Daughter skeptical about her mother's story!

RUNSWICK, Fla. (FIRST COAST NEWS)--
 As the investigation into the shooting death of a 13-month-old Brunswick toddler continues, some people are beginning to question the mother who's child was shot and killed during a morning walk.
The daughter of Sherry West, Ashley Glassey, said she does not want to falsely accuse anyone but she wants the truth.

Glassey, 21, lives in New Jersey and said her mother lost custody of her when she was 8. She said she has forgiven her mom and has spoken to her every day since Thursday's shooting but said some of her mother's responses have her concerned.

Glassey said she started to have her doubts after receiving a phone call from her mother telling her that her brother, Antonio Santiago, had been killed. She claims the night of the shooting her mother asked, "How soon do you think life insurance policy will send me a check?"
Glassey tells First Coast News she hopes her suspicions are wrong but based on conversations with her mother she's not sure. Glassey described their discussions by saying her mother is crying one minute and then sounds fine the next.

"I spoke with the detectives and investigators and the evidence leads to many witnesses, not just me," said Sherry West, mother of the 13-month-old that was killed last Thursday morning.
Glassey says her mother is bipolar and has schizophrenic tendencies. She believes her mother is on medication but could not tell me any prescriptions specifically.
"She changed her story she told me the baby was shot first and then she told me she was shot first," said Glassey.

Sherry West maintains her story.
"They shot my baby in the head and I had to watch him die and I want that boy to die."
Glassey said she has contacted the Brunswick Police Department and no one has called her back. First Coast News contacted police to ask why, buy have yet to receive a response.
Police have not suggested that Sherry West is a suspect in this case.
Two teens are currently facing the murder charges.

FIRST COAST NEWS

South African Soldiers killed in CAR

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's president says 13 South African soldiers were killed and 27 were wounded in fighting in the Central African Republic.
President Jacob Zuma also said Monday that one soldier is missing.
South African troops came under attack on Saturday in the Central African Republic as rebels advanced on the capital, Bangui. The rebels have overthrown the country's president and seized the presidential palace.
South Africa had deployed several hundred soldiers to the Central African Republic to assist national forces there.

CPJ Calls for the rule of law in Zimbabwe

New York - CPJ writes to the minister of Justice of Zimbabwe, Hon. Patrick Chinamasa, expressing concern about the arrest on Sunday of award-winning human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa and her subsequent detention by police in defiance of an order issued by a high court judge. CPJ urges the Minister to ensure that the state immediately complies with the High Court order that authorized Mtetwa's release.

Hon Patrick Chinamasa
Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs
The Republic of Zimbabwe

Dear Minister:

We are writing to express our concern about the arrest on Sunday of award-winning human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa and her subsequent detention by police in defiance of an order issued by a high court judge. We believe this invalidates the criminal proceedings instituted against her on Wednesday and constitutes an affront to the constitution and legal system of your country.

Harare magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa charged Mtetwa on Wednesday with obstruction of justice on the basis of police claims that she "shouted" at officers during their search of the residences of four members of the Zimbabwe Prime Minister's party on Sunday, according to news reports. The magistrate also remanded Mtetwa to prison pending trial on April 3 on the basis of prosecutors' claims that she was a flight risk and "might hinder further police investigations by causing commotion," according to news reports.

The same day, High Court Justice Charles Hungwe ordered Mtetwa's immediate release. But police defied the ruling and kept Mtetwa in custody in Rhodesville police station in Harare. Mtetwa's lawyers have filed an appeal to the High Court seeking her release on bail pending trial. A hearing has been scheduled for Friday.

Mtetwa is a former president of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, and her contributions to the promotion of justice in the country include the defense of journalists. Mtetwa is the only non-journalist to be honored with CPJ's International Press Freedom Award.

In line with your mission to "uphold the Constitution and legal system of the State of Zimbabwe," we call on you to ensure that the state immediately complies with the High Court order that authorized Mtetwa's release. Such action under your leadership could restore the integrity of the legal system in Zimbabwe. We urge you to use the power of your office to guarantee the state's compliance with the rule of law and due process and ensure the release of Mtetwa.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Sincerely,

Joel Simon
Executive Director

Lesson from the: Four lepers who dared to "die trying"

Sometimes one has to die trying. Period!

