I love you

Tshaya ulwandle- geza : take a bath

Emadeni - ekhaya : at home

Amathwathi- okuncane - small

Igame - umdlalo webhola : soccer

Ngizibambile - ngikhonjiwe :engaged to a girl

Uqgu - isinkwa : bread

Vintshile- sengiqedile :done or finished

Ncuka lapha - thatha : take this

Mjida - jaha : young man

Tshomi - mgane : friend

Isgidla- iskolo : school

Amabhuku- ingwalo: books

Is this Africa's newest revolution?

Could this be a sign of times?



Mthwakazi members and supporters burning Zimbabwe's flag in front of Zim embassy offices in JHB South Africa on Indipendence day.

Taboos that we all fear talking about publicly

There are many taboos that most Zimbabwean African people are not at liberty to mention publicly. Aids is one of them. When someone loses a relative to Aids, most people would rather simply say he was just "sick". And you know what they mean when they say one is sick. "Uyagula kumbe ulomkhuhlane" He is sick, or he has a disease. It all means that of is a victim of aids. Its easier and safer to use the substitute words that mention the real thing. We are all comfortable that way. Nobody is offended. Nobody is stigmatised.

Part of it is because we all assume that if one has aids or HIV, he or she is has been living recklessly in terms of sex and relationships. We are quick to conclude. Those who might be suffering from this killer disease do not usually come out in the open either. The hid until its too late in most cases. Its a vicious cycle. We are a society that is in denial. Aids is an extreme example, and part of the bigger problem is that we are not a culture that is open about sex. There is little or no sex education at all. For most children growing up, the word sex is picked up outside the home. Often abused by some neighbouring kids.

There is never a shortage of naughty teenagers, who brag about the number of boys, or girl they have had sex with. They are self proclaimed sexual heroes and councilors. Believe it or note, these are in some way better than guardians who do not mention a thing about sex to their kids. Schools pick up the subject later on around six or seventh grade. Whether you like it or not, that is how sex is introduced to a lot of children in the townships. Learning about sex from the wrong people usually gives a wrong perspective, and surely leads to disaster. I am not sex, or HIV, aids expert. Not even close.

Another subject that our people shy away from is domestic abuse. We know it happens to people close to us, yet we do not condemn it. Sometimes its orchestrated by people close to us and worse still we will never say a word against it. There are some men who are known for beating spouses or wives. To them its away of gaining and maintaining respect. In the process people have been bad hurt, or disabled not to mention that some have surely died. What we shy away from addressing publicly surely seem to destroy us in private. Just by inreasing awareness in our social groups and network, we could save a life or too from either HIV, AIDS or domestic abuse. We cannot always talk about these things from the nagative.


We can strive to provide solutions and counter measures while everything is looking normal. There is an English saying that says justice denied is justice delayed. many people are suffring in silence. Recenlty a learned proffesor was mudrdered by her husband in Canada in a cold blooded doemstic violence case. Who will be the next viticm of one of these after you have read this story?

When there is no respect for the living, its no use honoring....

                                                            Crime scene above.

About 1000 bodies have been exhumed in old disused mine shaft in Mt Darwin. Nobody knows who they are, when and how they got there.

When there is no respect for the living, its no use honoring the dead! It is amazing what relation the dead and the living have. Simply put, the dead are those who were living at some point in time and are going to die at some point in time. It all seems like process or stage in the same cycle. In many families , cultures, and civilizations over thousands of years, the dead are considered sacred in one way or another.

There are many beliefs and theories when it comes to the subject of the dead. Many religions differ on what happens after one dies. There are also different versions and theories of burying the dead. Time will not allow me to talk about the ancient Egypt, probably one of the most common cultures that firmly preserved history and beliefs, even unto the grave. In most American old church buildings one cannot help notice that they have tombs of their community behind them. To me there is no pronounced way of exhibiting one's belief and faith.