2Kings 7 v3-12 New English Version

³ Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.” ⁵ And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. ⁶ For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!” ⁷ Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact—their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—and they fled for their lives. ⁸ And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.

⁹ Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” ¹⁰ So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound—only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.” ¹¹ And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside.

¹² So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.’”

This is a great story of four poor guys who were condemned to death by leprous disease but decided to act instead of sitting down and waiting for death. As a result God had to act on their behalf because of their faith and the rest is history! Either physically or spiritually we have to take the initiative and map our destinies! God want us to act on our faith.

Grade (7) Private Schools perfom dismally in Ndebele exams

Robin Muchetu
Sunday News Reporter
MOST privately run primary schools in Bulawayo have over the years been performing dismally at Grade 7 examinations, especially in isiNdebele despite the schools being very expensive and expected to produce quality results, with Government and church-run schools coming out tops.
   Fact sheet
* Students fail isiNdebele dismally
* Private schools are very expensive, ——— between $800 and $1 500
* Students punished for speaking vernacular
* Specific days set aside for speaking isiNdebele
A survey carried out by Sunday News, revealed that schools in the eastern suburbs do well in Mathematics, English and Content but fall short in isiNdebele which makes them rank at the bottom.
According to a Grade 7 analysis report for Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, the top five schools did well. These are Fairview, a Seventh Day Adventist Church-run school which had a pass rate of 99,6 percent, Ross Camp run by the Zimbabwe Republic Police with 99 percent, SDA Church-run Pelandaba with 94,3 percent, Riverside, a private school, with 93,3 percent and at number five is Roman Catholic Church-run St Thomas Aquinas with 92,4 percent.
The provincial education director for Bulawayo, Mr Dan Moyo, said the poor performance in isiNdebele in private schools could be attributed to the fact that schools in the eastern suburbs were multi-cultural with a majority being Indian, Jewish or White and have limited time to speak isiNdebele.
“Many schools in the eastern suburbs such as Camel and Whitestone are multi-cultural with a majority being Jewish, Indian and White, making English their first language. Ndebele then becomes a second language making it hard for them to learn and understand it effectively,’’ said Mr Moyo.
He said the fact the pupils do not speak isiNdebele when they are at home makes it difficult for them to fully learn and understand the language. The PED said even the African children who are enrolled at the same schools hardly speak the language at home so in turn they also perform dismally at school.
The schools in eastern suburbs are said to be punishing pupils who speak vernacular while they are in the school premises, which makes it virtually impossible for the pupils to grasp the language well. Some schools, however, have introduced a “Ndebele Day” where the pupils will be allowed to speak isiNdebele freely.
The PED condemned this, saying it was rather harsh that schools forbid the use of isiNdebele on other days of the week.
“I have not heard of any schools that are doing that but to say they banned the use of isiNdebele is rather harsh. The language needs to be spoken so that students grasp it better,” he said.
The PED, however, defended the move to learn more of English language as it is an international language that can enable one to communicate effectively with people across the world. He said it was necessary that students learn more of English, as it will be an asset to them while languages such as isiNdebele are spoken by a minority.
The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, said there was no government policy which related to the use of vernacular languages at schools as pupils have the right to communicate in their mother tongue while at school.
“There is no set policy on the use of language as such but it must be understood that the Constitution respects the use of one’s mother tongue to communicate effectively,” said Sen Coltart.
He said what must be noted though was that when students are taking particular classes they should use the appropriate language.
“When students are taking a Shona or isiNdebele class they must use those languages. it is allowed and appropriate but when they turn to an English based subject they have to use English to communicate,” he said.
The challenge of minority languages is also rife in other provinces such as Matabeleland North where students have been made to learn languages at a late stage. A good example is that of schools in Hwange which started learning Nambya at Grade Six and are to be examined at Grade 7, yet other languages like isiNdebele and Shona are taught for seven years.
The acting PED for Matabeleland North, Mr Mathias Luphahla, however, said the schools were coping.
“Schools are managing on that end, take for instance Binga where exams were done in Tonga and the students passed well at primary level in 2011 and 2012. Even those in Hwange did well in Nambya when they took examinations,” said Luphahla.
Mr Luphahla said if schools felt they were not prepared for the examinations they were not compelled to register their students, as it is not compulsory.
He said Zimbabwe was liaising with its Zambian counterparts so that they exchange information on languages such as Nambya and Tonga. He also said there is a local publishing house that is printing books in Tonga but it has not started on books in Nambya.
Historian Mr Pathisa Nyathi said the challenge with Africans is that they demonise and abandon anything to do with their culture.
“Africans tend to demonise and abandon anything to do with their culture or heritage such that they fail to perform when the time comes. They actually take pride in their failure to speak their own local languages,” said Mr Nyathi.
He said the challenge was also with parents and guardians who do not encourage children to have interest in their own heritage. He said Africans are not rooted in their own past and think other people are better than them thus they follow foreign cultures.
Mr Nyathi added that parents sent their children to the so-called affluent schools not for education but as a status symbol.
“Parents take pride in sending their children to affluent schools as a sign of prestige and not for quality education, thus they perform dismally not only in isiNdebele but many other subjects,” he lamented.
On the issue of other minority languages he said the education ministry needed to introduce the languages from Early Childhood classes up to Grade 7 so that pupils can be tested effectively.
He said there was still a hangover from the colonial era where students were punished for speaking in vernacular at school

Beatrice Mtetwa's arrest has been condemned by the international lawyers

 

Zimbabwe's police have defied a court order to release a prominent human rights lawyer detained on Sunday, legal groups have said.

Beatrice Mtetwa's continued detention showed the need to overhaul the police force ahead of elections, they said.
She was arrested with four officials from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the capital Harare.

Zimbabweans voted on a constitution on Saturday to usher in political reforms.
If approved, it will pave the way for presidential and parliamentary elections.
Without a clear and unambiguous departure from a past characterised by harassment and intimidation... the promise of the new constitution will be laid to waste”End Quote Law groups

No date has been set for the elections, but they are expected to be held in July.

'Alarming'
Mr Tsvangirai, 61, will run against President Robert Mugabe, 89, in the election.

It will herald the end of the coalition government the two leaders formed after the 2007 election, which was marred by violence and allegations of vote-rigging.
Tension has been rising in Zimbabwe ahead of the latest elections.

MDC activist Sten Zvorwadza was assaulted as he tried to put up posters in Harare on Friday, while on Tuesday an official in Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party was injured when his house in north-eastern Zimbabwe was attacked with petrol bombs.
Police have charged Ms Mtetwa with obstructing justice after she intervened on behalf of the four officials during a raid on MDC offices on Sunday.

The four are charged with impersonating police officers.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights group, which is representing Ms Mtetwa, said it had obtained a high court order for her release at 02:00 local time [midnight GMT], but she was still in police custody on Monday afternoon.

"The police refused to comply with the order," the group said in a statement.

The MDC says the constitution limits presidential powers

Four other legal groups - including the International Commission of Jurists and the Pan African Lawyers Union - condemned her detention.

"The arrest of Mtetwa and the four... officials is in itself alarming, but that it comes on the heels of a referendum to endorse a new constitution which, whatever its other limitations, contains strong protection of the rights of those arrested and detained, is more distressing still," 

"Without a clear and unambiguous departure from a past characterised by harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and of impunity for Zimbabwe's police and security sector, the promise of the new constitution will be laid to waste.