A prominent Ndebele historian Pathisa Nyathi writing to on his Sunday News weekly column, many years ago raised an interesting observation and analysis about what the Ndebele people believed about death. He  had gone around interviewing old citizens in many villages seeking to unearth beliefs about the dead. He found that Ndebele people believed in life after death, hence they buried their people, man in particular in a squatting position. This was so that in case of war in the next life . One should be able to spring up and defend himself. He say that is why in Ndebele one  dies he/or she is said to have gone kogoqwanyawo! (Where one folds their legs)

 It is also amazing that while there are strong beliefs about the dead, yet there is not much respect for the living in that regard. Many people would struggle to build a shrine for a dead relative, whom they never cared about during his or her lifetime. I also share the idea that when one lies when they are dead, forever deserve to be given respects. For a lot of people the idea of tombstones serves that purpose. In our cultures, be it western or African, the dead must be given a decent burial. Period. For an average man, I must say that I have travelled the globe a little bit, to boldly arrive at that conclusion.
I must also say that the ways one dies can be  subject of great controversy. People's bodies have been exhumed for various reasons. Sometimes for forensic science to verify how one died. Arrests have been made and people have been prosecuted because of DNA evidence from the beyond grave. In some cases just to make sure that the right person lies in that grave. Also to determine the time and date one died. In some other cases for paternity tests. In all these process, a lot of money is spent. Almost all the nations on this earth have a special place designated to bury their heroes.

 In some Zimbabwean cultures especially the Shona, it is a common practice that the relatives of the dead seek paternity about the circumstances  surrounding one's death. If it turns out to be suspicious certain rituals must be done to appease the spirit so that there is no revenge.  There has been cases where huge fines have to be paid for that purpose, and if the alleged killers' family  does not pay up that fee, no matter how huge. They risk being wiped away one by one by the avenging spirits. There have been cases where the body refuse to fit into the grave, no matter how big a grave they dig, this is taken a sign that something is amiss, hence the  consultation of the spirit mediums.


 We have seen great friction, and fighting about issues that concerns the dead heroes or heroines. There is no specific way to determine one's heroic status, hence one's political affiliation becomes a big factor.

It all happens that some people who really deserve heroes status might not be  interested  in that type of  honor. They occasionally turn it down through their families. At the same time, some who think they deserved it, never get it. There are those who get it by party connections and  political loyalty and other forms of affiliations . This bunch is the majority.

The recent discovery of over 640 bodies in a mass grave discarded in a disused shaft mine in Mt Darwin is a such an example. The government thinks it the bodies of those who died during the liberation struggle by the Ian smith regime, and other parties and  civil /human rights organizations think its those that were killed after Independence in what is known as the "Gukurahundi period" or time of madness between 1983-1987 or there about.

When technological advancement is not always a plus

We are living in a day and time when there is virtually every machine for anything one might think of. The past hundred years have seen more technological advancement, probably more than any time in the history of mankind. We have seen the birth of aviation, we have seen the tremendous advancement in tel communication transportation and science. Robots and other electronic devices are now part and parcel of our daily use. A lot of these inventions are helping us perform a thousand times faster than what we could have accomplished manually.

The past fifty years saw the first man defying gravity going straight into the moon. This same period witnessed the massive exploitation of nuclear power and energy. So scary that within the push of a baton, it could obliterate the earth into oblivion. What shall we say about submarines, and other war ships and equipment that can be mounted deep in the seas steadily for a full blown war? How about small gadgets like cell phones, global positioning systems and computerized cars.


Quite clearly, mankind has outdone himself. In many developed countries, people do not real need natural rain for agricultural purposes. They have cleverly managed to manipulate matter devices to harness the waters from the rivers and dams.While we celebrate, and reap the fruits of these great inventions, we mourn the lack of human touch. Its sad to even mention that nature itself as we know it is the victim. This race to manipulate, plunder and subdue nature is not without consequences. Scientist warn of great risk of the sun, thanks to the gasses that penetrate the ozone layer to expose human kind and animals to direct sunlight.

A lot of people are losing jobs to machines. I have seen companies and war houses install humongous machines that can operate themselves. These are expensive and complicated but take little time to perform a job that would have been done by a thousand men. Families are now spending time on the computer, more that with each other. We have cars furnished with every gadget. Kids, and some adults are spending too much time on video games, both on play station and online. The greatest tragedy is that men has turned nature into a very dangerous and less harmonious being and object yet the very opposite was intended by the creator.One wonders if the recent earth quakes and tsunamis world wide are an indication that nature is fighting back.