International approval for referendum, despite next day arrests

    

The SADC Electoral Observation Mission and the United States Embassy issued separate statements late Sunday congratulating the Zimbabwean government for holding a peaceful and credible constitutional referendum.
But certain sections of the NGO community said a referendum is not just an event but a process, therefore periods before, during and after the event itself should be considered in formulating a final view.
In a preliminary report the head of the SADC observer mission and Tanzanian Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Membe said: “The mission has come to the conclusion that although some of the concerns raised are pertinent they are nevertheless not of such magnitude to affect the credibility of the overall referendum.
“And I would therefore like to take this opportunity to encourage all the political parties and the people of Zimbabwe to encourage peace and stability as we are waiting for the white smoke.”
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network , which deployed about 600 observers across the country, said the voting day was generally peaceful and smooth with very few recorded incidents of violations but that during the run-up to the referendum there was a disturbing pattern of intimidation against civic organizations involved in citizen election observation.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum also said that while the day of the referendum may have been largely peaceful, the process prior and after the vote casting should also be taken into account as Zimbabweans prepare for crucial elections following the referendum results.
A day after the referendum police raided the residence of Thabani Mpofu, the Principal Director for Research and Development in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Office and also raided the MDC-T offices in Harare. Two other MDC-T officers were arrested, plus rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, who was detained when she went to offer legal assistance to the MDC-T officials.
The Zimbabwe NGO Forum, which is made up of several NGOs in Zimbabwe, said: “All these sad developments are happening while the SADC Organ Troika Foreign Minister is in the country. This also comes as sad development to what some have been calling a successful referendum so far. For instance Bruce Wharton the USA ambassador had this to say on 16 March:
‘I was really impressed by the well-managed process I saw at all of the voting places I visited today. Made it to about 12 polling places, in rural, peri-urban, wealthy suburbs, working-class suburbs, downtown, tents, schools, and community centres.
‘Even with a very short time to prepare, the process appeared to work very well. It will be interesting to see what percentage of Zimbabweans chose to vote, and I am sure there are some lessons learned today, but from my perspective, the process worked well. I was especially impressed by the professionalism I saw all day from ZEC officials, polling officers, ZRP officers, and observers. These four groups made a great team at every polling station I visited’.
The NGO Forum said in light of these mixed signals, the jury is still out on whether the minimum threshold for a peaceful and credible referendum has been met.
Some observers said it would appear the US Embassy may be trying to put a positive spin on the referendum, despite the state-sponsored crackdown that followed.
Speaking about the arrests Sharon Hudson-Dean, the US embassy spokesperson, told SW Radio Africa: “I don’t have a specific comment on that right now, we are following it very closely.
“Civic groups and political parties should be able to operate freely within the law especially during this election season. So we are following it closely. I will let you know if we have a comment later.”By Violet Gonda. Nehanda radio
18 March 2013

Themba Ndlovu calls for the govt to free the airwaves

From the Zimbabwe Standard
by Khulani Nkabinde, 14th April 2012

Veteran afro-fusion musician, Themba Ndlovu of the Meet Me in Zimbabwe fame has added his voice to calls for government to speed up the freeing of airwaves.
Ndlovu, who is now based in South Africa, said musicians would remain poor as long as Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation maintained a monopoly as a national broadcaster.

“Musicians no longer make much money from record sales because of piracy. We now depend on shows and royalties that are determined by airplay hence the more stations we have, the better,” said Ndlovu who leads a group called Children of Nandi.
“We should have at least 20 stations. At the moment, we have too few radio stations which are heavily politicised and state-controlled.”
He said the danger with relying solely on state radio was that “those who criticise the establishment would have their music ignored and would inevitably starve”.
He said the government must not seek to “control the way artists think” adding that lack of tolerance to divergent views was letting the country down.
Ndlovu believes musicians in Bulawayo were also dealt a heavy blow by the relocation of Gallo Records (now Zimbabwe Music Corporation) to Harare.
Ndlovu is putting up a recording studio in South Africa that he says would be a launch pad for upcoming artists.
Two years ago, he released a compilation of some of the songs he recorded with the Children of Nandi, entitled A Trip into the Past that contained tracks such as Release Mandela, Radio Africa and Dry Earth among others.

Capital city moves to Zvimba

 

GOVERNMENT is planning to build a new capital city in Mt Hampden, which falls under Zvimba Rural District Council, President Robert Mugabe’s home area.

The new city is designed in the mould of the wealthy Sandton area of Johannesburg, South Africa.
The project is already underway at the site, some 40km west of Harare, along Old Mazowe Road, where construction of a new Parliament building to accommodate the country’s 210 MPs and 80 Senators has already started.

This is expected to be followed by the establishment of an affluent residential area, state-of-the-art shopping centres, hotels and government buildings.
The capital will also be home to critical government buildings such as State House, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the Supreme and High Courts and several government departments. It will be the seat of government.

Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo yesterdayconfirmed the development which he said would give birth to a new modernised city at the scenic Mt Hampden.
According to Chombo, the site was where colonialists originally wanted to set up Harare before two emissaries sent to raise the British flag at the mountain lost their way and raised it at the Kopje (Afrikaans for an isolated hill), resulting in the construction of present-day Harare in the 1890s.
“The satellite city will be properly planned with residential houses, state-of-the-art shops, hotels and offices,” Chombo said.

“This will ease congestion in Harare, which has become heavily populated to the extent that facilities such as water supply are under pressure.”
Chombo did not disclose the source of the funds or when most of the work on the project would commence, but said his ministry already had the city’s plan.
“The site has already been identified and it is now up to the responsible ministries to start construction of the Parliament Building. Mt Hampden is a scenic place, that would give Parliament a nice home and, better still, Mt Hampden is not far from Harare,” Chombo said.
The minister said he would make sure that the new capital would have adequate supplies of water and services befitting a modern city.

“Government will make sure that the city has multiple supplies of water by setting up three to four water treatment plants near the city, unlike the current situation in Harare where treated water is pumped about 40km from the city,” he said.
Chombo said the water system for Harare would fail gradually if efforts to ease pressure from the overpopulated city were not done now. Reports
 

Death, dead legend and social networks"

 

If you are a person who actively communicates on social networks this has probably happened to you at one point or another. This morning as I logged onto my face book page, I noticed that a long time friend had a birthday. It is my tradition to acknowledge my friend's birthdays at least those that are on the network . Just as I was trying to post a birthday message on her timeline, I noticed that somebody had previously left a message that read " Our dear friend passed away sometime last month". This was a little bit confusing since other people had good messages written on her wall. Messages like "Enjoy the good days of your life and so on". As I continued scrolling down the timeline, it dawned on me that  this dear friend might have possible passed away. I tried to inbox her but nothing came back. So that confirms my suspicions.

Dead people cannot log on to face book! The saddest thing in all this was the clear fact that not all her friends on the social network knew that she has passed away.  More than seventy percent did not know that. They gladly wished her a happy  day. This is not the first time it has happened to me. If I am not mistaken this is probably the fourth time in my social networks circles. As much as we use these social mediums everyday, we find it hard to comprehend  it when it comes to tough issues such as death. My can only celebrate her life. The scriptures are clear that one day death will be destroyed. We can only pray that, that day is near! Rest in peace Mandlovu!

False alarm

There has been few times somebody either through a mistake or  communication error of any kind accidentally declared another person dead. Worse than that is for one to  publicly announce some body's death through the forums without first informing the next of kin to the deceased. This is the flip side of social networks forums. We usually utilize them for life events, such as celebrating our achievements and birthdays etc. Social networks are changing the way we live, but I do not think we are prepared to  having them as  means of  breaking bad news such as the death of a loved ones. Well the bad news is that, this is the future!

                                     Miriam Makeba

                     GoOgLe's TriBuTe To MaMa aFrICA

I was also reminded that today was Miriam Makeba's birthday, she could have been 81. Google.com had a nice picture of her painted on its front page.What a  moving tribute! I am more than a big fan of Miriam Makeba, I am her student. Few women have commands my respect like her. I feel a deep connection with her songs and her works. She was an icon and an activist.  She spent her life in exile beating the drum about the evil of apartheid regime in South Africa. May she never be forgotten. May her works live for ever! I pray that young people all over the world may draw strength and inspiration from her works. I published a story here last week that a film (Mama Africa) is being shown in her honor in St Louis Missouri starting this month.  No wonder they called her mama Africa! Thanks Google.com for honoring such a brave spirit and a daughter of the soil. May her soul rest in peace!